Viorletta "Chena" Hunter-Lawrence is a mother of four from Southern Indiana. She is a pediatric Occupational Therapist, business owner, and midwifery student who attends Southwest Wisconsin Technical College.

She completed her Full Spectrum Birth Companion training with Shafia Monroe in 2020 and she volunteered in Black Maternal Health Week in 2021 in Louisville, Kentucky. She has always felt drawn to midwifery and caring for young children from a very young age.

Her goals include improving developmental outcome of children by supporting families during pregnancy, childbirth, and postpartum. She is passionate about reducing infant and maternal morbidity and mortality rates for Black and Brown families in Indiana and Kentucky in addition to assisting in early intervention detection for infants and toddlers.

Chena is looking forward to returning to the forefront practices, holistic-care, and community support to our families as Grand Midwives had once done.

Ijeoma Ukachukwu is a student nurse midwife at University of Illinois Chicago. She is in both the Midwifery and Women Health Nurse Practioner programs. She earned her Bachelor’s degree in Nursing from Northern Illinois University, Dekalb. She has been working in greater Chicago areas as a registered nurse for over eleven years in different healthcare settings including nursing and rehabilitation home, hospital and different home healthcare agencies. Ijeoma is very passionate about education and Nursing practice.

Khadijah is an AMANI certified doula and childbirth educator, a birth assistant, and a student midwife. She has lived abroad for many years where she became a doula in 2012 and attended dozens of births and raised childbirth education awareness to hundreds of women. Khadijah is very passionate about advocating for women's rights, especially childbirth rights and raising awareness about the importance of postpartum care. One of her favorite sayings is " It takes a village to raise a child, but a community of love and support to raise a mother."

She has attended many conferences and workshops and has had the pleasure of meeting popular birth icons like midwives Ina May Gaskin and Gail Tully, breech birth specialist, Dr. David Hayes and pediatrician and breastfeeding specialist Dr. Jack Newman.

She is currently enrolled in the midwifery program at Southwest Wisconsin Technical College working on her last clinical phases with local midwives in her community.

She now resides in Ann Arbor, Michigan with her husband and five children.

Elizabeth Diaz Ordaz is a Xicana student nurse midwife based in her hometown of Denver, CO. Elizabeth has been working in the birth and public health community for over 10 years, as a Doula, Promotora de Salud, Centering Pregnancy facilitator, and most recently as a Labor & Delivery RN. Elizabeth believes in accessible, full-spectrum reproductive health care with a holistic and patient-centered approach. Elizabeth’s primary focus is serving her Latinx and Spanish-speaking community here in Denver in order to reduce health disparities and improve birth outcomes. She plans to provide her patients with the tools for informed, and empowered healthcare to employ in birth and throughout the reproductive lifespan.

Elizabeth is currently attending Frontier Nursing University as a student in the Community Based Nurse Midwife Education Program.

Danielle Hounshell is a CNM student at The Midwifery Institute at Thomas Jefferson University. After exposure to midwifery care within a federally qualified health center, Danielle nurtured her passion to intimately care for families during the perinatal period. She currently works as a RN at

a freestanding birth center outside of Philadelphia and as a Lactation Consultant at an urban hospital. In addition to her clinical experience, Danielle has clinical and academic research experience with authorship on two publications. Danielle is filled with light and love assisting birthing people to recognize their power and overthrow systems of oppression by claiming their autonomy and using their instincts in the birthing process. As a future midwife, Danielle desires to devote her efforts to perinatal and infant health promotion and create a more positive vision of birth, lactation, and sexual and reproductive health in Black communities. She also wants to assist in educating, supporting, and retaining a racially, linguistically, and culturally diverse midwifery workforce. Danielle has continued to take an active interest in her Philadelphia community as a student member of professional organizations and within her local church.

When she is not working or studying, Danielle enjoys traveling, cooking/eating, and building memories with the people she loves.

Farwa Mateen, RN, BSN, is a multilingual registered nurse. In addition to Farwa's fluency in English, Urdu, Persian, Persian-based languages (such as Hindi and Punjabi), she also has extensive experience as a manager and educator.

She currently works in the ER at a local hospital in Richmond, Virginia, providing her skills. Farwa graduated from Bon Secours College of Nursing with honors, earning a summa cum laude Bachelor of Science in Nursing. Currently, she is pursuing a Doctor of Nursing Practice (DNP) at Georgetown University, focusing on midwifery and womens health nursing (MW/WHNP). She has three beautiful children, ages 17, 7, and 6, with whom she shares her life with her loving spouse.

