Celebrating My Mentor and Friend, Christy Turlington Burns.

We toasted to Every Mother Counts 15th Anniversary celebration in New York City.

Here I am celebrating 15 years of an incredible organization I love so much and am very proud to support at Casa Cipriani in New York with maternal health powerhouse, Christy Turlington Burns.

Watching her organization, Every Mother Counts (EMC) grow and thrive over the past 15 years (!) has been an honor. As “Mother of the Year” honoree Chelsea Clinton reminded us, “Every Mother Counts is not just a tag line, but a call to action.”

Their work keeps me so focused on where to intervene so no woman dies giving life. Women’s lives matter and every mother must count.

This month Christy Turlington Burns was also named to the inaugural TIME 100 Philanthropy list celebrating the 100 most influential people shaping the future of giving! I cannot think of someone more deserving.

“This honor recognizes Christy for how she turned her personal experience of a childbirth complication into her life’s mission, driving awareness and action on maternal health and supporting millions of women, families, and healthcare providers through the founding of Every Mother Counts, and for the maternal health movement that Every Mother Counts has helped inspire over the organization’s 15 years,” Time says.

EMC says this recognition for their founder and president, and the work of EMC, is “especially meaningful amidst the increasing attacks levied at maternal health and reproductive rights in recent months in the United States. Progress on maternal mortality rates has stagnated and policies, from the overturning of Roe v. Wade to potential rollbacks to Medicaid to the dismantling of global health support, threaten to reverse course altogether. However, none of this is inevitable.”

This event is one I love going to every year. On top of a great cause, it’s such a great opportunity to catch up, meet with and celebrate alongside so many women’s health champions.

We are truly all in this together.

Thank you, @everymomcounts @casaciprianinyc! And of course thank you to my champion and friend, Christy.