Gwen Mayes JD, MMS

Gwendolyn Mayes is the Deputy Director for Advocacy Relations for Bayer's Women's Healthcare business in the US. The position, formed in June 2013, reports jointly to the US General Manager of Bayer's Women's Healthcare and the SVP for Communications, Policy, and Government Affairs. In this capacity, Mayes is responsible for leading the external affairs and alliances with advocacy organizations, foundations and interested parties with missions aligned with Bayer's furtherance of safe access to reproductive health services and contraception for women in the US. She is based in Washington, DC.

Mayes' thirty year career involves every aspect of the healthcare industry. A cardio-thoracic physician assistant by training, Mayes began her career in the organ transplantation field at Emory University in Atlanta, GA where she lead the organ procurement efforts for their heart transplant program in the early 80s. Upon transitioning to Washington, DC in 1988, she held several positions with the US Department of Health and Human Services, including the Surgeon General's Office and the HRSA Office on Organ Transplantation, and served as the Project Officer for the National Organ Transplantation Network and Scientific Registry of Transplant Patients, the two cornerstones of US transplantation policy.

From 2000-2003, Mayes was the first Executive Director of the Kentucky Office on Women's Mental and Physical Health, a position supporting the Governor's initiatives for progressing women's status in Kentucky. In this capacity, Mayes was the chief spokesperson for women's health in Kentucky and led initiatives to improve domestic violence screening, cancer screening and the discontinuance of smoking during pregnancy. Her career also involved serving from 2005-2010 as the Director of Government Affairs and Reimbursement for Abiomed, a cardiac device manufacturer based in Danvers, MA where she led the FDA HDE approval of the total replacement heart and the CMS National Coverage Determination for its payment. Immediately prior to her position Bayer, Mayes was the EVP of Public Policy at the National Patient Advocate Foundation in Washington, DC.

Mayes received her AB from Transylvania University in Lexington, KY, her MMSc from Emory University in Atlanta, GA, and her JD with honor from the University of Maryland in Baltimore, MD. She is a resident of Annapolis, MD and spends as much time as possible sailing on the Chesapeake Bay. Her writing business, Writing with Insight, includes a wide range of lifestyle, health,A and inspirational essays.