Jessica Bowers

Jessica Bowers is the Portfolio Director with Every Mother Counts where she is responsible for the management of grants supporting projects that have demonstrated success in decreasing maternal mortality and disability in regions that have the highest rates of maternal deaths in the world.

Before joining EMC, Jessica was the Senior Program Manager of the Universal Access Project at the United Nations Foundation, where she helped build out and manage a large, multi-stakeholder initiative aimed at reaching Millennium Development Goal 5 (Improve Maternal Health) through support of U.S. and global advocacy on reproductive and maternal health.  In this role, Jessica was also responsible for the management and monitoring and evaluation of an annual grants portfolio of $2.5 million.

Prior to that, Jessica was an independent consultant to organizations such as CARE, the International Center for Research on Women, the Population Council, the UN Foundation, and UNFPA, conducting research and providing technical assistance on a broad range of gender equity-focused projects focused on the health and social and economic development of women and girls in developing countries. She also worked to develop and evaluate projects targeting vulnerable girls and youth in sub-Saharan Africa, including in Kenya and Liberia. 

Jessica holds an M.A. in International Development Studies from The George Washington University with a focus on Gender and Development, and a B.A. in Anthropology from American University. Originally from upstate New York, she lives with her husband and two daughters in Washington, DC.