Jenny Blasdell

Jenny
Blasdell joined NARAL Pro-Choice Maryland’s staff as Executive Director
in May 2008. Jenny attended University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
earning her BA in English with a minor in Spanish in 1995 and her JD in
1998. After interning at Legal Services of North Carolina during law
school, she spent a summer working at the National Abortion Federation
(NAF) in Washington, DC. Jenny joined NAF full time in 1999 and became
the Director of Public Policy in 2004, a position she held until
joining NARAL ProChoice Maryland. At NAF, Jenny was responsible for
policy analysis, advocacy, program development, and outreach. She
worked to improve access to abortion care for low-income women,
advocated against restrictions on mifepristone, and fought against the
Federal Abortion Ban. Jenny has presented on abortion access issues in
numerous settings, including the annual conferences of the National
Council of Jewish Women and Law Students for Reproductive Justice. She
is the author of a journal article about parental involvement laws
published in the American University Journal of Gender, Social Policy
and the Law, and was a nominee for a Women’s Information Network Young
Woman of Achievement Award in 2006. In her spare time, Jenny plays
soccer in the Washington Area Women’s Soccer League. Jenny and her
husband live in Silver Spring.

 

John W. Nugent

John has been a health care administrator for 35 years. He was CEO with Planned Parenthood of the Inland Northwest from 1997-2001 and has been CEO of Planned Parenthood of Maryland since 2001. Prior to this, John was the President/CEO of a hospice organization and a strong Planned Parenthood supporter. In 2009 John’s Planned Parenthood Federation of America CEO colleagues elected him to a two-year term on the national Chief Executive Officers Council.

John holds an MA in Ethics from San Francisco Theological Seminary and a BA in Philosophy from Gonzaga University. In addition to his health care administration experience, he has worked as an adjunct college philosophy instructor.

He is a graduate of Leadership Baltimore class of 2005, the 2006 Leadership Maryland class, the 2006 MANO Advocacy Leaders Program and The Harry and Jeanette Weinberg Fellows Program, class of 2008. John was a member of the recently completed Baltimore Babies Born Healthy Leadership in Action group.

John currently serves on the boards of the Washington Area Secular Humanists and Americans for Religious Liberty. He and his wife, Janet, are members of the Baltimore Ethical Culture Society, where John is currently the program chair and speaks quite frequently.