Joy Burkhard

Joy is the founder and executive director of 2020 Mom. Joy was inspired to found 2020 Mom after several of her worlds collided, including losing her little brother to suicide, learning the complexities of the U.S. health and mental health system while working for a health insurer, becoming directly involved in health care policy change and experiencing the realities of birth and the postpartum period with her firstborn. She recognized she was in a unique position to learn why mothers (and others) were not being treated for mental health disorders in the same way they were for medical conditions.

She has a passion for quality and innovation and believes that the government's role should be to keep its people safe and to that end, establish baseline requirements for businesses so the U.S. can count on our health delivery system. She also believes it's business's role to surpass baseline requirements and delight people with the best possible care.

Joy is known as a collaborator as well as a fierce advocate representing the interests of our largest health care consumers – mothers.

Her most gratifying projects at 2020 Mom have included hosting the organization's annual FORUMs, which brings together hundreds of change agents pushing the envelope in the fields of maternal and mental health as well as the National Coalition for Maternal Mental Health, which convenes non-profits with shared interests in addressing gaps in maternal mental health.

Joy worked for the insurer Cigna where she spent nearly 25 years. She served as a regulatory affairs leader and has a passion for quality improvement and innovation. Joy is a member of the American College of Obstetrics and Gynecology expert workgroup on Maternal Mental Health and the California Maternal Quality Care Collaborative, the nation’s first agency working to solve the U.S.’s maternal mortality crisis.

She has been recognized for her leadership and vision with several awards, including receiving The American Public Health Association’s Maternal Child Health Leadership and Advocacy Award, California's American Mother of Achievement Award, the "Emerging Leader" award in women's health from the federal Health and Human Services Agency, Office of Women's Health and Cigna's Volunteer of the Year award.

Joy lives with her husband and two Jr. High school-age children in Los Angeles, California.