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Eleni Z. Tsigas has been the Executive Director of the Preeclampsia Foundation since January 2009. Prior to that position, she served in a variety of volunteer capacities almost since the organization's founding in 2000, including Director of Communications and serving on the Board of Directors for six years, two of them as its Chair and Acting Executive Director.
Working with a dedicated volunteer staff and board, Eleni helped the
organization grow from 100% volunteer-based
with very limited |
| funds, to a financially sustainable, mission-specific, professionally-run organization, with an active research and education agenda, and a dynamic corporate partnership program.
She was also instrumental in developing the awareness survey that garnered over 1,300 responses and helped solidify the Foundation's position that women are not routinely informed about the warning signs of this fairly common and life-threatening disorder of pregnancy. Other contributions have included securing media coverage in
Redbook, Pregnancy, and Glamour magazines, as well as several major metro newspapers, radio, and online.
Before leaving the corporate world for her non-profit contributions, Eleni spent 15 years in the public relations and strategic communications field, including 8 years with Waggener Edstrom Worldwide serving primarily technology and bioscience companies such as Microsoft and AT&T Wireless. She was also the founder and director of the agency's broadcast PR services, and provided media training
- in the United States and in Europe - to CEO's and company spokespeople. She has also hosted a public affairs program and served as public relations manager for a television station in Maryland.
She is married, and has had two of her three pregnancies seriously impacted by preeclampsia, in 1998 and 1999. Since the death of her daughter, Eleni has become a tireless advocate for others who suffer from the sometimes devastating impact of preeclampsia. She is passionate about increasing attention, research funding and medical understanding of this disorder of pregnancy.
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