Postpartum Disorders: Don't Suffer Unnecessarily

Guest Bio: Joy Burkhard, Founder of 2020 Mom

Joy Burkhard is Founder, Executive Director and Board Chair of 2020 Mom, a non-profit formed in 2011, formerly known as the California Maternal Mental Health Collaborative. She is also a leader of the California Task Force on Maternal Mental Health, which was formed by a resolution passed by the California State Legislature and funded in 2015 by The California Endowment and the California Health Care Foundation.

In 2013, Burkhard founded the National Coalition for Maternal Mental Health (NCMMH), which brings together the country’s leading voices addressing maternal mental health issues, also referred to as perinatal mood and anxiety disorders, and currently serves as Chair of the alliance, which has 10 member organizations across the country.

Los Angeles-based 2020 Mom has become well known for its work convening, collaborating and inspiring change in the maternal mental health field. Recognizing doctors alone can’t fix the problem, 2020 Mom looked at the common denominators in a woman’s life during this time – 99% of women deliver at hospitals and 83% have health insurance – and identified the best practices in its framework for change, calling it the 2020 Mom Project.

Aware of a far-reaching shortage of trained providers addressing maternal mental health issues (or programs to school them), 2020 Mom partnered with a sister non-profit in 2013, Postpartum Support International, to launch a web-based training program.

Burkhard frequently travels to speak about maternal mental health and has appeared before such influential, policy-setting groups as the National Institute of Health Fellows. Recently, she was invited to join Stanford Medical School’s California Maternal Quality Care Collaborative Executive Committee, which works to end preventable morbidity, mortality and racial disparities in California maternity care.

In addition to her non-profit work, Burkhard is a compliance project manager for Cigna health insurance, where she has worked for 20 years and is responsible for leading a variety of complex, national projects. Her experience includes serving as the California compliance officer; engaging with regulators and others on complex topics like access to care; and has spanned from managing call center staff, to running large quality-improvement programs and accreditation.

Burhard’s first-hand knowledge of the complexities of health care-delivery systems, as well as her passion for large-scale, sustainable improvement projects, has fueled her work in maternal mental health.

Prior to founding 2020 Mom, Burkhard enjoyed a rich volunteer life with the Junior League, most recently as the Junior Leagues of California State Public Affairs Committee Co-Chair. She was recognized by the Junior League of Los Angeles in 2013 with its prestigious Founder’s Cup, presented to just four women in the past 85 years.  

Burkhard is a wife and the mother of two children Alex, seven, and Emelia, six.  She resides in Valencia, Calif.