Meet Our Team
Days for Girls is a dynamic grassroots network of tens of thousands of volunteers worldwide on 6 continents empowering girls, women and communities to find sustainable menstrual health solutions. An amazing global team makes this all happen (far too many to name here or THEY would be shown FIRST). Each and every one is a hero worthy of mention (you can see a few on our Facebook page). Here are a few of them that you may hear from most often:
DfGI International Administration Team
Celeste Mergens – Founder and International CEO, MA
Celeste is known for her always present smile as well as her ability to build teams and empower collaborations. Celeste founded Days for Girls during a trip to Kenya in 2008, when she discovered through discussions with young women that menstrual hygiene was a huge challenge. With over 17 years experience in non-profit work, a reputation of building teams, and a strong personal interest in sewing and tailoring, Celeste put her creativity to use to find a solution... and then she listened to feedback of women around the globe that led to a uniquely appropriate design (27 versions later). Just seven years later, Days for Girls empowers women and girls in over 100 countries on six continents. Days for Girls has been featured in O Magazine, Forbes, and was recently named a Huffington Post ‘Next Ten’ organization positioned to change the world in the next decade. Celeste’s passion for this issue is infectious and she has helped bring international attention to an issue that has long been neglected. All with the support of her beloved husband Don and their 6 children and 13 grandchildren. Celeste is Washington State’s 2014 Mother of the Year and a recipient of the Soroptimist Ruby Award. She is continually grateful to be part of such a direct and effective key to empowering people and communities.
Leah Spelman – Chief Operations Officer, MPH
Leah is as pleasant as she is intelligent, and that's big. She brings a strong background in international program management, finance, and monitoring and evaluation to the team. She holds a BA from George Washington University, and is completing her MPH in Global Health at the University of Washington. Prior to joining Days for Girls, she lived in Jordan conducting research on women’s political participation under a Fulbright Grant. She has worked domestically and internationally for both large government development contractors and grassroots organizations. Prior to becoming COO, Leah was Days for Girls’ Development Director. Leah seeks to broaden both public and private sector partnerships for DfG, while furthering the organization’s goals of breaking barriers of embarrassment and stigma to improve health, education, and opportunity.
Meet Cecillia, our Chapter Liaison and systems specialist. Before joining Days for Girls, Cesi was a banker with Wells Fargo. Cesi is an expert in detail management and multi-tasking. She began with Days for Girls by overseeing the 680+ global teams, managing it all thanks to her incredible organizational skills, her sunny disposition, and her strong IT and database management abilities. Cesi continues to bring her high attention to detail to all of her work with DfGI. She focuses on connecting, informing, answering questions and counseling to help the amazing volunteer Teams and Chapter directors of Days for Girls reach more girls and women around the globe. Hers is an important role and she is the strong, capable and kind woman who is equal to the task... and a delight to work with too! C is for Capable, compassion and Completely priceless.
Cecillia Monroe – International Chapter Liaison
Sandy is passionate about girls and women. With over three decades working for local and international non-profit organizations, she is excited to bring her vast experience and network to Days for Girls. Beginning in the early eighties, Sandy found her calling while watching a group of girls living in homeless shelters attend a summer day camp that she organized. This led her on a path that spanned incredible opportunities including teaching low income women trade skills while moonlighting as a firefighter, serving as a policy advisor to the Governor of Washington on issues facing women and families, raising funds and building awareness for an international NGO, Landesa, which advances land rights for women and girls, and serving as a trustee for a girls school in rural Nepal. When Sandy is not meeting with inspired girls, women, supporters and colleagues who care deeply about making the world a better place, you can find her playing with her new grandson, Bodhi.
Sandy Clark – Chief Development Officer
Libby joined Days for Girls Uganda in July 2014 as the Uganda Country Director. She came with a vision to build on the amazing work the team had already accomplished and help take it to the next level. Libby has led Days for Girls’ efforts to help organizations launch DfG sewing enterprises both in and outside Uganda. Libby brings to the team extensive experience in monitoring and evaluation along with program planning and implementation. She holds a BA in Anthropology from the University of Vermont and an MPH from the University of New England. Libby’s passions are promoting access to health education and gender empowerment, along with building strong teams and leadership skills among her colleagues. Libby provides oversight in helping other DfG teams adapt and replicate the Days for Girls Uganda model.
Libby Daghlian – Program Director, Africa & the Middle East, MPH
Sarah Webb – Program Director, Asia & Latin America
Sarah Webb graduated from the University of Puget Sound in 2012 with her B.A. in Political Theory and Environmental Policy & Decision-Making. Sarah first fell in love with the world of international development during a Field School extension of an undergraduate course in Botswana during the summer of 2011, where she was studying the overlap between community-based natural resource management and women's empowerment. She has worked in international education as well as micro-enterprise development in both India and Ecuador. During the year that she spent in India, Sarah's eyes were opened to the challenges and obstacles faced by women and girls during menstruation, and she has been a passionate advocate for menstrual hygiene initiatives ever since. Sarah joined the Days for Girls team in 2015, and works as the Program Director of Asia & Latin America.
