Healthy Moms, Healthy Babies America Appoints Robin Reck as Executive Director

Veteran communications and coalition strategist to lead bipartisan national campaign founded by Olivia Walton to cut U.S. maternal mortality in half within five years.

NEW YORK CITY, July 17, 2026 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Healthy Moms, Healthy Babies America (HMHBA) today announced that Robin Reck has been named Executive Director. In the role, Reck will lead the bipartisan national campaign, founded by Olivia Walton, working to make the United States the safest country in the world to give birth – with a goal of cutting the U.S. maternal mortality rate in half within five years.

Reck joins HMHBA after more than eight years at Emerson Collective, where she led strategic communications, cross-sector initiatives, and campaigns, and served as a senior advisor to the organization’s founder. Throughout her career, she has specialized in building advocacy coalitions and shaping high-stakes campaigns that bring together partners who don’t always agree. During the early days of the COVID-19 pandemic, she co-created America’s Food Fund, partnering with World Central Kitchen, Feeding America, and No Kid Hungry to raise more than $44 million for families in crisis. Earlier in her career, she helped build the Compact of Mayors, uniting thousands of city leaders across the political spectrum ahead of the Paris climate talks.  

She joins HMHBA as the organization expands its national coalition and deepens collaboration with healthcare systems, employers, policymakers, and community leaders to accelerate the adoption of proven maternal health solutions. Her appointment marks HMHBA's transition from building a movement to driving implementation—bringing together public and private sector leaders to scale solutions that can save mothers' lives.

"America knows how to keep moms alive — what we’ve lacked is the coordination and will to do it everywhere, for everyone,” said Olivia Walton, founder of Healthy Moms, Healthy Babies America. "What we need now is execution at scale, and no one builds coalitions and delivers like Robin. I couldn’t be prouder to have her leading HMHBA as we work to make America the safest place in the world to give birth.”

The need is urgent. The U.S. has the highest maternal mortality rate of any other developed nation, a rate that has doubled over the past four decades. According to the Centers for Disease Control, 87% of pregnancy-related deaths are preventable. Poor maternal health outcomes also carry a steep economic toll, costing the U.S. an estimated $165billion a year, nearly 1% of GDP, according to analysis from Heartland Forward.

"The solutions already exist. We know what works. What has been missing is the will to bring them together at scale," said Robin Reck, Executive Director of Healthy Moms, Healthy Babies America and mother of four. "This is one of the most solvable problems in American healthcare, and it’s one every employer, every health system, every policymaker, and every community has a direct stake in solving. I’ve spent my career bringing people from different sectors and beliefs together around common ground. And, I cannot think of more urgent common ground than making sure moms survive childbirth and go home to their healthy families.”

Since launching in 2026, Healthy Moms, Healthy Babies America has worked to align policymakers, healthcare providers, business leaders, faith leaders, and philanthropic funders  around evidence-based solutions to improve maternal health outcomes. Through bipartisan collaboration and cross-sector partnerships, the organization is working to ensure moms and families have access to care before, during, and after pregnancy. For more information, please visit www.hmhba.org or follow @hmhbamerica.

Leila Roberts
4157132009
leila.roberts@ingeborg.com

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