Symposium Speakers

Pulkit is a Senior Manager at Surgo Ventures, where he focuses on the maternal health and Covid-19 portfolio in the US. His background is in the end-to-end management of global health programs, working across various domains, including nutrition, maternal health, and HIV/TB. He enjoys thinking about the best ways to convert evidence into insights that decision-makers can use to inform policy. He began his career as a management consultant. Pulkit has a BA in Public Health and a minor in Global Poverty and Practice from the University of California, Berkeley.

Dr. OlaWale (‘Wale”) and his wife Nurse Taiwo (“Tia”) Ajao lead Hello Baby Events, a Health Communications initiative serving families in Baltimore, the DMV, and beyond. Hello Baby believes in educating the whole village, empowering community doulas and advocating for professional doula services as a public health intervention. With 12 years of teamwork as a married couple, ‘Wale and Tia are both equipped as Lamaze Certified Childbirth Educators and as trained doulas creating solutions for both families of color and of culture. ‘Wale and Tia also draw on their background as a nurse-doctor couple with both local and international experience.

Love’s professional background is in the areas of system analytics, physics, and education. She has also breastfed two children with special needs and has been volunteering in the field of lactation support for over 6 years. With a focus on the intersection of race equity and universal access, Love has recently had the opportunity to view community breastfeeding support from two different perspectives as the director of a volunteer driven breastfeeding advocacy group, Breastfeed Durham, and working as a Community Health Worker for the Durham County Health Department. Believing that the creation of a breastfeeding family friendly community can start to ameliorate inequities, Love promotes avenues of support for human milk feeding families, as well as advocates for policies that protect families rights, in order that each family may meet their own personal goals.

Rakiah Anderson, MPH was previously an Evaluation Coordinator for the Maternal Telehealth Access Project. She received her MPH (2020) in Health Behavior from the UNC Gillings School of Global Public Health and trained in Culturally Responsive Evaluation by way of the American Evaluation Association GEDI Scholarship. Rakiah’s career commitment is to utilize culturally responsive and racial equity approaches to understand, and address, inequities in health outcomes.

Siani Antoine, is a Master of Public Health Candidate (expected 2022) at the UNC Gillings School of Global Public Health studying maternal, child, and family health. In addition, she is completing a certification with Carolina Global Breastfeeding Institute’s MRT-TI Program to become a Lactation Consultant. Siani spent her summer working for the Maternal Health Learning & Innovation Center as an intern learning how to implement equity into maternal health practice to support birthing people and their families. She loves the maternal health and birth equity field and is excited to contribute her skills and efforts to improving health outcomes.

Teneele Bailey is a south Jersey girl, living and working in a Maryland world as a maternal health professional who is dedicated to eliminating maternal and child health disparities experienced by Black women, children, and families. Currently, she serves as Maternal Health Coordinator with Baltimore Healthy Start and project team member of the Baltimore Safer Childbirth Cities Initiative, funded by Merck for Mothers. Teneele received her graduate degree in Biomedical Science from Rowan University Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences, and her Bachelor of Arts degree in Individualized Studies in Biology from Fairleigh Dickinson University. Teneele’s work is currently concentrated on decreasing incidences of both maternal and infant morbidity & mortality and the impact they have on African American women and families- in the state of Maryland, specifically, and in the United States. Teneele aspires to have a meaningful impact on marginalized communities, from birth to adulthood. She is a Biologist, Certified Breastfeeding Specialist, Birth Doula, Yoga Instructor, and Herbalist, and has assisted with 20+ births. She also works and serves with organizations that center community health, birth equity, Black maternal health, and health policy, such as the National Association to Advance Black Birth (NAABB) and the Reproductive Health Equity Alliance of Maryland (RHEAM). Teneele endeavors to use education, storytelling for change, and empowerment to amplify the voices and experiences of Black birthing people.

Dr. Basile Ibrahim is a clinician scientist with expertise in maternal child health. Her research focuses on ways to improve health equity in maternity care. She has research experience designing and implementing mixed methods studies. Prior to starting her academic career, Dr. Basile Ibrahim worked as a family nurse practitioner providing primary care in federally qualified health centers in the United States and Canada and as an anthropologist in international development.

Poulette Brewster, Program Director of Public Health Solution’s Queens Healthy Start, provides thought leadership to the project, holds space for focused conversations with clients who birthed at LIJMC, and understands the interplay of numerous federal and privately funded programs to reach birthing people, including the community served by LIJMC.

Sevonna Brown is Co-Executive Director of Black Women’s Blueprint. She leads the Safer Childbirth Cities Initiative through Merck for Mothers maternal health portfolio. She is also recognized as a Ms. Foundation Public Voices Fellow for her writing through the Op/Ed Project. Her work has been published in Ebony, TIME Magazine, ForHarriet, and Rewire News. She serves on the board of Children of Combahee, which mobilizes against child abuse in Black churches. She has been featured in the documentary “The Business of Birth Control” directed by Ricki Lake and Abby Epstein. She is also a recipient of the Mellon Mays fellowship for her research on Black maternal health. At Black Women’s Blueprint she oversees advocacy campaigns, co-chairing the NYC4CEDAW, addressing localized efforts to ratify the Convention on the Elimination of Discrimination Against Women. She has provided training and technical assistance to a number of organizations through the Institute for Gender and Culture (IGC) including but not limited to: Jackson State University, Tougaloo College, Florida Memorial University, Louisiana Foundation Against Sexual Assault (LaFASA), the University of Nevada Las Vegas, and Connecticut Alliance to End Sexual Assault. Sevonna Brown is certified in the Intercultural Development Inventory® (IDI®),the premier cross-cultural assessment of intercultural competence that is used by thousands of individuals and organizations to build intercultural competence to achieve international and domestic diversity and inclusion goals and outcomes.

Louisiana Pregnancy-Associated Mortality Review (LA-PAMR) is a program of the Louisiana Department of Health, Office of Public Health, Bureau of Family Health. Louisiana Pregnancy-Associated Mortality Review (LA-PAMR) launched its enhanced multidisciplinary review process in 2018, in full alignment with national best practices promoted by the CDC. In 2019, Louisiana was one of 25 states to receive funding under the CDC’s Enhancing Reviews and Surveillance to End Maternal Mortality (ERASE MM) Program. The PAMR committee was expanded to ensure representation from a variety of geographic regions and fields of expertise –including expertise in addressing social determinants of health –and increased inclusion of women and people of color. LA-PAMR conducts a comprehensive mortality review of all deaths of Louisiana residents who die while pregnant or within one year of the end of pregnancy. The goals are LA-PAMR are 1) to understand the causes of pregnancy-associated mortality in LA to inform new and existing efforts to reduce maternal morbidity and mortality, and 2) to develop actionable recommendations at level of individuals, families, providers, birth facilities, health systems, and communities. This includes recommendations related to policy, clinical quality improvement, social supports, health systems, and public health research and communication.

Katherine has been a program manager with the CMIH since 2014. She received her Master of Arts in Liberal Studies from Duke University in 2007 and her Master of Science in Public Health from Gillings School of Global Public Health in Healthy Policy and Management at UNC in 2010. Katherine is passionate about public health, with a focus on women’s and children’s health, social determinants of health, and health equity. 

