Debbie Jessup
Senior Advisor
Debbie Jessup, President and Founder of Sage Femme Strategies and Senior Advisor to Wheat Shroyer Government Relations brings 40 years of experience in nursing, midwifery, women’s health, and health policy to help her clients navigate the legislative and appropriations processes and develop organizational policy strategy. She holds the distinction of being the only midwife to have ever worked in Congress, and the longest tenured nurse to serve as a staffer in Congress.
She knows from experience as a childbirth educator, a perinatal nurse, and a nurse-midwife that policy
advocacy is a critical component of advancing optimal maternity/health (use alternatively) outcomes for all families.
For 18 years Debbie was a Health Policy Advisor in the office of former Congresswoman Lucille Roybal-Allard (CA-40). In that position, she was actively engaged in health appropriations work as well as helping the Congresswoman develop a robust public health, nursing, and maternal health legislative agenda. Bills that she helped write and shepherd through the Congress include the Sober Truth on Preventing (STOP) Underage Drinking Act (passed in 2006 and reauthorized in 2016), the Newborn Screening Saves Lives Act (passed in 2007 and reauthorized in 2014), the MOMS for the 21st Century Act, the Midwives for MOMS Act, the Increasing Care and Access to Nurses (I CAN) Act, and the 113th Congress Health Equity and Accountability (HEAA) Act.
Debbie helped Congresswoman Roybal-Allard start and Co-Chair two bipartisan caucuses: the Congressional Public Health Caucus and the Congressional Caucus on Maternity Care. The Public Health Caucus was instrumental in the inclusion of many of the public health provisions in the Affordable Care Act including the Prevention and Public Health Fund.
Debbie holds Masters’ Degrees in Nursing, Nurse-Midwifery, and Health Education, and a PhD in Nursing and Health Policy. Her dissertation research was a comparative analysis of the Midwife and Nurse Practitioner Medicare reimbursement efforts.
As a consultant and senior advisor to WSGR, Debbie is engaged in helping health care clients develop more successful advocacy strategies and carry them out. Her substantive knowledge and understanding of how accomplishments are achieved sets her apart. She is the rare individual who has become a trusted ally of policy makers in Congress on both sides of the political aisle. Credibility on the Hill is a valuable resource and Debbie Jessup brings it to every project she undertakes.