Dr. Livingston serves as the Ob/Gyn Department Chair and is a member of the UPMC Lititz Board of Trustees. She is the highest volume female robotic surgeon in the county of Lancaster. Dr. Livingston joined the Patients R Waiting team and is helping to increase the pipeline for young scientists of color to reach their goals of becoming physicians. She is honored to be the president of MOKA moms (Moms of Kids Advancing – Mothers of Color in Medicine/Science).

Wendy is the Executive Director and Instructor for Family Trees Birth Programs and holds a master’s degree in health sciences with a concentration in midwifery and women's healthcare.  She is a Lamaze Certified Childbirth Educator, a Fellow of the Academy of Certified Childbirth Educators, a Certified Birth Doula, a Certified Lactation Counselor a Lamaze Program Director, and Chair of Lamaze’s Education Council.   Professionally, Wendy has co-facilitated research at Towson University School of Nursing which was published in the Journal of Perinatal Education. She regularly guest lectures at several universities and hospitals across the US as well as regional, national, and international conferences.   

Wendy is passionate about addressing the healthcare disparities that exist within the United States maternity care system.  She thoroughly enjoys sharing her love for labor support and childbirth education. Above all else, she is most proud of her four children.

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Rae is the owner of Doula Right Thing, a Lamaze Certified Childbirth Educator, a certified birth doula, and trainer for the National Black Doulas Association (NBDA). As a Black Childbirth Educator and doula, Rae strives to bring support and awareness to the much needed maternal health care of People of Color. Rae passionately trains and mentors the doulas of the Diversifying Doulas Initiative.

Pamela Lilith Craddock is a certified nurse midwife and holistic health care provider in Lancaster, PA. She has attended over 4000 births. She has participated in the training and education of hundreds of nurses, nurse practitioners, nurses midwives, physician assistants and physicians from around the world. Pam has volunteered for disaster relief and medical training with nonprofits in developing countries.

Kay'La Mumford is a Full Spectrum Holistic Doula, Doula Trainer, CHW, and birth educator.Kay'La has been certified as a Doula for several years but has been in birth work for far longer. She has completed several doula certification courses, placenta encapsulation, postpartum doula training, lactation specialist training, and childbirth education. She founded her organization Birth & Embrace Communities Inc in 2021 and has trained close to 50 Doulas. Kay'La focuses on providing equity and education to bridge gaps in maternal health.  In 2020, she led the development of a project to support other Doulas and families during the pandemic.  Not only has she learned about birth through her profession but she has also conquered birth as a mother of 3. She has experienced home, hospital, and an unassisted birth and has lots of experience and wisdom to share with everyone. Her mission is to provide community expansion in under marginalized communities and collectively work to redefine infant/maternal health in our country.

Lakeeta is the founding Executive Director of Essentially Empowered, Inc, an organization based in Milwaukee that services multiple counties in Southeast Wisconsin, Essentially Empowered provides youth development opportunities, resource and referral services, trauma-informed programming, and youth doula support. Lakeeta is a Certified Community Health Worker, Full Spectrum Holistic Doula, and Certified Lactation Specialist, and student midwife. Lakeeta aims to reduce health disparities experienced by people of color through trauma-informed care, advocacy, and policy change.

Teresina Simmons is the Founder and Executive Director of Regal Family Services and Founder and CEO of Regal Aspire, LLC.  She is a Registered Nurse, RN Consultant, Doula and Doula trainer, Perinatal Educator, CHW Instructor, CPR Instructor, health and wellness educator, and student midwife.  She has assisted in a number of pilots and community sessions within the community surrounding such topics as COVID/ vaccine hesitancy, health literacy, patient advocacy, Doula work and parenting.  She has provided assistance and mentorship to individuals and community organizations to create and/or streamline processes and programs.  She is also currently working at the Wisconsin Association for Perinatal Care as the Regional Support Specialist where her role is to develop and support the levels of care designation process, contribute to the educational programming, and create and implement a program of collaboration and support for hospitals and perinatal care providers following level of care designation.

Dr. Mary Jo Podgurski is an RN, educator, counselor, author, and speaker of more than 900 local, national and international workshops/trainings. She is a past Lamaze International president and has been a childbirth educator since the 1970s. She is also AASECT certified as a sexuality educator and sexuality counselor. Dr. Mary Jo is the creator of the 12 books in The Nonnie SeriesTM on the challenging topics of death, consent, disability, gender, sex, trauma, relationships, mental health, quarantine, race, pregnancy and birth, and puberty. She has authored 38 books for parents, young people and professionals. She is the author of Routledge Press’ Reclaiming the Sexuality of Pregnancy, Birth and Postpartum, publication pending 2023.