As an academic and professional leader, Farwa has held several positions of responsibility. Farwa has served in various leadership roles in the classroom and in the workplace. There are several committees in which she serves, including Georgetown Senate, Diversity Equity & Inclusion (DEI) committee dedicated to ensuring that all students, regardless of color, country, socioeconomic class, religion, sexual orientation, or identity, feel connected to the school community long after graduation. She is also a student member of the faculty-led Curriculum Task Force.

Once lived in a low-income neighborhood herself, she can empathize with the difficulties faced by a minority mother. Moreover, she is aware that nurses from underrepresented groups can contribute a unique viewpoint to patient care informed by their own lived cultural and ethnic experiences. The ultimate purpose of Farwa's midwifery career is to instill in young nurses a sense of accountability, honesty, and integrity.

Nalah Morrow was born and raised in Pomona, California and still currently reside in the Inland Empire. She is currently attending Bethel University’s hybrid Nurse Midwifery program located in St. Paul, Minnesota.

Nalah recently graduated from undergrad with her bachelor’s in nursing but felt so passionately about her calling to become a Nurse Midwife, she jumped right into a master’s program shortly after graduating in 2021.

In Nalah's free time she works as a Registered Nurse Birth Assistant to stay update with the ongoings in the birth world and to feed her lifelong goal of learning. Most of Nalah's time does goes towards her studies and family. She is extremely honored to have been chosen to be one of the few recipients out of many applicants to receive this scholarship by Melanated Midwives!

Nalah is excited and feel blessed to receive such an amazing award. Nalah says "Receiving this award is only confirmation of God placing me exactly where I need to be! I cannot wait to start my career as a Black Certified Nurse Midwife and give back to a community that has given so much to me. I’m committed to serving the underserved, the vulnerable, and the unique individuals that will benefit greatly from a culturally competent and compassionate provider that I ‘m becoming."

Maritza Franqui, RN, MPH, is a first-year graduate student in the UCSF Nurse Midwifery Education Program. Maritza identifies as Afro-Latina with family origins from the Dominican Republic and Puerto Rico; and transitioned to San Francisco from Brooklyn, New York.

Currently, Maritza is the Engagement and Content Specialist for the Midwifery Mentoring and Belonging Program, a mentorship program matching BIPOC midwifery students with BIPOC midwives in California. Prior to attending UCSF, Maritza worked with the Centering Healthcare Institute as a consultant, training obstetric providers and clinical staff, throughout the country, on implementing and facilitating theCenteringPregnancy group-care models at their clinics.

She is a certified doula and lactation counselor and holds a Master’s of Public Health from Columbia University’s Mailman School of Public Health with a focus in Population and Family Health and a certificate in Public Health Research Methods. Maritza is passionate about midwifery care and child development and dedicates her career to bridging the gap between prenatal care and pediatric care beyond the initial postpartum period and integrating early child development and social-emotional learning along the continuum of care from preconception to postpartum.

She sees midwifery as a unique, revolutionary practice that will support entire families' social-emotional development and well-being across the lifespan.

Other interests include learning traditional midwifery practices (around the globe), paid family leave, herbal medicine, and starting a stand-alone women’s health and birth center practice. Maritza is expected to complete the midwifery education program Summer 2023.

Adrianna has had the goal of becoming a midwife for over 10 years. She was drawn to midwifery when a close friend birthed with midwives, describing her experience as empowering and incredibly positive.

After much research into the field, she perceived this as a spiritual calling to a work with great purpose. She is currently a student nurse-midwife at Frontier Nursing University. She has worked in labor, delivery and postpartum in the hospital setting for five years, and in a freestanding birth center for two years.

Adrianna desires to use her skills and presence as a midwife of color to help improve care outcomes for all women, with special emphasis on improving outcomes for black women. She has a strong desire to educate women about their care options, as well as how to recognize racial discrimination in healthcare.

Adrianna cannot wait to join missionary efforts to bring midwifery care to populations with limited resources. In her spare time, she loves to cook for family and friends and enjoys spending as much time in nature as possible.

Shamika Saint Pierre is currently a student nurse-midwife at Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center. As a registered nurse, she has over 3 years of experience working in level III/IV Neonatal Intensive Care units.

Prior to obtaining her BSN at Marymount University in 2018, Shamika obtained her BS in Biology from the University of Maryland Eastern Shore and went on to obtain AAS in Medical Laboratory Technology to become an ASCP certified Medical Laboratory Technician in 2015. In terms of her future, she plans to obtain her Doctorate of Nursing Practice so that her growth and practice won't be limited by any future legislation or limitations.

Shamika is passionate about autonomy, informed decision-making, and education. She is extremely fond of education and mentorship believing that information is worthless if it isn't shared.

Shamika says "If in my career I attend one thousand births, that’s amazing! But, if I educated and trained just 20 midwives, who then attend one thousand births themselves, well now we’ve gone to twenty thousand instances of competent and compassionate care. Educating the midwives of the future really is the foundation of advocacy."