Katherine Bryant, MA, MSPH, is a Research Associate and Project Manager for the UNC Center for Maternal and Infant Health and a Project Director in the UNC Jordan Institute for Families. Her portfolio includes serving as the project manager for a HRSA MCHB funded program – Improving Women’s Health: Preconception CoIIN. She brings many skills to the team including strategic thinking and program planning/implementation.

Jennifer Callaghan-Koru, PhD, MHS, is Associate Professor of Public Health at the University of Maryland, Baltimore County. She has expertise in program evaluation and implementation science and 15 years of experience developing and evaluating approaches for improving access to evidence-based interventions in maternal and child health. Dr. Callaghan-Koru leads the Maryland MHI team’s work to adapt and scale culturally competent warning signs education tools for community organizations and healthcare providers.

Tegan has led the Maternal Mortality Prevention Team’s Program Section since August 2019. In this role, she leads the management of the state awards under the Enhancing Reviews and Surveillance to Eliminate Maternal Mortality (ERASE Maternal Mortality) Program and the coordination of these state awards within the larger ERASE Maternal Mortality initiative. Prior to joining the Maternal Mortality Prevention Team, Tegan held a variety of roles as Health Scientist and Senior Public Health Advisor in CDC’s Center for Global Health (CGH), Division of Global HIV and Tuberculosis’s Maternal and Child Health Branch from 2013-2019. Before her time in CGH, Tegan was a CDC Public Health Prevention Service Fellow from 2010-2013. Tegan received her Master in Public Health from University of Washington and initiated her public health career as a community health volunteer with the Peace Corps in the Kingdom of eSwatini from 2004-2006.

Abby C. Cannon, MPH, MSW, brings over ten years of experience in monitoring and eAbby C. Cannon, MPH, MSW, is the Evaluation Manager on the Maternal Health Learning and Innovation Center at the Gillings School of Global Public Health at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. She brings over ten years of experience in monitoring and evaluation, with a focus on merging qualitative and quantitative data to share the full picture of a program with stakeholders, funders, and practitioners. She specializes in developing and implementing evaluation plans, using data for decision making, and translating results into actionable steps. Prior to the MHLIC, Abby focused on advancing gender equality on a global health monitoring, evaluation, and research project at UNC. She received her MPH in maternal and child health and her MSW from UNC.

Courtnie Carter is an experienced breastfeeding support person, former WIC Breastfeeding Peer Counselor, and former Centering Pregnancy coordinator and facilitator. She also serves on the Maternal TeleHealth Access Project’s  Lived Experience Advisory Group, was a panelist on the Maternal Health Learning and Innovation Center Skills Institute and has also been a featured guest on Birth While Black: Giving Birth in COVID-19 – A Black Mother’s Journey Podcast. Courtnie Carter has spent the last almost 11 years, promoting breastfeeding and supporting mothers on their breastfeeding journey, in her local community. Courtnie Carter is driven by her love for all things pregnancy and mother/baby. She is committed to increasing the initiation and duration rates amongst breastfeeding mothers of color. As well as also being a voice and source of support for mothers, like her who currently deal with or have dealt with perinatal and postpartum depression and anxiety. Courtnie Carter is a graduate of the University of North Carolina with a BA in Communications Mass Media with a Psychology Minor.

Ellen Chetwynd PhD MPH BSN IBCLC has a long career in maternal and child health which straddles her medical practice as a lactation consultant and nurse and her public health research on breastfeeding and rural maternity care. She is a founding member of the EMBRACe project (Equity for Moms and Babies Realized Across Chatham), which seeks to ensure successful and equitable birth outcomes for women and children through system and service alignment.

Heidi Christensen, MSW is the Maternal Health Innovation Program Manager at the Arizona Department of Health Services. For more than 20 years she has worked with pregnant and postpartum mothers and their children in a variety of settings. She currently manages programming related to improving maternal health and preconception health.

Elizabeth (Ellie) Coombs, M.P.P., is a Managing Associate at Mission Analytics Group. She has directed numerous complex projects within the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services and has led and participated in multiple evaluations involving mixed-methods research, leading teams in conducting environmental scans, the analysis of national survey data, and the collection of both qualitative and quantitative primary data. Most recently, she led the OWH project to assess the relationship between PFL and women’s physical and mental health, which involved the analysis of PRAMS and Listening to Mothers survey data and 16 focus groups in the four states with operating programs. She also serves as the Deputy Project Director for the evaluation of the Rural Maternity and Obstetrics Management Strategies (RMOMS) Program, supporting the collection and analysis of patient-level data on maternal and infant healthcare utilization and outcomes and leads interviews with the Missouri RMOMS awardee. Coombs has an MPP from Harvard University’s Kennedy School of Government.

Dr. Creanga is a maternal health scientist with experience in measurement, data analytics and implementation of QI initiatives in obstetrics, domestically and internationally. She serves as Maryland MHI Program director and member of the Maryland MMRC. In 2014, she received the PECASE award from the Executive Office of the President for work on national maternal mortality surveillance.

Leslie deRosset has been working in maternal and child health for more than two decades. She has spent her career working internationally, in North and South Carolina with state government, non-profit organizations and now at the Frank Porter Graham Child Development Institute at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, where she is an Implementation Specialist. Within the MHLIC, Leslie serves as a Coach for the state of Montana and supports the Innovation and Engagement Core. Leslie is passionate about improving the inequities that cause disparities in maternal and child health. Leslie lives in Raleigh, North Carolina with her husband, two teenagers (16 and 18) and Stella, her yellow lab.

James Dills, MPH, MUP, is a Health Integration Associate at the Georgia Health Policy Center (GHPC), where he works to improve public health by advancing Health in All Policies perspectives of decision-making. His areas of expertise are health impact assessment (HIA), systems thinking, and healthy community design. Jimmy also supports the Systems Integration Core of the National MCH Workforce Development Center.

Jordan is a data scientist and public health researcher. She is a systems thinker with a commitment to health equity, and enjoys using her experience at the intersection of public health programs and data science to translate complex analysis into digestible evidence to help implementers make data-driven decisions.

As an analyst at Surgo, Jordan provides research and data analysis support for Surgo’s programs. Before joining Surgo, Jordan supported community health program implementation and led research and evaluation work at Last Mile Health. Her work focused on maternal and child health, including creating and implementing digital tools for community health worker performance management, methods for assessing quality of community-based care, evaluating CHW impact, and designing evidence-based community health policy. Jordan has a BS in biological engineering from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and a Master of Public Health degree from the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health.

Deitre Epps, founder and CEO for RACE for Equity, has over 25 years of experience in providing education, training, and technical assistance to health, human services, and education leaders to support evidence-informed strategies towards improving individual and community wellbeing. Her work has included capacity building and direct support for leaders to implement data driven decision making with Results Based Accountability™ (RBA). As a global consultant, she works with international agencies to advance culturally and linguistically appropriate strategies that achieve results.

David Olawuyi Fakunle, Ph.D. is a “mercenary for change,” employing any skill and occupying any space to help elevate everyone divested from their truest self, especially those who are Black, Indigenous and People of Color. David serves as Adjunct Assistant Professor at the University of Florida Center for Arts in Medicine, and Associate Faculty in the Mental Health department of the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health. David’s interests include stressors within the built environment, societal manifestations of racism, and the use of arts and culture to strengthen health, equity, and ultimately liberation. 

