Virginia-based 501(c)(3) Nonprofit
About IAWH Health
We exist because the healthcare system was not built with every woman in mind. We are building the organization that should have existed all along.
Who We Are
The Institute for the Advancement of Women's Health (IAWH) is a Virginia-based 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization. We were founded on a conviction that women deserve healthcare systems, information, and community that see them as whole people, not just collections of reproductive organs or chronic conditions.
Our mission is to broaden the understanding of women's health beyond reproductive and sexual health, raising awareness and increasing knowledge about a woman as a whole person, considering her sociology and the many social determinants that shape her health and well-being.
We connect rural, urban, suburban, and multicultural women of all ages with evidence-based information to support informed healthcare decision-making. We conduct and apply community-based public health research that leads to women becoming more knowledgeable and better-informed participants in their own care.
Our Approach
Everything IAWH builds is grounded in three principles that shape how we work, what we publish, and who we serve.
Evidence First
Every program IAWH delivers and every article the journal publishes is grounded in verifiable evidence. We do not promote wellness trends or unproven interventions. We take the research seriously, translate it into plain language, and stand behind what we publish.
Community Centered
IAWH listens before it builds. Our programs are developed with community input, tested in community settings, and designed to meet women where they are, not where a healthcare system assumes them to be. The women we serve are partners, not patients.
Equity Driven
Health disparities are not random. They are the predictable result of systems that were designed without certain communities in mind. IAWH names that clearly and builds programs that address it directly, with particular attention to the health needs of Black women and women in underserved communities.
Leadership
Cheryl J. Thompson, MSPH
Co-Founder and Executive Director
Cheryl J. Thompson is a public health practitioner, health equity advocate, and the Co-Founder and Executive Director of IAWH Health. She holds a Master of Science in Public Health and brings deep expertise in chronic disease management, women's health, and the intersection of social determinants with health outcomes.
Cheryl co-founded IAWH Health with Janine Payne, MPH, on the conviction that community-based public health research and plain-language health journalism could shift the relationship between women and their own healthcare. Under her leadership, IAWH has developed HeartStrong℠ Community, launched a monthly health journal now reaching nearly 600 subscribers, and cultivated partnerships with leading academic and healthcare institutions across the country.
The organization has mentored nine American University Public Health Scholars through IAWH's long-standing field placement partnership, guiding students through real-world research, health communications, and program development that goes well beyond the classroom.
Board of Directors
Bonnie Ohri
Board President
Dr. Groesbeck Parham
Board Member
Thomas Porter
Board Member
Board Member
Incoming
Board Member
Incoming
What Women Say
For the first time in years, I actually understand what my numbers mean. Not because my doctor finally explained them, but because IAWH did. That changed everything about how I show up to my appointments.
I came for the information and stayed for the community. I did not know how much I needed other women who were navigating the same things I was, until I found them here.
IAWH gives me something I can take back to my doctor. Real questions, grounded in real research, in language I can actually use. I am not walking into appointments guessing anymore.
This is the kind of health education that should have been available to my mother. I am grateful it is available to me, and I tell every woman I know about it.
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IAWH program, participant, or community gathering photo
IAWH Health runs on community support. Your gift keeps the journal publishing, the programs running, and the research moving forward.
