Francine Coeytaux, MPH, founder of the Pacific Institute for Women's Health, is a public health specialist with extensive experience in the development and evaluation of family planning and reproductive health programs. She is best known for her work on comprehensive reproductive health services, abortion and new reproductive technologies. Prior to founding the Pacific Institute, she was an Associate at the Population Council in New York where she initiated a worldwide program to address the problem of unsafe abortion, collaborated on the public introduction of NORPLANT and RU 486, and helped develop reproductive health activities in Sub Saharan Africa. In addition to her international experience, Ms. Coeytaux worked for many years in California, USA. Most notably, she contributed in the 1970s to the creation of Planned Parenthood's first adolescent outreach programs in San Francisco and designed a health program for migrant children in five rural counties of California. Ms Coeytaux is a women’s health advocate and an experienced researcher, combining both qualitative and quantitative skills, and has published extensively. She currently sits on the Board of Directors of EngenderHealth, WomanCare Global and Women’s Dignity. She has consulted for many organizations including the World Health Organization, the International Planned Parenthood Federation, the World Bank, the Compton Foundation, and served on the State of California’s Advisory Committee on Human Cloning. Ms. Coeytaux is a citizen of France and of the United States. She speaks French and Spanish fluently, has lived in Tunisia, Peru, Nicaragua, Switzerland and the United States, and has worked in extensively in sub-Saharan Africa and Latin America. She has a BA from Stanford University and an MPH from UCLA. She lives in Los Angeles, California, with her husband and their 21 year old son and daughter.