Additionally, David has applied artistic and cultural practices such as Black storytelling, African drumming, singing and theater in the proclamation of his truth for over 20 years, collaborating primarily with organizations in the Baltimore/Washington, D.C. region. Among many affiliations David is co-founder and CEO of DiscoverME/RecoverME, an organization that utilizes the African oral tradition to empower use of narrative for healing and growth, and serves as Chair of the Maryland Lynching Truth and Reconciliation Commission, the first state commission in the United States dedicated to chronicling and bringing justice to racial terror lynchings. 

Kuann Fawkes is the Maternal Health Intern at AMCHP. During the past year, Kuann has provided support as the team explores data collection tools to learn more about the role of public health leaders in improving the quality and safety of maternity care within ACOG’s AIM.

Ms. Diane Feeney is Associate Director for Quality Initiatives at the Health Services Cost Review Commission, Maryland Department of Health, working on hospital reimbursement issues across the state, having high interest in QI in obstetrics.

Stephanie attended Montana State University Billings where she received a Bachelor of Science degree in Psychiatric Rehabilitation and a Master of Science degree in Clinical Rehabilitation and Mental Health Counseling. She completed a master’s in Healthcare Administration with concentration in Human Resource Management through Colorado State University Global in November 2020. Stephanie has been a licensed addiction counselor (LAC) in the state of Montana since 2016 and utilized that license to provide inpatient, outpatient, and utilization review counseling at Rimrock Foundation prior to accepting a position with Billings Clinic in January 2020. Stephanie manages all MOMS Demonstration Project activities including simulation trainings, Project ECHO, certification courses, telehealth services, remote patient monitoring, and perinatal/postpartum substance abuse/mental health programming.

Amelia Gibson is an Associate Professor at the School of Information and Library Science at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Her primary research interests focus on the ways that we understand and replicate marginalization and equity in local communities and on the internet using information, data, and technology, with a focus on health and wellness in communities of color (particularly among women and girls) and among disabled people. In addition to her work with the North Carolina Maternal Health Innovation Program on this project, Dr. Gibson is a researcher with the AHRQ-funded Patient Safety Learning Lab and director of the Community Equity, Data and Information Lab at the School of Information and Library Science at Chapel Hill.

I am a Professor at North Carolina State University and my research focus is on strategic innovation in the intersection of design, engineering, business and healthcare. For the last 17 years, I have served as a catalyst for transformation by leveraging a human centered design approach and design thinking strategies in academic, industrial settings and more recently in the healthcare sector. My experience in bringing the human centered design process to non-design disciplines and my ability to lead iterative idea generation processes make me a strong contributor to the proposed Patient Safety Laboratory project. I am trained as an industrial designer and recognized internationally as a leading academic in bringing the human centered design perspective to interdisciplinary teams inside and outside the classroom. My work with various engineering teams at NASA, Honda Manufacturing and Strathclyde University have prepared me for the holistic approach and rigor of working with systems engineering. My expertise in the iterative idea generation process contributed to the development of two patented innovative solutions for the healthcare sector: the post-natal unit bassinet project (led by Tully, with Stuebe and Seashore of UNC) and the Child Resistant Spray Device for Nationwide Children’s Hospital in Columbus, OH. I currently consult for the UNC Women’s Clinic (led by Stuebe and Tully) to provide a user-centered design approach in designing processes to incorporate SDoH screening and management into clinical work-flows. The final stage of this pilot work will be to train the health care team and test the human-centered design (HCD) screening and management process in UNCH-affiliated obstetric clinics. This collaboration demonstrates the value of the HCD approach in improving health services around complex, interrelated maternity health issues and its potential to generate innovative solutions with system-wide impacts.

Dr. Anne Elizabeth Glassgow is a Research Assistant Professor of Internal Medicine and Pediatrics in the College of Medicine at the University of Illinois at Chicago. Dr. Glassgow is the Executive Director of Innovations to ImPRrOve Maternal OuTcomEs in Illinois (I PROMOTE-IL), the Illinois HRSA funded Maternal Health Innovation Program. Dr. Glassgow also serves as the Medical Director of the UI Health Two-Generation Clinic, an innovative primary care model that addresses the medical, behavioral health, and social needs in postpartum women and their children. Dr. Glassgow has more than 20 years of clinical maternal health and behavioral health experience and has served in a variety of health care administration positions. Dr. Glassgow is a health disparities researcher and has served as a principal-investigator, co-investigator, and project director on several National Institutes of Health funded research projects. Dr. Glassgow was a Co-Investigator and the Executive Director of Coordinated Healthcare for Complex Kids, a $19 million pediatric payment and comprehensive healthcare delivery model funded by the CMS Innovation Center.

Founder and Midwifery Director of Changing Woman Initiative 

Diné – Navajo 

She/Her/Hers 

Nicolle L. Gonzales received her Bachelor’s of Nursing and her Masters of Nurse-Midwifery at the University of New Mexico. She is a member of the American College of Nurse Midwives and is certified with the American Midwifery Certification Board. She has over 12 years’ experience as a nurse and has worked as a Nurse-Midwife doing full-scope midwifery for the last 10 years. 
 
Through the years, she has worked on several community projects around birth equity and she has served as the founding board president and vice board president of two birth centers in NM. In addition to attending births, Nicolle was a contributing author to the “American Indian Health and Nursing” in 2015 and is a contributing writer for the Indigenous Goddess Gang online magazine, where she discusses indigenous birth, midwifery, ceremony, reproductive justice, and indigenous feminism. 

Heather is the Project Coordinator for Healthy Start Communities that C.A.R.E. (HSCC). HSCC is a Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA) grant-funded program that focuses on the reduction of infant and maternal mortality rates across Daviess, Dubois, Greene, and Martin counties in Indiana. She began her career as a Registered Respiratory Therapist working clinically for IU Health in Indianapolis, with clinical experience in ICU, med/surg and pulmonary rehabilitation. Heather obtained her Bachelor of Science in Healthcare Management from Franklin University and Master’s of Science in Management with an emphasis in organizational leadership and behavior from Indiana Wesleyan University. She has been teaching courses in higher education/collegiate level since 2004. Her experience outside of clinical work includes program design and implementation, accreditation consulting services, curriculum design and implementation, and project management. For the HSCC through the IRHA, Heather oversees curriculum, marketing, education, training and project coordination

Jill Henkle – Prior to working as a Rural Clinical Improvement Advisor for the IMQCC, Jill has worked as a Medical Surgical, Emergency Department, Obstetrics , Newborn Nursery ,and Mom Baby staff nurse in rural critical access hospitals for over 25 years. She was recently the OB Manager at Wayne County Hospital in Corydon, Iowa for over 10 years. . During her position as the OB Manager, Jill was successful with the implementation of maternal safety bundles, unit based interdisciplinary simulation drills, process improvement and evidence-based staff education. Jill is a NRP Instructor, holds a certification in Inpatient OB, is an AWHONN Intermediate EFM Instructor, and serves as the Iowa AWHONN Southwest Iowa Chapter Coordinator. Jill is a voice and advocate for rural maternity hospitals. She is a champion for the use of maternal safety bundles, to reduce maternal mortality and morbidity.

