Quetzi was born in Mexico City. Her family background is from Puebla and Veracruz, Mexico. She experienced growing up watching her grandmother help her family and strangers to heal as a sobadora and comadrona using the traditional herbal remedies and the rebozo from indigenous Mexican ways.

Quetzi considers her service a legacy and feels honored to have served and continue serving mothers, pregnant people, and their families through pregnancy, postpartum, placenta encapsulation, closings of the bones, traditional lactation, pregnancy loss, emotional, and physical support.

She created Quetzi Doula Care LLC  in 2021, and 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, President, and Chief Executive Officer for Daddy University Inc. and the Executive Director of The School of Parent Education. Fueled by his role as a father of four, Mr. Austin is personally and professionally committed to educating and re-educating people about the importance of fatherhood. Through his leadership, Daddy University Inc. has grown into a recognized authority on fatherhood information, support, and training. Mr. Austin is a proud graduate of Cheyney University in Pennsylvania and obtained real-life skills training as a veteran of the U.S. Army.

Mr. Austin is the founder of the National Fatherhood and Young Men’s Conference whose message has reached over 58,500 individuals and groups since its inception in 2006. In 2009, he also founded the Tri-State Daddy Daughter Dance, which has become a tradition that changes the lives of girls everywhere. Mr. Austin is also the chief facilitator and program developer for the Fathers Club; a free weekly fatherhood training group at three locations in Philadelphia; he services fathers from all backgrounds and ages.

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 many skills and doula expertise reflect her midwifery philosophy, which is rooted in the traditional ways of her African and Taino ancestors. These ancestors, as midwives, not only caught babies but were the healers who kept their people safe through the most brutal circumstances.

Erica shares her knowledge and supports her community by offering her services on a sliding scale to QTBIPOC. 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.

Dr. Chinn currently works as an OB/GYN and integrative medicine physician at Brescia Migliaccio Women’s Health, where she served as a founding partner until 2021. During her career, she has served as an adjunct clinical assistant professor at Touro College of Osteopathic Medicine, where she mentored and trained numerous medical students and residents. She is also a member of ACOG, ACOOG, and serves on the Executive leadership team of the northern New Jersey chapter of the American heart association. Recently, Dr. Chinn was also appointed to the Advisory board for Coalition for Change in NJ.

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 is committed to improving the health and well-being of individuals, families, and communities. Recognizing the importance of wellness beyond the physical, Jillian became certified in Kemetic Yoga. Since then, she has expanded her expertise, becoming a Holistic Health Coach, Prenatal Yoga Instructor, and Lactation Support Counselor.

Jillian is currently 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 the founder and CEO of Majuta Wellness, Jillian focuses on creating spaces that promote joy, peace, and rejuvenation while also addressing health disparities, particularly related to Black maternal and child health.

Jillian is currently completing her doctoral studies in the Family Science and Human Development program at Montclair State University and working toward Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction certification through Brown University.

Born and raised in Newark, Tonique Griffin is the proud mother of three children, grandmother to five, and 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.

Tonique trained with Uzazi Village, was certified by Sister to Sister Community Doulas, and is the owner of The Caring Doulas. In addition, she works with the Partnership for Maternal & Child Health and is a regular contributor to Rutger’s Project Echo Series, founding Board member of the New Jersey Centering Pregnancy Alliance, and co-founder of the Care Forest communication platform, specifically designed for doulas.

Tonique especially loves working with both first-time birthing people and second timers who didn’t enjoy their first birthing experience. Dedicated to ensuring birthing people and families have access to quality providers, facilities, and resources, Tonique is an advocate for safe, healthy, and intentionally empathetic birthing environments and improving relationships between Doulas, Perinatal Health Workers, Midwives and Providers.

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.

As a Mutual Aid Steward, Akirah hopes to better support doulas in their work to address maternal and infant mortality by fostering sustainable rings of support for them. 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, the second hospital in New York to receive a baby-friendly designation and currently serves as an international and national doula, with a majority of her clients residing in the tri-state area. During a career that spans almost two decades, she has established her reputation for educating women and families on their pregnancy journey. For nearly a decade, Fatimah has spearheaded pharmaceutical services programs dedicated to optimizing healthcare for vulnerable populations, increasing access to vital medications and providing more comprehensive and affordable patient services. Fatimah currently works as the Director of 340B Pharmaceutical Services and Drug Reimbursement at Saint Peter’s University Hospital.

Fatimah is passionate about decreasing maternal mortality, 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. She is dedicated to helping provide emotional, educational, and physical support that ensures future generations receive fair and equal treatment.

Erica Pulliam is the Newark Site Manager for START, the Center for Great Expectations’ community-based home visitation program. Erica is a graduate of Pillar College with an Associate degree in Biblical Studies and a Bachelor of Arts in Counseling and Psychology with a marriage and family concentration. Erica is a certified Domestic Violence Response Team member and a trained perinatal doula. She is currently developing a train-the trainer initiative for integration of doulas across the Center for Great Expectation’s (CGE) continuum of care.

Erica has worked at CGE since 2012, with advancing experience in their Adolescent Residential program and the START Program. She is a demonstrated change agent for populations who are marginalized, mistreated and subjected to silence and a founding member of CGE’s Social Justice Committee, as well as a member of the DMHAS Multicultural Services Advisory Committee. Erica is also a Trainer at the Institute of CGE and has presented as a Panelist for the Brazelton Institute Annual Substance Use Disorder Conference and a trainer for “Abuse Across the Spectrum” at CGE’s New Employee Orientation. Additionally, Erica serves as the Vice President of the HOPES CAP, Inc. Head Start Policy Council. Erica values her self-care and prioritizes spending time with her husband and two children.

Cristina Ramos is the Co-Founder and Executive Director of Mammissi Birth Services, a busy but happy mother to three beautiful beings, and a grandmother to one. She has been providing accessible trauma-informed services for over ten years and is known for her work with marginalized communities, specifically pregnant or parenting people with substance use disorder. Cristina prepares families for childbirth and continues to support them from birth to school age. She believes birth rights are human rights, and incredible things happen when a birthing person is treated with the care and compassion they deserve.

Cristina loves teaching and learning from each family that she works with. She is 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) in East Orange, New Jersey.  She has worked in the maternal health space since 2015 and has served as the Maternal Child Health Equity Coordinator for the New York City Department of Health and Mental Hygiene’s bureau of maternal infant reproductive health.  She has centered her work around lactation, maternal mortality, severe maternal morbidity, as well as reproductive justice and aims to advance Perinatal Health Equity’s mission by supporting black mamas across the state of New Jersey through education, advocacy, and support.

Brittany is a proud New Jersey native and  serves as an adjunct professor at the Steinhardt School of Culture Education at New York University.  She is a mother of two boys, 11 and 5 years old. She holds a master’s in public health from Thomas Jefferson University School of Population Health and a BS in Health Behavior Management from University of Delaware.