Gina Grimm has a degree in Science and Math and loves computer programing too. So, keeping accurate and impeccable international financial records is no challenge for this bright women. She has years of financial accounting experience and is as pleasant as she is capable. She says, "It is a privilege to work with Days for Girls and I hope my talents will have a positive impact for years to come." So happy to have her on the team.
Gina Grimm – Financial Officer
Kiana Lindsey – Distribution Coordinator
You're going to love Kiana. We do! She serves as both Distribution Coordinator and Data entry, and with DfG, that is a huge undertaking on both counts. From coordinating volunteers, handling financial records to knowing where everyone is (there are a whole lot of volunteers with DfG, imagine!) to supervising connecting DfG Kits to those that need them. Kiana is a happy newlywed and loves eating, napping and spreadsheets. If you need to find out more about Distribution, Kiana can help you.
Melissa Moody – Data Systems Manager
You know what you do when you hit over 200 emails a day to answer? Call Melissa. No, seriously. She is our IT communications guru and administrator. She also serves as the Director of DfG Georgia, DfG Lebanon, and has been on numerous Days for Girls excursions distributing and training, as a volunteer. Melissa began as a volunteer with Days for Girls, and quickly proved her acumen as a powerful data systems manager. She has overseen Days for Girls’ transition to Salesforce, and addresses any technical challenges for the organization. Melissa is assisting Days for Girls in taking its monitoring and evaluation protocol to the next stage through mapping DfG distribution efforts throughout the world. In addition to her important role in overseeing data, she also fields hundreds of email inquiries every day, and also continues to sew and maintain an active role as a Chapter leader. Cheers for Melissa!
Jenny Rees – Sewing Specialist
A graduate of UCLA’s Design Program, Jenny brings her professional expertise to Days for Girls. Jenny’s love of beautiful textiles began at a young age. She learned to sew, quilt, crochet and knit from her mother and grandmother, two women who were great advocates and protectors of those who had less than they. She sees her work with Days for Girls as an opportunity to honor their example of service by advocating for beautiful, high quality, durable menstrual products for women throughout the world. She also brings her attention to detail and love of statistics to work with the research team as we continue to listen and learn from those we serve so that we may better meet their needs. Jenny can be reached at sewingspecialist@daysforgirls.org (A special shout out to Miriam, Peggy and Cas who volunteer many hours on this team).
April found Days for Girls in October of 2013 when her then 12 year old daughter asked what homeless girls do for feminine hygiene products. Since then they founded the DfG Edmonds Chapter, and went on to shape Days for Girl’s US homeless and school led programs within their community and beyond. Today April is our Program Director and Special Events Director. April is as organized as she is pleasant and as dedicated as she is talented. April has over 20 years experience in sales and marketing, distribution and new market launches. Today that experience shapes DfG’s model for reaching and empowering more girls and women effectively. April recently received the 2015 Young Mother of the Year Award for WA State through American Mother International. In addition, she has been awarded the 2015 Ruby Award by Soroptimist International for making a difference for women through her charitable efforts. She met her husband, a WA native, 25 years ago and has been in WA ever since. She has two wonderful children. In her spare time she enjoys running, hiking, baking, reading and most importantly, spending time with her family.
April Haberman - US Program and Special Events Director, USA
Emily Heezen – Resource Inventory Associate
Emily is our Material Girl... in a good way. She is the woman who fulfills your requests for PUL, labels and wholesale panties orders who unpacks, ooh's and ahh's over volunteer kit components sent into DfG headquarters. She also records financial contributions and incoming kit components and shares them on Facebook-- A truly vital role as that is one of the few ways we get to acknowledge the amazing contributions of volunteers. She fulfills global inventory queries.
Jill Miller - DfG New York City Program Director, New York USA
Jill is the founder of Days for Girls NYC Chapter and now adds her passion to Menstrual Hygiene Management supplies and women’s health education to her communications and environmental science background. She brings her strength for building coalitions to her position and has brought Congresswomen, media and NYC schools, prisons and city authorities together to tackle this issue for girls and women in poverty.
DfG Country Leaders
AUSTRALIA - Gloria Buttsworth – Founder and Country Director
CANADA - Vida Peterson Jones - Co-Founder and Country Director
In 2012, Gloria had a visit from her friend, who runs a children’s home, in Kitgum far-northern Uganda. The two got talking about the girls in the home and in particular their hygiene needs. The sad fact was that most could not afford sanitary products, and this deficiency created a vicious cycle of impoverishment. Gloria heard many sad stories of what happened when the girls had their period, and how eventually they simply didn’t go to school. The question occurred to Gloria: ‘‘What can I do?’’ The answer appeared in the form of the Days for Girls international. Gloria contacted Celeste Mergens, the founder of DfG in America, who asked if she would consider following up on inquiries they had from Australia. Gloria started a Chapter in Newcastle and is now coordinating inquiries for Australia. Gloria is continually grateful to be part of such a direct and effective key to empowering people and communities and bringing dignity and education to girls and women in the many countries.