Kasia is the Lead Data Coordinator for the Healthy Start Communities that C.A.R.E. (HSCC) program. In this role, she conducts analyses of data for HSCC-provided services, activities, and curriculums and identifies opportunities to improve reporting and effectiveness. Kasia’s experience includes three years working as an early childhood and adolescent mental health case worker. Through this position, Kasia addressed the Social Determinants of Health and how these factors impacted mental health and school behaviors of children and adolescents. Kasia provided supportive services to children and their families to ensure equity of educational and social opportunities and assisted to improve child and adolescent mental health conditions. Kasia earned a Bachelor of Science in Psychology with a minor in Women’s Studies and Organizational Service and a Master of Public Health with a concentration in Health Statistics from Purdue University – West Lafayette.

I received a Bachelor of Science degree in Nursing from Marian College of Fond du Lac, WI, and a Master’s Degree in Community Health Nursing from the University of Wisconsin-Madison. Before seeking my Ph.D., I held a variety of community health and public health nursing positions at the City of Milwaukee Health Department and the State of Wisconsin/Division of Health. I was a volunteer health team member with the Milwaukee Archdiocese Latin American Office assigned to Chiapas, Mexico. I completed my Ph.D. in 2003 at the University of Illinois-Chicago, School of Public Health. In 2005, I completed a Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC)-ORISE sponsored post-doctoral fellowship in MCH Epidemiology at the Mississippi State Department of Health. I am currently a CDC MCH Epidemiologist, assigned to the Iowa Department of Public Health, Bureau of Family Health in Des Moines, IA. In my role as an MCH Epidemiologist, I have worked extensively to complete data linkages, and with data sources such as Medicaid claims data, the Iowa certificate of live birth, and the Iowa Hospital Discharge data file. I have working closely with the Iowa Maternal Quality Care Collaborative to develop the data dashboard.

Renee joined the New Jersey Department of Health in November 2020 to serve as the Project Manager for the New Jersey Maternal Mortality Review Committee. Renee is a labor and delivery nurse by training and is an experienced program manager and health data analysts. She earned a Master of Public Health, with a concentration in Maternal and Child Health, from University of Minnesota and a Bachelor of Science in Nursing from Regis University in Denver, CO.

Dr. Lagrew is a maternal fetal medicine specialist and physician informaticist with a special interest in maternal quality improvement. He currently serves as Medical Director of Women’s and Children’s services for Providence St. Joseph-Southern California. His other role with the health system is to serve as a System Provider Informaticist in Obstetrics. He holds triple board certification in Obstetrics/Gynecology, Maternal Fetal Medicine and Clinical Informatics. In addition to these administrative and leadership roles he continues to active in authoring numerous peer reviewed publications and book chapters. He is a clinical professor in the Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, UC, Irvine.

Jacqueline Lambert, a small grassroots organizer who serves her community in different aspects of birth work as a Childbirth Educator, a ROSE Breastfeeding Community Transformer, Doula, and a Certified Lactation Counselor. Jacqueline works for Delta Health Alliance Healthy Start Program as Breastfeeding Coordinator. Jacqueline is also the Project Lead for the Let’s Talk Baby Café which is a free virtual drop in site for pregnant and breastfeeding families to receive education, support, and assistance on their breastfeeding journeys. Jacqueline has been working with expectant mothers and families for over 14 years and her goal is to empower expectant mothers and families and give them the necessary tools to make an informed decision concerning their infant feeding goals. Jacqueline has been instrumental in helping bring the community together around breastfeeding and seeks now to help establish Baby Friendly Businesses in her community.

Amy Lim, B.A., is an Analyst and Programmer at Mission Analytics with two years of experience working in health and human services research and evaluation. In her work with Mission Analytics, Ms. Lim contributes to qualitative and quantitative data collection, technical assistance and other analytical support for projects related to, maternal health, healthcare, long term care and supports for individuals with disabilities and mental illness. In her current role with Mission Analytics, Ms. Lim provides qualitative and quantitative research support on multiple projects, including the PASRR technical assistance to states project for CMS. Ms. Lim has a Bachelor of Arts with High Honors degree (Economics) from Mount Holyoke College

Breana Lipscomb, MPH is the Senior Manager of the U.S. Maternal Health & Rights Initiative for the Center for Reproductive Rights. She has over 15 years of public health experience and has worked in Tennessee, Guatemala, and the State Departments of Health in both Iowa and South Carolina. In her current role, Breana develops advocacy strategies to promote Black maternal health, particularly in the South, by mobilizing a broad base of stakeholders to advance state level policies that further reproductive rights as human rights. Breana serves as Co-Chair of the Black Mamas Matter Alliance Board of Directors, and she was recognized as the inaugural Kira Johnson Advocate of the Year by March for Moms in 2020.

Ms. Allison Lorenz is Project Director at the Ohio State Government Resource Center where she supports various MCH QI projects, including the GDM Collaborative and implementation of the AIM severe hypertension bundle.

Dr. Main is the Medical Director of the CMQCC and Chair of the California MMRC. He was the Chair of the OB/GYN Department at California Pacific Medical Center in San Francisco and is currently a clinical professor at Stanford University. Dr. Main has led multiple state and national QI projects in obstetrics and has been actively involved in maternal quality measurement initiatives. In 2013, Dr. Main received the ACOG Distinguished Service Award for work in QI.

Joyce Marshall became the Director for the Maternal and Child Health Service at the Oklahoma State Department of Health in early 2014. In this role, Marshall is responsible for overseeing the development and direction of statewide maternal and child health programs, services, and activities to improve the health of mothers, babies, children, and families in Oklahoma. Prior to this appointment, she served as the Director for the Office of Performance Management, State Accreditation Coordinator and Special Assistant to the Deputy Commissioner of Family Health Services at the Department. Marshall received her Master of Public Health in Health Administration and Policy from the University of Oklahoma Health Sciences Center, College of Public Health. Additionally, she is a Management Academy for Public Health and Oklahoma Public Health Leadership Institute Fellow along with being named a National Public Health Leadership Institute Scholar. 

Dr. Juan Michelle Martin, PT, DPT is a licensed physical therapist, birth doula and reproductive wellness coach. She is the owner of JMM Health Solutions, a concierge pelvic health practice in the Atlanta Metro area where she brings 14 years of clinical experience as a physical therapist.

Dr. Martin has worked with thousands of patients in her career with a focus on providing holistic and comprehensive pelvic health care. She blends her experience as a birth doula and wellness coach in her practice to ensure that women experience better birth outcomes and she continues to work with several non profits whose mission is to decrease maternal mortality rates in marginalized communities. Dr. Martin has shared her expertise in many domains, including committees, industry events, university guest lectures, national and international talks, workshops and webinars. A member of the obstetrics committee for the Academy of Pelvic Health, she is committed to ensuring diversity within post graduate academic content as well as dispelling narratives related to BIPOC birthing individuals. Additionally, Dr. Martin has been featured in publications including Atlanta Magazine and Healthline as well as Health and Fitness podcasts including BirthFit, Practice Brave, The Women’s Health podcast, Evidence Based Birth and more. Dr. Martin works as a licensed doula trainer for the National Black Doulas Association and also offers education to clinicians via Alcove Education and The Pelvic PT Doulas, to educate and mentor those entering the doula space. When not teaching and working clinically, she enjoys spending time with family.