Mariah Hearne is a student nurse midwife who is currently enrolled in Frontier Nursing University’s CNEP program.

She is married with two young children and resides in Maryland. She received her BS in Biology from Towson University in 2013 and her BSN from Marymount University in 2016.

Mrs. Hearne is a registered nurse currently working at a local OBGYN clinic as well as on a labor and delivery unit per diem.

Ever since the start of her nursing career, Mrs. Hearne has been passionate about women’s health.

As a future CNM, Mrs. Hearne is looking forward helping improve the quality of care for minority women.

Melinda Eng is a DNP student in the Certified Nurse Midwifery track at Seattle University. She received her B.A. in Law Societies & Justice from the University of Washington and her Master of Science in Forensic Science from the University of Central Oklahoma.

She believes becoming a future midwife will allow her to build lasting relationships, continually grow her knowledge, work with women of all backgrounds, advocate health equality for women of color, and focus on patient centered care. Melinda is currently a Scottish tenor drum instructor for three public agencies around the City of Seattle, and have taken a personal break from competing on the personal side.

When she is not teaching, working or doing anything related to school, you can find her: baking, drumming, ‘collabing’ in the kitchen with her husband, hiking, camping, exploring, travelling and spending time with family.

Melinda is truly looking forward to working with a caring group of healthcare providers to promote trust, respect, and patient autonomy.

Jenna Cruz-Gallegos lives in Southern California. Jenna's greatest pride is being a mother. Her passion is supporting birthing families.

Jenna knew she wanted to be a midwife from an early age after witnessing her mom’s home birth. Jenna personally discovered the sacred beauty within birth with her daughters’ births. This experience motivated Jenna to take action to ensure she'd be able to guide families through one of their most important, life-changing events.

Jenna is currently a full-time student at Midwives College of Utah. Jenna is pursuing her Bachelor’s of Science degree in Midwifery to become a Certified Professional Midwife. Jenna is striving to be a midwife who will support and guide families. Jenna is aware of the privileges that you hold as a light-skinned red-headed Hispanic but will use them to advocate for others. Jenna stands by the belief that midwife culture should prioritize a safe space where diverse families are cared for by diverse midwives.

Ebby Shanks is a certified nurse midwifery student at Frontier Nursing University.

Ebby is passionate about women’s health.

She volunteers as a RN at a pregnancy center, where she gets to empower women, through education and providing free ultrasounds and prenatal vitamins.

Ebby is also a birth doula. She primarily serves black women, making sure they have the knowledge and support to navigate the hospital system.

Cassandra is currently a student nurse midwife at the University of Cincinnati.

As a registered nurse, Ms. Fife has approximately nine years of experience caring for newborns and women during the antepartum, intrapartum, and postpartum periods.

Cassi has her RN/BSN and obtained her certification in Inpatient Obstetrics and EFM. She is passionate about advocacy and empowerment for women.

Ms. Fife has served on two mission trips in Central America, providing clinical care to underserved rural area.

She also has seven years of experience teaching childbirth education and is committed to bringing back what she learns from the University of Cincinnati to her community.

Description goes hereNicole was born and raised in Chicago, and currently living in Milwaukee, WI.

From a young age Nicole knew she was meant to catch babies.

As the eldest of three girls, she understood the importance of caring for the child and the family.

Her family was the model for village centered support and she grew up surrounded by extended family in addition to a host of family friends.

Nicole is a second-year midwifery student at Southwestern Wisconsin Technical College, Certified Professional Midwifery Program. Nicole has been a doula since 2012 and certified lactation counselor since 2018. In addition to midwifery school Nicole is also working toward an International Board-Certified Lactation Consultant (IBCLC) certification.

“Having a supportive group of birthworkers is essential to our success as Black student midwives. Being a Melanated Midwives scholarship recipient is not just about the financial support, but also the mentorship from Black midwives.”

Description goes hereLa Kiesha Davis is a Student Midwife, Birth Doula, Certified Midwife Assistant, and Wellness Practitioner. Her holistic journey began professionally 10 years ago and has grown into a complete lifestyle and passion. As a birth worker she has attended 84 births in various settings including home, birth center, and hospitals.

Throughout her own life’s journey starting at a very young three years old, she has both fallen deeply in love with all things holistic and gathered various skills that have made me the woman she is today.

Her intention is to teach women to know and understand their worth and individuality by providing them hope and faith in themselves.

By integrating La Kiesha’s knowledge of both western medicine as well as complementary and alternative medicine she is able to initiate self-efficacy for women throughout their lifespan and birth experiences. In her free time, you’ll find her at the beach, hiking, and spending time with her family and friends and always with a cup of tea.