CALIFORNIA NURSE-MIDWIVES ASSOCIATION | MEET THE BOARD

Meet CNMA's Leadership

Current CNMA Leadership

President: Elected by the CNMA membership. The president serves a four year term. The first year is as president elect, working closely with the current president. Then they serve two years as president followed by a year as past-president, offering continued guidance and support for the incoming president.

Past President: See above, in any given year there is either a past-president or president-elect on the board. Past-presidents are non-voting members, while the President-Elect is a voting position.

Secretary: Elected by the CNMA membership. Serves a two year term and is responsible for maintaining affiliate documents, keeping BOD minutes, and disseminating election ballots.

Treasurer: Elected by the CNMA membership. Serves a two year term and fiscal health of the organization.

Reproductive Justice & Anti-Racism Chair: Appointed by the CNMA Reproductive Justice and Anti-Racism Committee. Serves a two-year term. Responsible for guiding CNMA in our aim to become an organization committed to the reproductive-justice framework and to become and anti-racist organization. Acts as liaison between the Board and the Reproductive Justice Anti-Racism Committee.

Representing Underrepresented Community: Two positions. Elected by the CNMA membership. Serves a two year term. Acts as liaison and represents the interests of a community underrepresented in midwifery and/or on the CNMA board.

Northern California Regional Representative: Elected by the CNMA membership. Serves a two year term. Acts as liaison between CNMA and Nor-Cal Midwives.

Central California Regional Representative: Elected by the CNMA membership. Serves a two year term. Acts as liaison between CNMA and Central CA Midwives.

Southern California Regional Representative: Elected by the CNMA membership. Serves a two year term. Acts as liaison between CNMA and So-Cal Midwives.

Student Representatives: Two positions. Position rotates annually between Nurse-Midwifery education programs in California. Serves a two year term. Acts as liaison between CNMA and California Midwives. Shares one vote on BOD.

Communications Committee & Workgroup: The communications chair works very closely with the Social Media and Communications Consultant, supporting and directing them in their paid role to grow the social media platforms for both CNMA (content development, interactions with followers, moderating comments) and update the CNMA website. The communications chair also works with the CNMA President to publish CNMA’s bi-monthly newsletter and curate and distribute emails to CNMA membership, and collaborates with other CNMA committees to promote events and share information.

Continuing Education Committee & Workgroup: Responsible for planning and hosting the annual meeting each fall and puts together continuing education programs made available through the CNMA website.

Health Policy Committee & Workgroup: The Health Policy Committee advocates for the people we serve, our communities and the midwifery profession. We aim to support legislation and policy that increases access to reproductive health care, especially care by midwives for all Californians. We aim to support legislation and policy that will reduce health disparities for BIPOC, trans and non-binary, LGBQ, people with disabilities, poor people and others impacted by systemic inequalities. We aim to support legislation and policy that removes barriers to midwifery care in CA.

Membership Committee: The primary responsibility of the membership chair is to manage the active CNMA membership list from month to month. This includes sending welcome emails to new members, sending reminder emails to lapsed members, and sending emails promoting any membership promotions. Additionally, the membership chair will remain actively involved in promoting new membership and engagement among existing members. The membership chair is also responsible for being an initial point of contact for members with concerns and questions, and for chapter leaders who need additional support from the state affiliate.

Midwifery Workforce Development and Education Support Committee: CNMA is starting a new committee that will focus on building and diversifying the CNM workforce in California, including strategizing to increase the number of clinical placement sites and preceptors in California, establishing and maintaining two-way communication between midwifery programs that have student nurse-midwives in California and the CNMA Board of Directors, and fostering and supporting student mentoring programs. They will work alongside the Student Representatives to the CNMA Board of Directors. For more information, contact the committee chair Devon Vandewiele at dmvandewiele@gmail.com

Professional Practice Committee & Workgroup: group is in development

Reproductive Justice & Antiracism Committee & Workgroup: The Antiracism Committee & Workgroup is the first Reproductive Justice Affinity group and is responsible for supporting CNMA to become an organization that is composed of racially diverse and anti-racist leadership and membership. We aim to diversify the midwifery workforce, and addresses the racism-based disparities in reproductive health care and promotes access to anti-racist training and education for all California midwives.

White Antiracism Workgroup: The White Antiracism workgroup is a group of white identifying members of CNMA leadership dedicated to learning and educating other white midwives about antiracism and social justice in midwifery care.