Dr. Clayton H. “Tersh” McCracken III attended medical school at the University of Washington in Seattle. He joined Billings Clinic in 1992 after completing his internship and residency at the University of Cincinnati. He has served as the Medical Director of the Billings Clinic Family Birth Center and is active with the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists as well as the Montana Medical Association. Dr. McCracken currently serves as the MOMS Medical Director, ACOG District VIII Chair, and Chair of the Montana Maternal Health Leadership Council. He serves in an advisory role on all MOMS activities and is the primary facilitator for MOMS Project ECHO clinics.

Dr. M. Kathryn Menard, MD, MPH, is a Professor of Obstetrics and Gynecology and a Maternal Fetal Medicine specialist on faculty at UNC, serving for fourteen years as Vice Chair of the department, Director of the division of Maternal Fetal Medicine, and Director of the Center for Maternal and Infant Health. She serves as Medical Director of the NC Pregnancy Medical Home program. She is an executive team member for AIM and an expert in the implementation of Levels of Maternal Care.

Amy Mullenix currently serves as the Deputy Director for the National Maternal and Child Health Workforce Development Center and the Maternal Health Learning & Innovation Center, two national training and technical assistance centers housed in the MCH Department at the Gillings School of Global Public Health at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.

In this role, she coordinates and supports partnerships among the multiple academic and practice partners engaged in each Center to build the capacity of MCH practitioners across the country. For the National MCH Workforce Development Center, Ms. Mullenix also serves as the primary liaison with states and other jurisdictions as they seek technical assistance opportunities, and serves as a team coach for their health transformation work. In the Maternal Health Learning & Innovation Center, she also serves as a Maternal Health Innovation state team coach.

Mullenix, a Nebraska native, previously worked as the state coordinator of the North Carolina Preconception Health Campaign at the March of Dimes and as a bilingual social worker for pregnant women and families in public health departments and community health centers in North Carolina and Nebraska.

Alyson K. Northrup, MS is the associate director for public policy and government affairs at the Association of Maternal & Child Health Programs (AMCHP). In this role, she executes AMCHP’s policy activities, including advocating for Title V Maternal and Child Health Services Block Grant funding, promoting AMCHP’s federal policy agenda, and representing AMCHP in various policy coalitions. Ms. Northrup serves as the policy core co-lead for the Maternal Health Learning & Innovation Center. Prior to joining AMCHP, Ms. Northrup served as a legislative assistant to U.S. Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand (D-N.Y.). Ms. Northrup was responsible for managing the senator’s legislative portfolio for health care, child welfare, and education issues. She holds a Master of Science degree from the University at Albany, State University of New York, and a Bachelor of Arts degree from Fordham University.

Fernanda Maria Ochoa Toro is a Research Assistant at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. She has also served as a patient navigator for Latina patients at UNC Health.

Natalie Ortiz, B.A., is a Research Analyst at Mission where she contributes to qualitative research, project coordination, report writing, and communications activities related to risk mitigation for individuals with developmental disabilities, home and community-based services, maternal health, and local child care pilot program evaluation. Ms. Ortiz is a key member on the “Home and Community Based Settings” (HCBS) project for Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) and on the “Impact of the Hepatitis C Medicaid Affinity Group on Access to HCV Treatment and Cure” (Affinity Group) project for the Office of Infectious Disease and HIV/AIDS Policy (OIDP). Ms. Ortiz has a Bachelor of Arts in Media Studies (Mass Communication) degree from the University of California, Berkeley. Prior to working at Mission Analytics Group, Ms. Ortiz worked at a behavioral health organization as a Participant Support Specialist/Peer Counselor providing direct services for individuals with mental health and substance use disorders.

For the last 2.5 years, Reena Oza-Frank has served as the Data and Surveillance Administrator in the Bureau of Maternal, Child, and Family Health at the Ohio Department of Health. In this role, Reena oversees data support for all of the Bureau’s 30+ programs and the Bureau’s 6 surveillance programs, including Ohio’s Pregnancy Associated Mortality Review. Reena has a PhD in Epidemiology, a master’s degree in public health, and a master’s degree in public health nutrition. Reena currently holds adjunct faculty appointments within the OSU Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology and the Emory University Rollins School of Public Health where she continues active research collaborations with faculty on various topics related to pregnancy and maternal health. 

Amber Pendergraph-Leak is a LEAG member. She is currently serving as BirthMatters interim Executive Director. She served as a lead doula with Birth Matters for over 10 years has accomplished many levels of expertise in her field – she is certified as a doula by DONA International, is a Certified Lactation Counselor, a Medical Assistant, and a certified Community Health Worker.

Anne Peterson, MPH is a Senior Research Analyst for the National Service Office for Nurse-Family Partnership and Child First, where she conducts rigorous evaluations of NFP program implementation, outcomes, and innovations to inform continuous program improvement. Anne is an epidemiologist by training with international and national maternal and child health experience and a strong background in program evaluation and data analytics.

Belinda has over 30 years of experience in public health.  She has been with the North Carolina Division of Public Health, Women’s and Children’s Health Section (Title V) since November 1995.  Belinda was named the Head of the Women’s Health Branch in March 2012; in this capacity, she provides oversight to the state’s maternal health, family planning, preconception health, teen pregnancy prevention, sickle cell, tobacco use, and numerous programs focused on equity in birth outcomes.  

She received her MPH from the University of North Carolina in Chapel Hill and undergraduate degrees from the University of North Carolina in Greensboro.   

Chanel Porchia-Albert, Founder and Executive Director of Ancient Song Doula Services, lends leadership to this project in developing the conversation guide for focused conversations with individuals who birthed at LIJMC, rooting conversation findings in a reproductive justice lens and contributing to the development of the metrics and measures to comprise the resultant accountability system.

Nikki Prado Solano is a first-gen, Queer Latina from the South Side of Milwaukee. She is a Medical Geography student at the University of Wisconsin-Madison and a PEOPLE scholar. In her work, she studies the geospatial relationships between public health, maternal/child health, and location. She is pursuing a career that connects her skills, background, and passions across these fields. Outside of school, Nikki serves as a media intern and contractor for a birth & maternal care co-op, Roots4Change (R4C), is a legal interpreter for the Community Immigration Law Clinic, and is training to be a birth worker with BADT and R4C, all so that she can better serve the communities that she’ll be working with in the near future. Her goal is to become a Certified Nursing Midwife.

Dr. Stephanie Radke is a board-certified Obstetrician-Gynecologist in practice at the University of Iowa Hospitals and Clinics. She completed her medical degree at the University of Iowa and her residency training at the University of California Davis Medical Center. She was in community private practice in California for three years before returning to the University of Iowa. She is active in quality improvement at her hospital and believes this is a key pathway towards achievement of health equity. Dr. Radke is the co-founder and medical director for the Iowa Maternal Quality Care Collaborative (IMQCC) and Iowa Alliance for Innovation on Maternal Health (Iowa AIM), both programs initiated with support of Iowa’s MHI award.

