Jennifer Childs Roshak

Life and education

Childs-Roshak grew up in New Hampshire. She attended Harvard University in Cambridge, Massachusetts, and after graduating with a degree in English, moved to New York City to work as an editor for the United Nations Population Fund. While in New York, she began volunteering at a Planned Parenthood facility. She attended medical school at Temple University in Philadelphia. She also has an MBA from the Boston University School of Management.

Childs-Roshak is married to Phillip Roshak. They have two children. She gave birth to her first child while in medical school, and her second while completing her residency at Maine Medical Center Family Practice Center.

Career

In 1993, Childs-Roshak became a primary care physician with a specialty in family medicine. She worked as a faculty physician at Maine Medical Center Family Practice Center, the same center where she completed her medical school residency. She then became the Vice President of Family Services at the Family Health Center of Worcester. She then moved to become the Medical Director of Quality at the Milford Regional Medical Center. In 2012 she joined Harvard Vanguard's internal medicine department as a physician. She later became the medical director of their facilities in Kenmore, Copley, and Post Office Square, under Atrius Health.

On November 23, 2015, Childs-Roshak became the president and chief executive officer of Planned Parenthood League of Massachusetts, and the President of the Planned Parenthood Advocacy Fund of Massachusetts. She is the first person with a medical degree to lead any Planned Parenthood in the United States, having filled the vacancy left by Marty Walz, who resigned from the position in January 2015.