Quetzi was born in Mexico City. Her family is from Puebla and Veracruz, and she grew up watching her grandmother help her family and strangers heal using traditional herbal remedies and the rebozo from indigenous Mexican ways. She considers her service a legacy and created Quetzi Doula Care LLC  in 2021. As a traditional dancer, she incorporates movement and ceremonial approaches to create community and treat body, mind, and spirit for pregnant and non- pregnant people.

Joel Austin is the Founder and President of Daddy University Inc. and Executive Director of The School of Parent Education. Fueled by his role as a father of four, Joel educates and re-educates people about the importance of fatherhood. Through his leadership, Daddy University Inc. has grown into a recognized authority on fatherhood information, support, and training. He is a proud graduate of Cheyney University and a veteran of the U.S. Army.

Erica is a body literacy educator, folk herbalist, and full-spectrum doula who provides cultural and spiritual education and support on birth, postpartum, fertility and menstruation, and reproductive health. Erica is also on the path to becoming a home birth midwife. Her skills and doula expertise reflect her midwifery philosophy, rooted in the traditional ways of her African and Taino ancestors. Her work is representative of her efforts to work towards the abolition of colonialism, decolonization, and gaining collective sovereignty.

Natasha  R. Chinn MD FACOG has been a trailblazer in women’s health for almost 20 years. She believes in treating the whole being, which she describes  as spirit, mind, and body. Dr. Chinn is a board certified OB/GYN and currently completing her fellowship in Integrative Medicine. Dr. Chinn  completed her undergraduate degree at Yale University, where she  received a BA in anthropology. Both her medical degree and OB/GYN  residency were completed at Rutgers New Jersey Medical school.

Dania is co-founder of South Jersey/Philadelphia-based Heartfelt Hands Birth Services and also provides training for future doulas. She works at The Parent Kind in Cherry Hill and with AtlantiCare’s program Safe Beginnings, which offers resources, including free doula, birth and postpartum care, and counseling.

Dania is currently in midwifery school with the National College of Midwifery and looks forward to graduating and becoming a CPM Homebirth Midwife.

Jillian Faulks is the Director of Essex Pregnancy and Parenting Connection, Well-Being Lead for Mosaic Coaching Solutions, and a volunteer peer lactation support person for Chocolate Milk Cafe. As founder and CEO of Majuta Wellness, she focuses on creating spaces that promote joy, peace, and  rejuvenation while addressing health disparities, particularly related to Black maternal and child health. She is completing her doctoral studies in Family Science and Human Development at Montclair State University and Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction certification through Brown University.

Tonique Griffin is a passionate full-spectrum Community Doula who is committed to empowering the families she works with and knows firsthand the importance of supporting doulas in the birthwork and care they provide. She trained with Uzazi Village, was certified by Sister to Sister Community Doulas, and is the owner of The Caring Doulas. In addition, Tonique works with the Partnership for Maternal & Child Health, Rutgers’ Project Echo Series and is a founding Board member of NJ Centering Pregnancy Alliance.

Akirah Hlatshwako is a JustBirth Space Connector, Birthworker, Certified Blactavist Peer Counselor, Urban Farmer, and co-founder and program director of Ubuntu Permaculture Mission Inc.  She believes childbearing people are the experts of their own lives and have the right and the freedom to have a birthing experience that reflects that. Akirah is a proud Newark native and a mother of two. In her free time, she enjoys traveling, developing herbal remedies, cooking and spending time with family and friends.

Christine Ivery is founder and Executive Director of Public Health Jawn and Program Officer in maternal health quality improvement efforts at the New Jersey Health Care Quality Institute. She also lectures as an Adjunct Professor at Thomas Jefferson University.

Christine received a Bachelor’s degree in Exercise Science/Kinesiotherapy from Norfolk State University; a Master’s degree in Public Health from Drexel University; and holds a Health Education Specialist Certification (CHES).

Fatimah Muhammad has worked alongside the International Baby-Friendly designation project at NYU Medical Center and currently serves as an international and national doula, with a  majority of her clients residing in the tri-state area. She is Director of 340B Pharmaceutical Services and Drug Reimbursement at Saint Peter’s University Hospital. Fatimah is passionate about decreasing maternal mortality and addressing racial disparities, health disparities, and health inequities so that every woman and their family can look forward to their journey and not fear a likely, but an unnecessary outcome.

Erica Pulliam is the Newark Site Manager for START, the Center for Great Expectations’ community-based home visitation program. She is also a certified Domestic Violence Response Team member, a trained perinatal doula, a member of the DMHAS Multicultural Services Advisory Committee, and Vice President of the HOPES CAP, Inc. Head Start Policy Council. Erica graduated from Pillar College with an Associate degree in Biblical Studies and a Bachelor of Arts in Counseling and Psychology with a marriage and family concentration.

Cristina Ramos is the Co-Founder and Executive Director of Mammissi Birth Services and known for her work with marginalized communities, specifically pregnant or parenting people with substance use disorder. She is also a Certified Perinatal and Postpartum Doula, Childbirth Educator, Evidence Based Birth Instructor, Preconception Peer Educator, Certified Holistic Health Coach, Peer Sexual Reproductive Health Educator, Hypno-Doula, Certified Peer Breastfeeding Counselor, Evidence Based Birth Instructor, Reiki Practitioner 1 & 2, NBO – Certified Newborn Specialist, Placenta Alchemist and Trainer, and Babywearing Trainer.

Brittany Wright serves as the Director of Maternal Programming for the Perinatal Health Equity Initiative (PHEI) and has worked in the maternal health space since 2015, previously serveing as the Maternal Child Health Equity Coordinator for the New York City Department of Health and Mental Hygiene Bureau.  Brittany’s work is centered around lactation, maternal mortality, severe maternal morbidity, as well as reproductive justice. She is a proud New Jersey native , an adjunct professor at the Steinhardt School at NYU, and the mother of two boys.