I am excited to introduce myself to you as the new Executive Director of The Guiding Star Project! My name is Laura Ricketts and I hail from the Shenandoah Mountains of Virginia.  I am privileged to be a wife and mother to 4 children at home and 3 in Eternity.  When not homeschooling and chasing around an incredibly energetic three year old, I will be happily working for The Guiding Star Project.  
I thought you might like to meet me, although I must confess that I am terrible at writing about myself; so perhaps you would rather hear what I believe and why I am so thrilled to be involved with this amazing organization.   I have a long history of work in various aspects of what has come to be called the New Feminist Movement.  I operated a home for Homeless Pregnant Mothers, and lived with the ladies and their babies.  I have given talks and workshops on femininity and the gift of being a woman.  I was blessed to have 4 natural births – three at birth centers and one at home! – and have a heart for mothering, and adore the midwifery model of care.  At one time my husband and I were discussing opening a health center for women that would offer femininity and family-affirming services. I enjoy teaching women about their fertility and their ability to birth, nourish and care for their children.  I am in awe of the genius of woman and my heart aches when I see femininity cheapened, abused, and exploited.
In 2010 I decided to take matters into my own hands and go a slightly different route. I began working for a Presidential Political Campaign.  Between 2010 and the recent election I was a paid political operative and strategist working on 2 Presidential Campaigns and 1 United States Senate Campaign.  I learned a lot.  I met amazing people, and I am more convinced than ever that we are in need of a cultural change in America, not a political one.   It is only through a cultural change that we will see women respected as mothers.  It is only through a cultural change that we will see compatibility between mothering and the workplace.  It is through a cultural change that we will see men and women embrace the complementarity of the sexes, and women will realize their awesome gift of fertility.  It is through a cultural change that babies will be safe in the womb, as they should be, and women presented with life affirming options if they face a pregnancy crisis.  It is through a shift in the cultural mentality that birth and breastfeeding will be accepted as natural and beautiful.
With these thoughts swirling in my mind I met Leah Jacobson and the women who comprise the Board of Directors for The Guiding Star Project.   They were doing it!  They were working towards this cultural change by providing  places for women to come and be treated as women!  Beautiful, strong, feminine women! Everything clicked into place, and here I am introducing myself to you!
I look forward to the work that lays ahead of me and I truly look forward to the amazing things I know are in store for The Guiding Star Project. How very blessed I am to be a part of it!