Dr. Rosita Van Coevorden
Retired Physician, Community Activist
Board of Directors
Dr. Rosita (Rosie) Van Coevorden is a retired physician, an entrepreneur, and active community volunteer in women’s and children’s causes.
Rosita came to the US as a young girl. In her birthplace, Iran, following the Revolution of 1978-79 women faced deeply-embedded cultural and legal gender discrimination. Iran’s discriminatory law denied a woman’s right to the most basic of freedoms – the freedom to choose. Her parents sent her to the US, where she was given the freedom to choose who she wanted to become, and where there is no gender inequality and limitation to advancement of women.
She started her medical career at University of Pennsylvania, Scheie Eye Institute. Prior to retirement Dr. Van Coevorden was a clinical investigator at University of Washington, Department of Ophthalmology. She has published multiple research articles on Ophthalmology.
Dr. Van Coevorden introduced the Northwest community to Vital Voices Global Partnership in 2012. She is the Founder and Co-Chair of Vital Voices Northwest Council, formed in 2013. She has chaired major fundraisers for multiple Washington State charities, and serves on the Kindering Center board of directors, a not-for-profit neurodevelopmental center providing comprehensive services for children with special needs.