Staff & Board
Meet the NARAL Pro-Choice Maryland Staff! Jenny Blasdell Executive Director
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. Melissa Kleder Deputy Director
Melissa is a native of Cleveland, Ohio, who joined the NARAL Pro-Choice Maryland team in July 2007. She received a BA from The Ohio State University, where she studied sociology and women’s studies. She relocated to Silver Spring after completing her Masters in Gender Studies from the University of Essex. Her past work experience includes serving as a women's advocate at the Domestic Violence Center in Cleveland, and as a patient counselor/advocate, PR Coordinator, and intake staff at two Cleveland area abortion clinics, PRETERM and the Cleveland Surgi-Center. Melissa manages our EC Access & Truth Revealed Crisis Pregnancy Center campaigns, organizes 5 student activist groups, coordinates our community festival schedule, maintains our Community Action Teams, and directs many other research/policy/organizing projects. Steve Ammidown Political Intern Steve Ammidown arrived in Silver Spring by way of Mansfield, MA, Harrisburg, PA and Champaign, IL. He is currently a student at University of Maryland, Baltimore County, majoring in Sociology with a minor in Gender & Women’s Studies. Steve has been involved in the reproductive justice movement for several years, serving as a volunteer and board member at Planned Parenthood of the Susquehanna Valley. He served as co-chair of that organization’s Fund for Choice, which provides funding for women unable to afford the costs associated with an abortion. Steve is excited to be a part of NARAL Pro-Choice Maryland, and has enjoyed diving into the craziness that is Maryland politics. Abigail Burman Programs Intern Abigail Burman is a student at the Phillips Academy, Andover. When she is not hunched over her schoolbooks, she serves as the co-editor of The Young Idealist, a policy journal written by teens, and is active in Girl Scouts. She has previously interned for the National Peace Corps Association and volunteered for the Obama Campaign. Abigail hopes to major in Political Science or International Relations in college and eventually earn a law degree. Ronni Getz Programs Intern Ronni is a Bethesda native currently in her senior year at the Charles E. Smith Jewish Day School in Rockville, MD. In her junior year, she wrote a research paper on Homosexuality in 20th-century America, and has been interested in the study of gender and sexuality ever since. She hopes that interning with NARAL Pro-Choice will expand her range of knowledge on Women’s Studies, and she looks forward to pursuing Women’s and Gender Studies in college. When she is not doing schoolwork, Ronni directs a local teen a cappella group, participates in her school a cappella choir, is an editor for her school yearbook, and does wheel-thrown pottery. |
