Meet the Team
kimika ross
she/they
Co-founder and Co-Executive Director
kimika is a Black, Queer, Feminist dedicated to advancing racial and reproductive justice. As a passionate HR professional, community and political organizer, she believes in embodying and living out your values and working for the benefit and advancement of Black, Indigenous and communities of color everywhere. She received an undergraduate degree from Northeastern University and a Master’s in Public Policy from Simmons University. Originally from Georgia, kimika has past the last 15 years in New England where they spend obscene amounts of time drinking coffee, reading and playing with their fur babies!
feyla mcnamara
she/they
Co-founder and Co-Executive Director
feyla mcnamara (Mohawk/Mi’kmaw) is a queer parent committed to the core values of reproductive justice: that it is our right to choose if and when we birth children, and our right to nurture children in safe and healthy environments. feyla is fiercely dedicated to approaching abortion funding holistically, and dreams of physical spaces throughout our communities where we can offer abortions and other reproductive health services, childcare, healthy food options, and education.
feyla entered movement spaces as a student organizer for the Gay, Lesbian, and Straight Education Network (GLSEN) in the early 2000s. She feels blessed to have been mentored by a badass group of Queer and BIPOC leaders who validated her thinking on oppressive systems through the lens of intersectionality; feyla swears these opportunities as a teenager saved her life. These experiences are foundational to how she views the world, with an emphasis on amplifying the voices of young people to create lasting change.
She enjoys reading to her family, binge watching television shows the rest of the world has already seen, and beading. She can be found outside going “This is nice.”
Cara Callahan
she/her
Co-founder and Director of Intake
Cara is a lifelong supporter of abortion and bodily autonomy. She is an abortion story teller and fierce advocate for reproductive justice. Cara spent a decade working for Planned Parenthood League of Massachusetts where she reshaped and reimagined how abortion funds could show up for patients. Cara was given the Shannon Lowney award for compassionate care in 2017 and again in 2022. Cara was an integral part of the organizing and winning of the election campaign for PPLM’s unionization with SEIU 1199. She sat on the bargaining committee for 7 months before departing to work for Tides full time. Cara dreams of a world where abortion funds are no longer needed but in the meantime her work with Tides aims to ensure that no one is ever turned away from abortion services due to an inability to pay.
She's been features several times in press, including:
​
Dale Gaddes
she/they
Director of Development
Dale is thrilled to join the Tides team as Director of Development, where she champions initiatives to advance equitable access to abortion in Massachusetts. Her work reflects a deep commitment to social justice, prioritizing community-centric and inclusive approaches to fundraising. Both in and outside of work, Dale actively advocates for equity, empowerment, and systemic change and believes strongly in abortion access and reproductive justice. She currently lives in Northampton with her two children, partner and dog, where she enjoys tending to her community garden plot, hiking, cooking, and exploring the area with her family.
As members of marginalized communities, we find ourselves equipt to do the necessary work of centering and working with the people most left out of reproductive care. We’re committed to the necessary work of unpacking our own bias in pursuit of equitable access.
Meet Our Board
The Board of Directors is composed of Massachuestts residents from across the state. Board members are responsible for the strategic visioning & governance of Tides with the support of the Co-Directors & staff.
The board meets monthly & is a commitment of about 5 - 10 hours a month. Tides’ covers the cost of travel, lodging & family care to support members in their work.
Interested in joining our board? Apply here!
The Board seeks members with experience in legal compliance and communications.
Heather Kho
they/any pronouns
Heather is a first generation queer FilAm committed to advocating for reproductive rights for all and believes in a world with accessible, affordable health care, including abortion services. They are a certified health education specialist with a long history working in health care as an LPN and presently a clinical informatics analyst at a health care center that provides gender affirming care for Massachusetts residents.
They currently live south of Boston and enjoys anime, manga and dungeons and dragons in their free time.
They may or may not look exactly like they are pictured here.
Amanda Kennedy
she/her
Amanda (she/her) joins the board as its Clerk. She is a passionate defender of abortion and reproductive justice. As the daughter of lesbian women who conceived her through artificial insemination, she believes all people deserve the ability to determine when or if they have children, and deserve support for their family creation.
Amanda is a college professor, with a PhD in Sociology. Her research interests include doulas and maternal mortality, body modification, and feminist pornography. She teaches classes on gender, medicine, covid-19, reproductive autonomy, and poverty.
Amanda is also involved in her home community of Waltham, doing work with Food Not Bombs, Waltham Gender Justice, and supporting progressive candidates. She lives with her platonic partner and their small (but ferocious) rescue pup. And when she isn’t teaching, fighting fascism, or relaxing with family and partners, you can find Amanda in her garden growing native pollinator plants, pulling invasive species, and harvesting veggies.
Tiffany Small
they/them
Tiffany Small, MSW, is a dynamic spokesperson in the local Reproductive Justice movement, with over 15 years of experience in youth development, advocacy, and organizing.
Holding a B.A. in Human Services from Villanova University, Tiffany has worked with diverse populations, fostering youth-adult partnerships and building key stakeholder relationships. With a strong commitment to health equity, Tiffany has led strategic planning, implemented equitable pay scales, and improved staff culture as a former executive director.
Most recently, Tiffany served as Deputy Director of Reprocare, a national organization focused on compassionate at-home abortion care. In their free time, Tiffany enjoys family, making memories, and exploring their Cabo Verdean heritage.
Kari Ross
they/them
Kari (they/them) is a queer, nonbinary Floridian who found their way to Boston by following their pursuit of reproductive justice and the belief that another world is possible.
Currently they work as a legal services attorney focusing on disability benefits and criminal record sealing. In their free time, they are usually being smothered with love by their cat Dolce, buying more plants they don't need, and counting down the days to the next hockey game.
Nick Thixton
they/he
Nick is a Jewish, transgender abortion storyteller who is passionate about abortion access. They had an abortion in Texas in 2017, and they share their story in the hopes that other trans people who need abortions will know they're not alone.
They previously volunteered with an abortion fund in Texas, and they are excited to continue that work here in Massachusetts. Nick approaches reproductive justice from a Jewish perspective, and they are always working to bring abortion and spirituality together.
They live in Massachusetts with their wife and three cats, and they like to knit, cross stitch, and read in their free time.