Mallesha Malcolm is a Certified Nurse Midwife, Women’s Health Nurse Practitioner, L&D Nurse and a Lamaze-certified Childbirth educator. She is passionate about women’s health and maternity care in the US and across the Caribbean diaspora. Mallesha is a dynamic speaker, coach, birth advocate and mentor, who specializes in creating educational programs, events and products to educate women about all aspects of their health, particularly during the perinatal period. As such, she is dedicated to teaching women how to best advocate for themselves as they navigate their health and the healthcare system.

While working as a certified nurse midwife and serving on numerous committees, she observed Black women were not being heard in the discussion of racial disparities in maternal and infant health.  She co-founded Village of Healing, a community development organization focused on healing and empowering the village to eliminate social determinants of health and decrease disparities.  Under that umbrella The Village of Healing Center was developed to deliver quality health care that meets the social and cultural needs of patients. She founded Dàna M. Langford Consulting, an enterprise focused on uplifting communities and addressing systemic injustices through education, professional coaching, and advocacy. With a host of experience working in hospital systems as a certified nurse midwife, for more than 14 years, Dàna is invested in serving the Black community. She brings clinical bedside and corporate boardroom experience coupled with an adherent passion for the eradication of racial disparities to her companies and the communities she serves.

Emily Bernet (she/her/hers) is a queer single mom to two little ones. She transitioned to being a birth educator and doula because of her own experiences during her pregnancies. Before entering the birth space, she worked in higher education and earned her Master of Adult Education. Big Fat Pregnancy gave her the opportunity to combine her two passions and help others feel prepared for all the unexpected things that occur during pregnancy and baby feeding. You can find her attending births, writing curriculum for our courses, or in her tiny chaos garden.

Christina (she/her) is the founder and co-owner of Big Fat Pregnancy. She is a fat, queer, chronically ill, mom of two who worked tirelessly to make sure her pregnancy experiences were as fat positive as possible and now helps other folks living in larger bodies do the same. As a doula and educator she believes deeply in combating anti-fat bias during pregnancy, birth and postpartum and shines a light on current research and evidence supporting size inclusive care.

Naima Beckles is an educator, doula, and founding director of For Your Birth – a birth work consultancy in New York City. Soon after the birth of her first child, she chose the work of supporting expectant parents and earned certifications from DONA and Lamaze International where she currently serves as a member of the board. Naima also leads curriculum and community partnerships for Soshe Inc - a maternal health and wellness company. In addition, she is a teacher for The Institute for the Study of Birth Breath and Death where she has co-created courses for birth professionals on understanding and responding to pregnancy loss, trauma, and infant death in communities of color. A published author and media contributor, Naima lovingly stands alongside individuals navigating life’s triumphs and difficulties.

Kimberly Seals Allers is an award-winning journalist, five-time author, international speaker, strategist, and advocate for maternal & infant health. A former senior editor at ESSENCE and writer at FORTUNE magazine, Kimberly is a leading voice on the racial and socio-cultural complexities of birth, breastfeeding, and motherhood. She is the founder of Irth, a new "Yelp-like" app for Black and brown parents to address bias and racism in maternity and infant care. Kimberly also created Birthright, a podcast about joy and healing in Black birth that centers on positive Black birth stories as a tool in the fight for birth justice and reverses the narrative of negative statistics common in mainstream media coverage of Black maternal health. Learn more at KimberlySealsAllers.com.

Cyleste Collins is an Associate Professor of social work at Cleveland State University. Her work primarily focuses on health disparities, infant and maternal mortality prevention, community-engaged research, community/academic partnerships, and family housing instability. She earned her MSW and Ph.D in Social work from the University of Alabama and her MA in Psychology from the University of California.

Heather M. Rice is an Assistant Professor from Cleveland State University College of Health (School of Nursing). She is also a board-certified Pediatric Nurse Practitioner who specializes in child and adolescent psychiatry. Dr. Rice earned her PhD in Nursing Science and MSN from Case Western Reserve University in 2017. Dr. Rice is a passionate advocate for infant and maternal mortality prevention, birth equity, reproductive justice, toxic stress and mental wellness. She is committed to addressing health disparities working in partnership with the community organizations Birthing Beautiful Communities (BBC) and the Village of Healing Center (VOH).