Sarah Reese is an assistant professor in the School of Social Work. Broadly, her research and teaching focus on community-based social work interventions to promote child and family well-being, with a specific focus on behavioral interventions for perinatal substance use disorder.

Ayanna Robinson, PhD, MPH is a maternal and child health advocate and an award-winning public health professional with over 10 years of experience in conducting research, program evaluation, and program planning, primarily at the federal level. Her dissertation research, published in the peer reviewed journals, Digital Health and Journal of Human Lactation, applied Black Feminist Theory to explore the experience and outcomes of Black mothers who participate in mom-to-mom breastfeeding support groups on Facebook. As a public health researcher and evaluator who is experienced in qualitative and quantitative methods, she is committed to conducting research and translating that research into initiatives and products that dismantle systems of oppression, amplifies the voices of marginalized communities, and creates spaces for healing. In 2016, she founded Black Girls’ Breastfeeding Club, LLC. (BGBC). Through BGBC, Dr. Robinson has participated in community events for mothers, discussions with college and high school students, partnered with other maternal health organizations, like the Black Mamas Matter Alliance, and developed breastfeeding resources and educational tools. Decreasing the maternal mortalities of and improving breastfeeding rates among Black mothers are the areas of public health that Dr. Robinson is most passionate about. In 2020, she launched bEarth Work, an app that connects Black women and birthing individuals to online classes taught by Black birthworkers and other health professionals.

Ana Rodney is a Doula who has been practicing for 14 years. Ana is a yoga instructor, energy healer, and wellness practitioner based in Baltimore City. She runs MOMCares as the Executive Director and founder as well as the Rising Mama as Founder and Director. The Rising Mama is a wellness organization that centers mothers in the delivery of care and support to the entire family unit. MOMCares is a project of The Rising Mama and doula program that supports black women navigating high risk pregnancies and/or NICU involvement after birth. MOMCares seeks to bring awareness to the Black Maternal Health Crisis and advocate for equitably compassionate care across care systems interacting with black mothers in Baltimore City. Ana has spoken and led workshops throughout the DMV, addressing audiences at Johns Hopkins Hospital, University of Maryland Medical System, Greater Baltimore Medical Center, and George Washington University.  Ana Rodney is a graduate of Morgan State University. MOMCares is represented on the Baltimore City Mayor’s Women’s Commission, Maryland Breastfeeding Coalition, Reproductive Health Equity Alliance of Maryland and BCIITY Coalition. Ana Rodney serves as a perinatal mental Health  consultant for the Baltimore City Health Department . Ana is a current OSI Community Fellow. Ana was named a Baltimore Homecoming Hero in 2019 and named a Game Changer by Baltimore Magazine in 2021. Ana also sits on the Baltimore City Maternal mortality review board.Finally, Ana is most importantly mother to Aiden Rodney, age 5 and Asher Rodney, age 3 months. Ana has a background in education, teaching in Baltimore city as an artist and english co teacher between 2006-2014. 

Karinda is the Executive Director for Chatham Organizing for Racial Equity in rural NC. She is also a Certified Nurse-Midwife practicing midwifery since 2008. Her entry into midwifery began while on a field study for her medical anthropology degree in Cape Coast, Ghana. Karinda has dedicated her career listening to women and acting as guardian of their pregnancies and birth experiences. Her interests are in Reproductive and Birth Justice, root cause analysis of disparate black maternal health outcomes, cross-cultural birth practices, and critical race theory. She has worked on initiatives to expose racism both within midwifery and by midwives. Her background in anthropology coupled with her passion for reproductive justice and birth equity has led to the development of multiple trainings and presentations on the history and long-term effects from the removal of the Black granny midwife from African American communities.

Latrice Rollins is an Assistant Professor at Morehouse School of Medicine in the Department of Community Health and Preventive Medicine. Dr. Rollins is also a Robert Wood Johnson Foundation Culture of Health Leader whose work is focused on father engagement and father-inclusive practices in maternal and child health, violence prevention, and other public health and social work priority areas. She provides father engagement training for practitioners in various sectors. She is the editor of the book, Engaging and Working with African American Fathers: Strategies and Lessons Learned.

Doula & Inclusive Family Benefits Strategist, Averjill is passionate doula who is trained to serve in the holistic fertility, birth and postpartum arenas. She also brings over twenty years of employer benefits management experience to the table to assist her clients behind the scenes with the business of family forming. Compassion, cultural awareness, education and advocacy are the pillars upon which she has built her business. Her company, The Corporate Doula® offers traditional doula services and modalities such as childbirth education, comfort measures training, acupressure and evidence based alternative care integration. The Corporate Doula® signature service assists families with employer benefits in regard to decoding coverage options and maximizing the utilization of both employee and employer paid benefits. The Corporate Doula® service is also available directly to employers and organizations to help build a strategic approach to their family benefit offerings in order to attract and retain their desired workforce and equitably serve the communities in which they operate. Making a difference for families in birthing spaces and workplaces is the work that Averjill is honored to do every day.

Joseph “Joe” Salyer joined the MOMS Eastern Montana Perinatal Addiction Treatment Health System (EMPATHS) team in November 2020 as the social services care manager. He was born and raised in Billings and feels fortunate to live in the beautiful state of Montana where he routinely participates in hiking, camping, running, watching/playing sports, swimming in the Stillwater and fishing those waters as well with his wife and two sons. Prior to joining the MOMS team, Joe served as a certified behavioral health peer support specialist at Rimrock Foundation where he aided those struggling with substance use and mental health disorders access support services and begin their journeys in recovery. Joe shared: “I am passionate about people, and empowering and inspiring humans to fight to be their best, to attain joy and fulfill their glorious purpose in life. I’ve learned this is possible through humility, compassion, empathy, giving of my time and openness in sharing life experience and lessons hard learned. I strive to seek out gratitude in every simple and complex thing in life and have found it has created a positive shift in my life”.

Lynn Scheidenhelm, LCSW, is Director of Innovation for Centering Healthcare Institute (CHI) and responsible for development of products, services and training tools that support clinicians in applying the Centering model of group care across the life cycle. During 2020 and the pandemic crisis, she developed tools and led trainings to facilitate Centering sites moving their in-person groups to a virtual format. Prior to her role at CHI, she worked for Clinica Family Health for 28 years as a Behavioral Health Clinical Manager focusing on behavioral health integration on the medical teams. She brought the Centering model of group care to Clinica in 2005 and co-facilitated with medical providers pregnancy, parenting and chronic pain Centering group medical visits for over 13 years. From 2007 – 2018 she was an In-House Centering trainer at Clinica as well as a part-time consultant for CHI training sites across the country on the Centering model of group care. Other work experiences include 25 years as a Lamaze Childbirth Educator at local hospitals and birth centers, psychotherapy private practice, mediator, adjunct profession supervising graduate Social Work students, part time faculty at Social Work graduate school and Clinical Social Worker with Lutheran Social Services. She works remote from Boulder, Colorado.

A Toledo, Ohio native, Stacy Scott, Ph.D., MPA, is a 30-year public health advocate and infant safe sleep expert who’s worked from the government agency level to ground zero spearheading numerous community outreach programs nationwide to end health disparities and reduce the risk of sudden unexpected infant deaths.

