Five men came to Heartbeat International’s recent Pregnancy Help Institute to learn about directing and raising funds for a center.
They were among roughly 48 individuals attending the 2025 Institute held in Columbus, Ohio, for the week-long intensive program that provides preparation to serve in support of women and families.
Heartbeat International is the largest network of pregnancy help organizations in the U.S. and the world. Its Pregnancy Help Institute has provided thousands of pregnancy help leaders the executive-level training since 2007.
Tracks within the Institute are New Director, Development, and Leadership. A separate LOVE Approach Ultrasound Clinical is offered concurrently for nurses and sonographers who work in pregnancy help, with 33 attendees at the 2025 Institute.
Very often participants come away from the Institute having been greatly impacted by the magnitude of the content and its delivery, the support and accessibility of Heartbeat faculty and staff, and the connections and bonds made during the week.
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Ron Abate is a board member with JMJ Pregnancy Center in Orlando, Fla.
He is currently the board secretary for his organization and on track to become vice chair. He is very hands-on, has also volunteered at the center for five years and hopes to become board chair eventually, so that he can further be of service to JMJ’s director.
“Whatever needs he has, we talk it out and I help him,” Abate said. “I'm right beside him every step of the way.”
His director saw benefit in him attending Pregnancy Help Institute as a board member, and Abate attended the New Director’s Track.
“This is like a gold mine of resources,” Abate told Pregnancy Help News. “I had no idea.”
“I've learned so much already,” he said on the second day. “You don't know what you don't know until you know it.”
Abate said the training gave him a much better idea of his director’s responsibilities and how he can, as a board member, serve his director, the board, and the organization better.
He said he will be recommending Pregnancy Help Institute to other JMJ Pregnancy Center board members and he plans to obtain his Life Affirming Specialist (LAS) professional designation.
J.C. Adams has been Director of Development and Community Awareness at Life Options Clinic in Milton, Fla., for five months.
A former pastor who had other involvement with the center in that role, he attended the Development Track.
Adams’ director suggested that he attend not only because he was new to fundraising, but the center has never had a development person.
“So, the job's not cut out. It's like carving a path,” he said. “I knew I needed that toolbox. I needed a map, and I needed a toolbox.”
Adams told Pregnancy Help News that Pregnancy Help Institute was “very good, better than I expected, if I can be completely honest.”
“In my transparency, I didn't know what to expect, but I think it was less than this by a long shot,” he said.
“It's not squishy or ethereal or metaphorical,” Adams said. “It's all very; just the facts, this is how you do your job, these things work in the numbers, these things don't, and you like people and you like the missions. So, this is how you can leverage those to do your job well.”
The Institute is a good place to come to get one’s foundation and figure out how to accomplish and carry out the job, he said.
Joseph Whitmer has been the Executive Director for Options Pregnancy Center in Fairmont, Minn., for four-and-a-half months, having worked at a bank previously.
Attending the New Director’s Track at Pregnancy Help Institute was part of the plan upon his hiring. Numerous things have been in flux since he started at the center and along with being new and learning a new job there are the dynamics of shifts in management style and approach.
“The job has been interesting,” Whitmer said. “There's been quite a bit of challenge.”
He concurred with what he’d overheard about the Institute in that participants are given a lot of information to process.
“I've heard people say more than once, it's standing in front of a fire hose and trying to drink from the fire hose,” Whitmer said.
“And I completely agree with that,” he said. “But I also feel kind of at peace about it too.”
This is because the Institute also confirmed for him that while there was so much that he did not know, he was on the right track with many things in his new role.
While Pregnancy Help Institute was a lot to learn and process, Whitmer said he felt “seen and supported.”
“I feel like the staff here and the people who have presented, and the people on the higher levels (of Heartbeat International) all feel very accessible,” he said.
Whitmer said “this definitely feels like it was the right call,” and he was encouraged and optimistic about his return to the center.
“I'm feeling more motivated and empowered,” he said.
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Josh Branum is the Development Director with First Coast Women's Services in Jacksonville, Fla., and attended the Development Track of Pregnancy Help Institute.
He’s been in is role since April following working in pastoral ministry for the last 20 years, along with serving as a volunteer male mentor with the center for about three years.
“So, it's been a whirlwind the last few months, but it's been a lot of fun,” Branum said.
His CEO attended Pregnancy Help Institute in the past and thought it would be a good opportunity for him to learn, specifically about fundraising, and connect with and network with others doing similar work.
“It's been wonderful to not just hear the ideas and be given these concepts to think through, but to be able to network with other people and talk with them about how they're doing the same work in their centers all across the United States,” Branum said.
“There are centers that are smaller and larger, and have one center or multiple locations,” he said. “But then to talk through how we're engaging with our supporters and with our donors, how we're serving our communities has been really good.”
“I’m grateful for the opportunity,” Branum added.
Michael Adams has been the Executive Director for Alpha Pregnancy Care Center in Albany, New York, for two months.
He was previously a pastor and involved in the pro-life movement and learned about the opening for his role through being friends with the previous director.
Adams’s board recommended that he come to Pregnancy Help Institute and attend the New Director Track.
Alpha has been in existence for almost 30 years, he said, and the previous director had attended the Institute and Heartbeatls Annual Conferences
“So, they already heard how impactful this is,” Adams said.
“I've been overwhelmed, but in a good way,” he told Pregnancy Help News.
Adams remarked about learning the language of a new industry and referring to the right to life, “understanding how difficult the fight is.”
“That's been something that has been eye opening for me,” he said. “And I'm in New York, so the fight is probably even greater there.”
Adams referenced both the current and former governor of his state standing in front of microphones and saying, “Hey, if you're pro-life leave, essentially.”
“Yeah, I'm understanding how significant the fight is and how big the stakes are,” he said.
“It's very encouraging to know that you're not alone,” said Adams.
The benefit of a New Director's Track is one no longer has to show up for work and feel they are in over their head, he said.
“To know that there are the people that are in very similar situations, to me it is comforting,” Adams said. “But it's also empowering, because you get a sense from the Heartbeat staff and from others, of okay, there's another gear to click into once you get over the initial learning curve, and I'm looking forward to that.”
Editor's note: Heartbeat International manages Pregnancy Help News.
