Team Bios
Jessie Colbert (she/her) is the Founder and Executive Director of the Mass. PPD Fund, which she started in 2018 in response to a lack of adequate investment in new parent mental health. Her background includes over 20 years of nonprofit fundraising experience and a decade of systems change work at the Massachusetts State House, including as the first Director of the Ellen StoryCommission on Postpartum Depression.
Ashlyn Rizzo (she/her) is originally from South Carolina, but has lived in Massachusetts for almost 14 years. She has spent her career in logistics and supply chain - building out best in class delivery networks, e-commerce operations and distribution systems. Working for both startup companies and Fortune 500 businesses, Ashlyn has experience working across all levels of an organization. Formerly a board member at the Community Art Center in Cambridge, MA, she gained experience working in human resources and non-profit operations. Ashlyn is an avid sports fan, and even does a weekly podcast for the Carolina Panthers. She is married to her husband Brian, and they have one son, Ollie. As a PPD survivor herself, Ashlyn is very excited to be a part of the board to make sure others, like herself, receive the best care opportunities available.
Dr. Claire Levesque (she/her) is Chief Medical Officer for Commercial Products at Point32Health (the parent company of Harvard Pilgrim Health Care and Tufts Health Plan) and is responsible for clinical leadership, medical management, and medical cost control. She works with providers to develop member-centric programs to meet complex needs with a focus on health equity. She is a graduate of the University of Vermont College of Medicine and completed residency and fellowship training at the University of Virginia. Board certified in neurology, she specialized in the care of patients with dementia, intellectual disabilities and behavioral issues. Before starting at the health plan fourteen years ago, she was assistant professor of neurology at Boston University, founding and managing partner of a practice in the Boston area, president of the medical staff at a long-term acute care facility and chief of neurology at a community hospital. Dr. Levesque has also published journal articles, book chapters and short stories.
Dr. Lucy Chie (she/her) is OBGYN Director at South Cove Community Health Center. She leads the OBGYN Community Health Initiative at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, is an Assistant Professor of Obstetrics, Gynecology and Reproductive Biology at Harvard Medical School, and is mom of two teenagers.
Dr. Nicole Christian-Brathwaite (she/her/hers) is the CEO of Well Minds Psychiatry and Consulting Company, PLLC. She is a double Board-certified Adult and Child and Adolescent Psychiatrist, nationally recognized for her work in perinatal and post-partum mental health, trauma-informed care, telepsychiatry, mental health in communities of color, school psychiatry, implicit bias and racism in mental health. Dr. Christian-Brathwaite is a member of the Medical Advisory Board for the Pro-Football Hall of Fame Health. Dr. Christian Brathwaite has been featured in the Boston Globe, NPR, NY Times, The Roland Martin Show, The Washington Post, Wall Street Journal and numerous podcasts. She has delivered Grand Rounds at MGH, Mayo Clinic, University of Kansas, Einstein Hospital, Boston Children's Hospital and many others.
Carolyn Coleman, MSW, (she/her) is a Social Worker and Supervisor with the Boston Public Health Commission’s Healthy Baby Healthy Child (HBHC) Program. HBHC is a community-based program promoting infant survival, positive birth outcomes, and family unity through free, voluntary, and confidential home visiting services. Carolyn is dedicated to the health and wellbeing of women, children, and families in the City of Boston, particularly those living in communities that are disproportionately impacted by infant mortality and other health disparities. She is also committed to children’s mental health, and previously worked as a Clinical Social Worker for the Boston Public Schools, Family Services of Greater Boston, and the Massachusetts Department of Social Services.
Dan Healy lives in the Boston suburbs with his wife and three children. He is a transactional real estate lawyer who enjoys playing golf, coaching baseball, performing moderate home improvement projects, and supporting his beloved Boston sports teams.
Rep. Ellen Story (she/her) is a former 12-term Massachusetts State Representative from the 3rd Hampshire District, comprised of the towns of Amherst, Pelham and precinct 1 of Granby. Rep. Story was a member of the leadership team in the House of Representatives. Among her proudest accomplishments in the Legislature were: the year 2000 passage of the Buffer Zone Law, which established a buffer zone around people entering and exiting family planning facilities; the 2001 passage of “Stuck Kids” legislation, which tracked and provided solutions for children stuck in hospital beds when residential mental health placements were unavailable; the 2010 creation of the Special Legislative Commission on Postpartum Depression, a national model, now named in her honor; and the Pay Equity Bill and Pregnant Workers’ Fairness Act, signed into law in 2018.
Representative Story was raised in Texas. She received her undergraduate degree from the University of Texas, where she protested for an end to segregation on campus and in the City of Austin. After moving to the Town of Amherst in 1972, Rep. Story spent 17 years at the Family Planning Council of Western Massachusetts (now known as Tapestry Health), rising to the position of Associate Executive Director. During this time she became active in Amherst public education and Town Meeting. Ms. Story also worked on numerous local and statewide campaigns. In 1992, she became the first woman to represent Amherst in the Legislature.
Rep. Story holds a master’s of education from Cambridge College, and received an Honorary Alumna award from the University of Massachusetts–Amherst in 1998. She currently sits on the boards of Cooley Dickinson Hospital, the Treehouse Foundation, and the Mass. PPD Fund.