Vida is a Rotarian and her passion for community service is decades strong. She and the two Diana's helped to found Days for Girls Canada. She went on to do the work to make DfG Canada a charity organization and today works tirelessly to work with Days for Girls Canadian teams and tell the world about DfG.
GHANA - Bernice & Prince Ankrah - Co-Founders and Country Directors
Bernice and Prince are loved by all who know them. Bernice is a fashion designer and owns her own sewing boutique. Prince is an IT professional. Together they make an unstoppable pair, dedicated to the work of Days for Girls. Bernice's story is moving and shows why she is so passionate about what we do. When you meet her, ask her to tell you about it. These two are ready to changes thousands of lives with the help of global DfG supporters.
GUYANA, South America - Miriam Lancaster - Founder and Country Coordinator
NEPAL - Dr. Usha Maharjan - Country Director
Dr. Usha is committed to social impact for her beautiful homeland of Nepal. She has been active in health and social services for years and we are delighted to have her join us with Days for Girls. Dr. Usha has been involved in social impact over most of her adult life working with many charities over the years. A medical doctor, she graduated from Tribhuvan University Nepal and has a Masters in Hospital Administration from Bangalore India. Passionate about women's issues she has loved Days for Girls mission since first meeting the founder in 2015 and discovering its ennobling mission. Dr. Usha also works with slum children on a regular basis having given up her position as the first female administrator of a 750 bed teaching hospital to work with charities she has never looked back. Usha sees a bright future for the women and children of Nepal. Usha loves being able to use her skills and education to serve others and she hopes that every girl in Nepal will have access to sanitary supplies by 2022 :)
UGANDA - Diana Tamale Nampeera - Co-Founder / Country Director
Diana has been with Days for Girls Uganda from the beginning. From a small one-room start-up to an award-winning program. She is as nice to work with as she is efficient and passionate about women's issues.
Days for Girls Board of Directors
Jacquie Scott – President of the Board
Meet Jacquie. She is a successful entreprenuer, running her own award-winning kitchen design business. She is also one of the most good-natured people you would ever meet and also has served as our all important International Distribution Director for the past4 years. This photo is one of our favorites. Jacquie is explaining how to use kits. Lucky us to have Jacquie on the team! The photo is by the one and only Cheyenne Eliss.
Jennifer North - Board Treasurer
Jennifer recently moved to Washington State from Ottawa, Canada and fell in love with what we are doing at Days for Girls. She is a CPA with over 25 years of experience in both the corporate and non-profit worlds. Her passions have always been about equalizing the playing field - and is committed to seeing every girl, everywhere have access to feminine hygiene.
Mary Jo Lewis - Board Secretary
Mary Jo is the co-owner of the Lynden Tribune and Print Company and for the last 30 years she has worked in marketing and sales for their family owned publishing company. After receiving her teaching certificate in education, she has been instrumental in creating several programs that promote literacy and academic achievement at their newspapers. She has a passion for children and education, so Days For Girls is an organization that she is excited to be involved with. She and her husband would love to travel to Africa to help distribute kits soon.
Dr. Karen Harris MD - OBGyn Advisor
Dr. Karen Harris is a Florida native. She graduated from Vassar College, attended medical school at the University of Florida and completed her residency training in OB-GYN at the Johns Hopkins Hospital.
Dr. Harris was the first female president of the Florida OB-GYN Society and continues to work with the state legislature to promote women’s health issues. She is also committed to community service as a Days for Girls volunteer and a devoted Girl Scout leader, she teaches young girls how to become tomorrow’s leaders. On a sunny day, when she is not at her clinic or speaking you can find this avid gardener enjoying working in her yard.
Janine Keblish - Partnership Development
Janine is a documentary consultant. She leads Project Thrive and has been with Days for Girls from our very first Distribution. Holder of our Guiness World Record (You can see it by clicking on Media > Videos and then scroll down to the record to learn more). A well-traveled humanitarian and beloved member of our team who has seen the difference it makes when girls can stay in school.
Dr. Arthur Maslow - OBgyn Advisor
Art is a distinguished recently retired physicial. Recent Medical Director, Women's Services at Franciscan Health System.
He has worked at Geisinger Health System and Studied MSc Microbiology and Immunology at Universty of N. Carolina and medicine and surgery at Philadelphia College of Osteopathic Medicine. He and his wife Beth has been part of Days for Girls since 2010.
International Country Leadership
Australia : Gloria Buttsworth
Canada: Vida Jones
New Zealand: Helen Griffin
Uganda: Diana Tamale Namperra
Days for Girls Regional Representatives:
Mountains Region - DfG Utah Debbie Young
Donald Mergens
Don was the first supporter of Days for Girls in the world and his support has never waivered. "Communities thrive when women receive the respect and support they need and deserve." He currently serves as travel and logistics coordinator for Days for Girls, and that's a big deal. A busy executive that takes time out to serve Days for Girls while sacrificing time with his best friend and wife of more than 30 years, Celeste Mergens. Ask anyone who knows him, you can bet that he's one of their favorite people. Days for Girls is truly gifted by his presence in support of our global teams. Thank you Don.