Brittney Crystal

Brittney is the Founder and Executive Director of The Iris Fund.

Brittney has an BA and MA in International Relations from Lehigh University and Webster University in Geneva. She’s worked at the United Nations in Switzerland and Save the Children with a focus on operational excellence and emergency response.

Among the projects she was most proud to work on at Save the Children were emergency deployments to the Philippines and Japan and rolling out a Continuous Improvement Program. Now she dedicates her time to The Iris Fund, bringing together leaders in research, clinical care and patient advocacy to change the trajectory of preterm birth for the next generation.

The Iris Fund was founded in July 2017 after the Crystal-Aleman family suffered the devastating loss of their daughter Iris after an emergency C-section. Iris was just 28 weeks old. The Iris Fund is now the leading private funder of basic science research to determine the causes of preterm birth, working to help mothers and babies have safer and healthier pregnancies and deliveries.

Brittney and her husband Jose live in Connecticut and have three children: Bruce, Iris and Opal.