After 20 years working with Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (NICHD), Scott ended her federal government consulting career in October 2017, Scott founded the Global Infant Safe Sleep (GISS) Center in 2016, an organization with a mission to support vulnerable and marginalized global communities to reduce sudden unexpected infant death (SUID).

In January 2018, Scott was appointed chairman of the Wisdom Council of the National Action Partnership to Promote Safe Sleep serving as faculty for the National Institute for Children’s Health Quality (NICHQ), a nonprofit dedicated to driving dramatic and sustainable improvements in the complex issues facing children’s health. Dr. Scott has since accepted a position as executive project director and equity lead. She supports NICHQ commitment to Infusing equity throughout the organization through who we are, what we say, and what we do.

Scott is a member International Society for the Study and Prevention of Perinatal and Infant Death. She received her undergraduate degree from Spelman College, a master’s degree in Public Administration at Bowling Green State University, and a doctoral degree in Urban Higher Education from Jackson State University.

As co-founder and CEO, Sema leads Surgo’s strategy, operations, and partner relations. She works at the intersection of behavior, data, and technology, drawing on her experience in policy, strategy and management of global development programs.

Before establishing Surgo, Sema worked at the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, where she managed large-scale public health programs and oversaw the introduction of innovations in India and Africa. She currently is on the board of the foundation’s Alumni Network.

She is also an assistant adjunct professor at the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health and an Affiliate Assistant Professor, Global Health at the University of Washington. Sema has a PhD in cellular and molecular biology (developmental genetics) from New York University, an MA in neuroscience from Brown University, and a BSc in molecular biology from Boğaziçi University in Istanbul. Sema was selected as a Rising Talent by the Women’s Forum for the Economy and Society.

Divine W. Shelton, MPA, MA (he/him/his) serves as a Senior Public Health Project Coordinator for CityMatCH. This Omaha, Nebraska, native attended Creighton University receiving his Bachelor of Art in Philosophy. Divine went on to Saint Louis University where he earned a dual Masters in Public Administration and Political Science. While in St. Louis, Divine worked on retention programs to retain black male students at Saint Louis University and Lincoln Universities. He served in various capacities during his seven years in St. Louis from working for a large housing non-profit, city government, and a youth homeless shelter. Prior to joining CityMatCH, Divine served on the St. Louis staff of United States Senator Claire McCaskill of Missouri where he gained experience working in public policy, government, federal grant, community outreach, day to day operations of high profile programs, negotiation, and program implementation. Divine joined the organization in 2019 and looks forward to learning from the staff at CityMatCH while seeking health equity for disenfranchised and marginalized communities nationwide. In his spare time, Divine spends time with his family, enjoys running with his husky, and lifeguarding. He is also a doctoral student at the University of Nebraska Medical Center School of Public Health.

Kelli joined the MHLIC team in September 2020. She is proud to contribute to the overall improvement of maternal health in some way, shape, or form so that other women and people who give birth do not have go through the same ordeals that other before them had. She has 20 years of marketing and communications experience working with nonprofits and small businesses. She has worked with internationally and nationally-recognized organizations and garnered credits as a photographer, journalist, cinematographer, producer, editor, and director. Kelli earned a BSBA in Marketing and a BS in Communications from Western Carolina University.

Kimberly Sherman is the Acting Branch Chief for Maternal & Women’s Health in HRSA’s Maternal and Child Health Bureau. She has been a HRSA staff member since 2008, and currently serves in the Division of Healthy Start & Perinatal Services. She earned her Master’s Degree in Public Policy from American University, and Masters in Public Health from the University of Louisville. Kimberly has a strong interest in improving maternal health outcomes, and currently supports HRSA’s maternal mortality reduction efforts.

Sharon Sprinkle, RN, MBA, MHA is the Nurse Consultation Director, Eastern Region for Nurse-Family Partnership (NFP). As a nursing leader for the organization, she coordinates and supports the nursing practice roles and responsibilities of nurse consultants at the National Service Office (NSO) in support of NFP’s evidence-based maternal and child health focused nursing practice.

Velma Villalon Taormina, M.D., M.S.E., attended the University of Texas where she earned a Bachelor of Arts Degree in Biology and a Master of Science in Biomedical Engineering. She attended medical school at Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center and completed her Obstetrics and Gynecology residency at the University of Kentucky.

Dr. Taormina moved to North Carolina where she practiced in the private sector for eight years before moving to public health. She most recently served as Medical Director of a local health department for over fifteen years where she also served as the OB Champion for the Pregnancy Medical Home since its inception.

Dr. Taormina was the clinical lead on several initiatives that have led to numerous accolades and awards for her and the local health department for their innovative approach to delivering care in the public health sector. She is currently serving as a co-chair on the North Carolina Institute of Medicine’s Maternal Health Taskforce. She is the current President of the North Carolina Obstetrical and Gynecological Society. Dr. Taormina founded Taormina Healthcare Innovations in 2019 where she provides services as a women’s health consultant to several entities including the North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services Division of Health Benefits where she is the Senior Policy Consultant for Women’s Health. Dr. Taormina is married to Martin Taormina, MD and has three adult children. In her free time, she enjoys exploring the outdoors and blogging about women’s health issues.

Dr. Jamila K. Taylor is director of health care reform and senior fellow at The Century Foundation, where she leads TCF’s work to build on the Affordable Care Act and develop the next generation of health reform to achieve high-quality, affordable, and universal coverage in America. A renowned health policy expert, Taylor also works on issues related to reproductive rights and justice, focusing on the structural barriers to access to health care, racial and gender disparities in health outcomes, and the intersections between health care and economic justice. Throughout her 20+ year career, Taylor has championed the health and rights of women of color and other marginalized communities both in the U.S. and around the world, promoting policies that ensure access to reproductive and maternal health care.

Organizing Lead and trainer, Chatham Organizing for Racial Equity (she/her/hers) Stephanie Terry is a Race Equity Community Organizer, activist, and advocate. She was the Founding Organizer for Justice United in Community Effort and also Industrial Areas Foundation organization. She is also co-founder of Organizing Against Racism-Orange County, a Racial Equity Institute Affiliate. Stephanie’s extensive training in community organizing includes Non-Violent Communication and Emotional Intelligence for Effective Leadership. She has also spent many years in training with Racial Equity Institute. Stephanie was the Lead Organizer for the Campaign for Racial Equity in Chapel Hill-Carrboro City Schools where she led a campaign to address the achievement gap; the recommendations from the campaign were adopted by the school board. Stephanie has also contracted with The Durham Health Department as a Race Equity Consultant/Facilitator for Sugar Smart Durham.

Stephanie Trusty has worked at IDPH for sixteen years as a Maternal Health Nurse Clinician, and serves as the AIM State Lead Coordinator for Iowa’s AIM program since October of 2020. Prior to her work at IDPH she worked for 28 years at UnityPoint Methodist providing inpatient direct care as a staff nurse in NICU then, as a labor and delivery nurse, followed by time as a Maternal Health outreach coordinator, Clinical nurse specialist, and interim Nurse manager for the OB Unit.

