Our story
Our shared vision was inspired by our academic and clinical experiences working with women and girls living in challenging contexts, both in Canada and in humanitarian settings globally.
Why Vitala Global
We have a heart for addressing stigmatized sexual and reproductive (SRH) health topics such as safe comprehensive abortion care and family planning. We strive to empower women and girls living in settings where they face disproportionate barriers to accessing SRH tools and services. Our shared values, journeys and combined diverse experiences came together to create Vitala Global.
Our team
Our core team is based in North America, and our current project team members and partners can be found in the USA, Mexico, Dominican Republic, Venezuela, Argentina, Colombia, Ecuador, Germany and Spain. We are a completely remote organization that was set up as such even before the COVID19 pandemic.
Roopan Gill
Co-Founder of Vitala Global
Executive Director
Community, Research and Design Lead
Roopan is an obstetrician gynecologist with expertise in family planning and abortion care. She completed her training in Canada and holds a Masters in Public Health in Global Health from Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health. She has worked as an emergency obstetrician gynecologist in Nigeria and Yemen with MSF and most recently as their Women's Health Advisor supporting projects in countries such as Malawi, Chad and Pakistan.
She has previously worked with the World Health Organization (WHO) providing technical expertise to its Department of Sexual and Reproductive Health Research. She played a pivotal role in the WHO Essential Medicines List application to bring Mifepristone and the combination of Mifepristone and Misoprostol to its core list and was on the Evidence Review team for both their Medical Management of Abortion guidance and the recently launched Abortion Care guidelines. Roopan has published in peer-reviewed journals focussing on better understanding the challenges and needs of women and girls accessing reproductive and sexual healthcare needs.
She co-founded Vitala Global in 2020, based on her experiences working in the field as an obstetrician and in her research endeavors with global organizations, with the aim to co-design localized digital platforms to support abortion and contraception care for those living in the most challenging contexts, with projects in Venezuela and Colombia.
Roopan has had a number of media appearances with the most recent in Forbes as 1 of 7 female founders, leading the way in building inclusive and impact driven organizations.
When not musing about global women’s health, Roopan can be found deepening her yoga and meditation practice, adventure seeking around the world, in the sea or on her Peloton app.
Genevieve Tam
Co-Founder of Vitala Global
Director of Projects
Product and User Support Lead
Genevieve is a Canadian trained obstetrician gynecologist. She chose this specialty because she wanted to have the skills and knowledge to support women and adolescent girls around the world to have safe pregnancy, childbirth and postpartum experiences.
She holds a master’s degree in Public Health from the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine. She also volunteers with the Society of Obstetricians and Gynecologists of Canada Global Women’s Health Program and the Canadian Network for International Surgery as an instructor and editor for their capacity building training programs in low-resource settings.
Most recently she was the Gynecology Team Leader for Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) in a maternal health project for Syrian refugees, migrant workers, and marginalized Lebanese in Lebanon. She travels around the world with her diplomatic family and loves meeting new people and learning about new cultures! She is very excited to be a Co-Founder and Director of Projects for Vitala Global.
It is her dream and passion to work on projects that restore the balance for women and girls - they deserve to have the best possible chances to lead a happy healthy life no matter their circumstances!
Meet the Aya Contigo Team here
Special acknowledgements
Ninan Thampy, Finance Officer and Operations Lead, Vitala Global
Karla Despradel, UX/UI Researcher and Designer, Aya Contigo
Bianca Stifani, Co-Researcher and Family Planning Expert, Aya Contigo
Genesis Luigi, Community Liaison and Regional Activist, Aya Contigo
Ana Gomez, Illustrator, Aya Contigo
Kathryn Cleverley, Co-Researcher and Implementation Lead, Aya Contigo
Luisa Marval, Co-researcher and Community User Lead, Aya Contigo
Hillary Pearson, Co-researcher and Community User Liaison, myPostCare
Breanna Flynn, Co-researcher and Community User Liaison, Early Pregnancy Loss
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