Cowley named to head A Step Ahead Chattanooga

Mandy Cowley has been named executive director of the contraceptive education and access program A Step Ahead Chattanooga.

Cowley was selected following a national search for a new leader to replace Susan Vandergriff, who announced earlier this year that she would be leaving the nonprofit sector to pursue professional entrepreneurial goals.

Cowley previously served as an associate executive director with the IRIS Domestic Violence Center in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, overseeing operations of one of the oldest and largest domestic violence agencies in the state of Louisiana, serving a seven-parish region. Most recently, she has worked as an administrator for the Unitarian Universalist Church in Chattanooga.

“I fundamentally believe that every person should be able to decide if and when it’s the right time for them to become pregnant,” said Cowley. “I am so honored to come alongside the staff, board, volunteers and supporters of A Step Ahead Chattanooga who are doing incredible work to ensure that everyone in our region has access to resources like education, information and birth control that make that possible.”

A Step Ahead Chattanooga provides education, information and access to free birth control in 18 counties in southeast Tennessee, north Georgia and north Alabama. This summer, ASAC will reach the milestone of connecting 5,000 area women with birth control since its founding in 2014.

Cowley earned a master’s degree in sociology from Louisiana State University and a bachelor’s in psychology at Centenary College of Louisiana.