Kristin Tully, PhD, is a medical anthropologist engaged in a program of research that centers around safety in patient transitions through maternity care, patient-provider communication, breastfeeding experiences, parent-infant nighttime interactions, and health care innovation. Broadly, she is interested in engaging new families, clinicians, and other key stakeholders to identify unmet patient needs and co-develop effective, sustainable, and scalable solutions.

Kelly Umstead is an Assistant Professor of Industrial Design and the Director of Graduate Programs in Industrial Design at NC State University’s College of Design. Kelly has 15 years of engineering research and industrial design experience with a specialty in the medical device industry. Kelly’s work in product design has always been human-centric, from acquiring user needs, translating those needs into viable products, and verifying and validating designs through usability testing. At NC State, her research interests focus on healthcare, medical device development, human-centered design, and design methodologies.

As a research scientist, Valerie applies innovative data science methods to global health challenges. Before joining Surgo, Valerie researched agricultural value chains in sub-Saharan Africa. She used data analytics and simulation models to identify drivers of animal-source foods consumption and livestock productivity, as well as understand and map spatiotemporal patterns of livestock distribution in Sub-Saharan Africa.

Valerie has a BS in industrial engineering from the Technological Institute of Santo Domingo in the Dominican Republic. She has a PhD in agricultural and biological engineering from the University of Florida.

Sarah Verbiest, DrPH, MSW, MPH is the Director of the Jordan Institute for Families at the UNC School of Social Work and the Executive Director of the Center for Maternal and Infant Health at the School of Medicine. She feels totally honored to also be a Co-PI for this project.

Canopie uses clinically validated techniques to prevent and alleviate symptoms of postpartum depression through a mobile app. We customize therapeutic audio-based programs using a HIPAA-compliant depression scale and survey about what the expecting or new mom is struggling with. We then offer tailored, light coaching in the form of written and video guidance over the course of 10 days. Our intervention was designed to be effective, accessible, and affordable in order to address the key treatment barriers that keep >50% of women from accessing care. We are rigorously testing our program, having just completed a randomized controlled trial with 100 perinatal women (59% low income, and international) and planning for our second.

Calvin Williams is a consultant with Lucian Families Inc., a Cincinnati, Ohio-based company that provides training, program development and innovation strategies to community-based and government organizations that serve fathers, parents, co-parents, and couples. Mr. Williams serves as the Fatherhood Coordinator for the Hamilton County (Ohio) Department of Job and Family Services. He is a Certified Lactation Counselor and is a co-author of, and Master Trainer for PREP Inc.’s “On My Shoulders” fatherhood curriculum. Mr. Williams previously served as the Director of Fatherhood Services for Public Strategies Inc. in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma. Before joining Public Strategies, Mr. Williams was as the Program Director for two Cincinnati-based fatherhood programs: The Lighthouse Youth Services REAL Dads Program, and the Services United for Mothers and Adolescents Fatherhood Project. He helped launch the Community Building Institute at Xavier University in Cincinnati, Ohio, serving as the initial Co-Director, and is a founding and current board member for the Ohio Practitioners Network for Fathers & Families. Mr. Williams is a founding member of the Wisdom Council for Reaching Our Brothers Everywhere, an Atlanta-based organization focused on African-American infant mortality and breastfeeding. He serves on the Public health Advisory Team for First Candle, is a member of the Fathers Special Interest Group of Marce of North America, which focuses on the mental health of fathers in the perinatal period and serves on the Hamilton County (Ohio) Fetal Infant Mortality Review team.

Kristina Wint, MPH, is the program manager for women’s health at the Association of Maternal & Child Health Programs. Kristina brings special interest in understanding the relationship between health inequities and disparities and learning how the field of public health can identify racism and restructure systems to stop inequities from persisting. She manages AMCHP’s support for state maternal mortality review committees, with an enhanced focus on health equity, through their partnership with CDC on the Enhancing Reviews and Surveillance to Eliminate Maternal Mortality (ERASE MM) program. She also represents AMCHP on the Alliance for Innovation on Maternal Health (AIM) administered by the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists, and actively seeks to leverage the role of Title V in transforming maternity care with and for people who birth and their communities. In collaboration with the National Healthy Start Association and the National Birth Equity Collaborative, Kristina also provides support for the Safer Childbirth Cities initiative Community of Practice, promoting peer-to-peer learning and networking to support grantees in the implementation and sustaining of their work.

Joanah is the Program Director for Healthy Start Communities that C.A.R.E. (HSCC). HSCC is a Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA) grant-funded program that focuses on the reduction of infant and maternal mortality rates across Daviess, Dubois, Greene, and Martin counties in Indiana. Joanah brings 20 years’ experience as an RN providing direct care to med/surg patients, serving as the Disease Management Specialist for surgical patients, promoting health and wellness throughout corporate businesses and the community, along with providing diabetes education and health coaching. Joanah holds a health coaching certification through the American Council on Exercise (ACE), as well as completed Coaching Healthy Behaviors through The Cooper Institute. Her experience outside of clinical work includes facilitating community groups and networking to improve health outcomes at various levels. Leading the HSCC program and having the opportunity to promote women’s health and healthy pregnancies, mother and infant well-being, and father involvement keep her motivated in her work, as these areas have personally impacted her and her family. Her relatability to these efforts help bring a tailored approach to the HSCC program.

Carrie Wolfson is a is a doctoral candidate in the Department of Population, Family and Reproductive Health at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health. She works as a graduate student researcher on the Maryland Maternal Health Innovation program (MDMOM). Her research focuses on maternal health disparities and fertility trends in the United States. Prior to beginning her graduate studies at Johns Hopkins, Carrie received her Master’s in Public Administration from New York University’s Robert F. Wagner Graduate School of Public Service. She has experience in program evaluation and performance monitoring through her work as a policy analyst at Mathematica Policy Research and the CUNY Institute for State and Local Governance.

Dr. Young completed his undergraduate studies at Washington University in St. Louis in Biology and French in 2004.  He went on to receive his medical degree from Columbia University in the City of New York.  He was a fellow in Maternal-Fetal Medicine at Magee-Womens Hospital/UPMC.   Dr. Young’s academic interests include medical education/simulation, inter-professional practice, cardiovascular diseases in pregnancy and health care disparities.  He is currently an associate professor in the Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology in the Division of Maternal-Fetal Medicine and Ultrasound at UNC Chapel Hill, where he serves at the Associate Residency Program Director.    

Julie works with stakeholders around the country to promote better understanding of the causes and factors contributing to maternal mortality. For the past five years she has supported the development of maternal mortality review committees and contributed to the Report from Nine Maternal Mortality Review Committees and the recent articles, Examination of a Death due to Cardiomyopathy by a Maternal Mortality Review Committee and Changing the conversation: Applying a health equity framework to maternal mortality reviews. As part of CDC’s Enhancing Reviews and Surveillance to Eliminate Maternal Mortality (ERASE MM) initiative, Julie provides technical assistance and problem solving for state specific needs. Julie received her MPH from Hunter College; she also holds a BA in anthropology. She previously served as Maternal and Child Health Program Director for the March of Dimes Georgia Chapter and served as a member of the Georgia Maternal Mortality Review Committee from 2014-2016.