Project Team

Project Partners

The U.S. End FGM/C Network

The U.S. End FGM/C Network (the U.S. Network) is a collaborative group of survivors, civil society organizations, foundations, activists, policymakers, researchers, healthcare providers, and others committed to promoting the abandonment of FGM/C in the U.S. and around the world.

The U.S. Network’s mission is to eliminate FGM/C by connecting, supporting, elevating, and advocating on behalf of and with diverse U.S. stakeholders engaged in prevention, education, and care.

The U.S. Network functions as a platform that:

Facilitates collaboration and information sharing
Empowers grassroots organizations and supports survivors
Builds bridges between U.S.-based and international efforts to end FGM/C
Influences policies and laws on FGM/C
Leads both national and global efforts to frame the issue of FGM/C in a broad and intersectional manner

Role in the U.S.

The U.S. Network serves as the main source of information and the lead advocacy voice in the United States on ending this harmful practice.

Visit U.S. End FGM/C Network

Caitlin LeMay

Executive Director

Kaitlin Mitchell

Policy and Advocacy Coordinator

Isatou Jeng

Training and Technical Assistance Coordinator

Sahiyo

Sahiyo is an award-winning organization, formed in 2015 as an advocacy collective of South Asian survivors of FGC. It was created to address the lack of acknowledgment of FGC as a form of gender-based violence and child abuse impacting U.S. girls.

‘Sahiyo’ is the Bohra Gujarati word for female friend and reflects a mission to empower Asian and other communities to end FGC and create positive social change through dialogue, education, and collaboration based on community involvement.

Sahiyo utilizes collaborative grassroots campaigns and storytelling techniques to train communities to lead this change. The organization also partners with frontline workers (i.e., healthcare providers) to create culturally sensitive systems of care for survivors and works with the government to address policy-level change.

Sahiyo has been at the forefront of the movement to end FGC in the United States and has received international recognition for its community-based approach to addressing FGC. In 2018, Sahiyo was recognized by the Population Reference Bureau as one of six inspiring organizations working to end FGC.

Visit Sahiyo

Olivia Harris

MA Community Training & Technical Assistance Coordinator

Mariya Taher

Executive Director & Cofounder

Collaborative in Health Equity at UMass Chan

The Collaborative in Health Equity (CHE) is a center at UMass Chan Medical School committed to centering the voices of marginalized communities to share best practices and enhance fully inclusive racial and gender equity within and across institutions.

CHE aims to advance health equity across:

Clinical care
Research
Education
Community engagement

The center harnesses both institution-wide and community-based resources to:

Promote trust and inclusion
Support the recruitment, retention, and promotion of individuals from communities with limited engagement (CLE) across learners, faculty, staff, and leadership

UMass Chan Medical School

Domenica Perrone

Director of Community Engagement and Outreach

Crista Johnson-Agbakwu

Executive Director

Samantha Doxsey

Program Coordinator

Massachusetts Community Health and
Healthy Aging Funds

The Massachusetts Community Health and Healthy Aging Funds (the Funds) were created in January 2017 when the Massachusetts Department of Public Health (DPH) completed a landmark revision of its Determination of Need (DoN) regulation, which authorized the creation of these Funds.

The Funds invest in initiatives in three main areas:

Policy, Systems, and Environmental Changes: Working on long-lasting, community-driven changes that make it easier to lead healthy lives and reduce health inequities, including racial patterns of segregation in communities and a lack of affordable housing production.
Community Health Improvement Planning: Organizing and coordinating efforts that convene multi-sector partnerships to collectively set and address community health goals.
Healthy Aging: Addressing policies and systems that increase opportunities for healthy aging.

In August 2024, DPH announced the 2024 awardees of The Funds. In total ~$15.8M in grants will support 26 lead organizations and more than 40 of their partner organizations implementing strategies, ultimately impacting 458 cities and towns across Massachusetts. All of these organizations, including Sahiyo, have committed to leading efforts to address the root causes of health inequities by disrupting systemic barriers to health and tackling institutional and structural racism head-on.

Sahiyo has partnered with The U.S. End FGM/C Network and UMass Chan Medical School Collaborative in Health Equity to develop systems of care and response for the prevention of female genital mutilation/cutting (FGM/C) and support for survivors in Massachusetts. This project will lead efforts to address the root causes of health inequities by disrupting systemic barriers to health and tackling institutional and structural racism head-on.

For more information email: Collaborative in Health Equity

Visit MA Health Funds

Collaborating to Prevent FGM/C