Email: bkotlar@g.harvard.edu
Phone: 617-835-7949

Center of Excellence: https://www.hsph.harvard.edu/mch-center-excellence/

JIWC-specific areas of expertise: Incarceration and maternal health

Student opportunities available? Yes, for Harvard T.H. Chan students

Funding details: Through Harvard T.H. Chan CoE

What makes you passionate about this work?

“I began working with justice-involved women as a Chaplaincy Intern at Lee Arrendale State Prison in 2012. While there, I learned about the experiences of women who had been pregnant and given birth while incarcerated. In collaboration with the Chaplaincy team and Rollins School of Public Health, I designed and implemented pregnancy and postpartum-related programming for women incarcerated in Georgia state prisons. This initiative later grew into the nonprofit organization Motherhood Beyond Bars (motherhoodbeyond.org). This work is incredibly important to promote and elevate the health and wellbeing of families impacted by incarceration in the United States. I am honored to be a part of it.”

What community-engaged JIWC work are you currently doing?

“I continue to work with Motherhood Beyond Bars, sitting on the board and advising on data collection and program evaluation activities.”

What research-practice collaborations are you the most excited to work on?

“I am recently very interested in re-entry and family reunification for justice-involved women with young children. I would love to collaborate with nonprofit organizations and departments of child and family services to explore barriers and opportunities to family unity for women re-entering their communities.”