HC3’s Erin Portillo Nominated for 120 Under 40: The Next Generation of Family Planning Leaders

Erin Portillo

Erin Portillo, a Family Planning Program Officer II with the Health Communication Capacity Collaborative (HC3) has been nominated for the 120 under 40, a project organized by the Bill & Melinda Gates Institute for Population and Reproductive Health at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, with sponsorship from Bayer, to recognize future leaders in the area of family planning.

Shining a light on the “positive disruptions” made by young leaders in family planning, the 120 Under 40 effort showcases achievements and inspires others to model the behavior and build on the success of those recognized. One hundred twenty outstanding leaders under 40 will be chosen by 2020 – the year the Family Planning 2020 (FP2020) partnership aims to enable 120 million additional women and girls to access life-saving contraceptives and other reproductive health supplies.

When asked to describe Erin’s accomplishment’s, Allison Mobley, HC3’s Family Planning Team Lead said, “Erin is dedicated to building the capacity of other young family planning champions by developing and sharing social and behavior change communication (SBCC) tools and resources. She lead the development of the Urban Adolescent Sexual and Reproductive Health Social and Behavior Change Communication Implementation Kit (I-Kit). The I-Kit is for program managers and youth organizers working on sexual reproductive health, SBCC and adolescent issues. Erin is also a French-speaker – her language skills make her the perfect communicator to share these much-needed tools with implementing partners throughout Francophone countries. Also, Erin led the development of materials to increase youth  access to Long-Acting Reversible Contraceptives (LARCs) . These tools are in demand with over 20 organizations from 21 countries requesting to use the materials and adapt for their programs.”

“There are no limits to what Erin can do. She is a youth champion and family planning leader and will continue to do great things!”

As part of the nomination process, Erin described what sparked her passion for family planning:

“In high school, I regularly saw protestors (children among them) holding truly graphic signs, picketing a local clinic that provided contraceptive and abortion services. The notion that a woman should be shamed for making personal reproductive health choices, that such care should be harder to seek or that a provider should be intimidated for providing related care was appalling to me. The spark ignited then has since become a global career of championing family planning choice for all.”

Read more about Erin’s work and cast a vote for this dedicated young leader in the field of family planning.