Planned Parenthood Southwest Ohio Announces Kersha Deibel as New President & CEO

Kersha Deibel, MPH, MSW
President and CEO
Planned Parenthood Southwest Ohio

CINCINNATI (February 11, 2019) – Planned Parenthood Southwest Ohio Region (PPSWO) today announced that its Board of Directors has chosen Kersha Deibel, MPH, MSW as the non-profit health care and education organization’s next President and CEO. Deibel will succeed Jerry Lawson, previous president and CEO who recently retired. 

“Kersha comes to us with an abundance of experience in leading, educating and advocating for our patients,”said Sally Cuni, Chair, Board of Directors for PPSWO. “She has an incredible passion for providing care, no matter what, and has devoted her entire career to reproductive freedom for all people.”

Deibel brings with her more than 8 years of leadership and organizing experience with Planned Parenthood Federation of America and Planned Parenthood Action Fund in Washington, DC. She’s served, in the past, as the President of the DC Abortion Fund and she has experience working in a Planned Parenthood St. Louis health center as a Senior Patient Educator, where she interviewed patients and provided counseling of health care options.  

No stranger to southwest Ohio, Deibel attended the University of Cincinnati and became a Planned Parenthood patient for the first time in the Planned Parenthood health center on Auburn Avenue. Her experience is enhanced by her Bachelor of Social Work from UC and a Master of Public Health and Master of Social Work from Washington University in St. Louis. 

“It’s kind of incredible to think that over 13 years ago I walked through the doors of the health center on Auburn Avenue as a patient seeking access to birth control. And, now, I sit in this seat as President and CEO of Planned Parenthood Southwest Ohio,”said Deibel. “But that’s really what it’s all about. It’s about ensuring our patients, the people who come to us every single day, have the ability and the resources to make their dreams a reality. This has been a vision of mine and I’m thrilled to be coming back home to join this incredibly talented team.”

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About Planned Parenthood Southwest Ohio Region

Serving 20 counties in Southwestern Ohio and three in Northern Kentucky, Planned Parenthood Southwest Ohio strengthens the community by providing access to high quality health care and education that empower people to make informed private decisions about their reproductive lives and sexual health. With seven health centers throughout the region, it is Planned Parenthood’s goal to provide reproductive health care services to any individual who wants or needs them, to advocate public policies which guarantee each individual's access to services, to advocate individual’s right to privacy and their ability to make reproductive decisions free of coercion, and to provide human sexuality education which enhances the health and well-being of individuals in the community. Planned Parenthood Southwest Ohio Region is an affiliate of Planned Parenthood Federation of America.