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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.
President:
President-Elect:
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.
Paris Maloof-Bury
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.
Secretary:
Laura Sheperis (2024)
Treasurer: Elected by the CNMA membership. Serves a two-year term and watches over the fiscal health of the organization, including responsibility for keeping CNMA's bank account statements, filing tax forms, writing checks for monies spent and providing a monthly report to the Board of Directors.
Treasurer:
Mariel Knoll
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 an anti-racist organization. Acts as liaison between the Board and the Reproductive Justice Anti-Racism Committee.
Reproductive Justice & Anti-Racism Chair:
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.
Member At Large - Representing Underrepresented Community:
Katiana Carey-Simms (2024)
Northern California Regional Representative: Elected by the CNMA membership. Serves a two-year term. Acts as liaison between CNMA and Nor-Cal Midwives.
Northern California Regional Representative
Lori Link (2024)
Central California Regional Representative: Elected by the CNMA membership. Serves a two-year term. Acts as liaison between CNMA and Central CA Midwives.
Central California Regional Representative
Sarah Dinkler (2021)
Southern California Regional Representative: Elected by the CNMA membership. Serves a two-year term. Acts as liaison between CNMA and So-Cal Midwives.
Southern California Regional Representative
Dameelah Carolina (2023)
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.
Student Representatives
Teresa Martin (2024)
Nicole du Maine and Danielle Senecharles (2023)
Committees
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.
Communications Committee Chair: Brittany Kendrick communications@cnma.org
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.
Continuing Education Committee Chair: Angela Sojobi
Health Policy and Professional Practice 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.
Health Policy and Professional Practice Committee Chair: Holly Smith advocacy@cnma.org
Health Policy Subcommittee Vice Chair: Liz Donnelly advocacy@cnma.org
Professional Practice Subcommittee Co-chairs: Bethany Sasaki & Jenna Shaw-Battista
Membership Committee: In addition to managing the active CNMA membership list, the primary responsibility of the committee is to work with the CNMA leadership team to create and implement a membership strategic plan, gather data to assess member satisfaction and needs, help establish membership priorities, set goals for membership expansion, review programs for effectiveness, enhance or eliminate current programs, and develop and implement new programs to achieve these goals. The Membership Committee Chair is also responsible for being an initial point of contact for members with concerns and questions for chapter leaders who need additional support from the state affiliate.
Membership Committee Chair: Melanie Cabezas Phipps
Workforce Development and Education Support Committee (WDES): The WDES committee is focused on building, diversifying, and retaining the CNM workforce in California. This includes strategizing to increase the number of clinical placement sites and preceptors, establishing and maintaining communication between midwifery programs and the CNMA Board of Directors, fostering and supporting student mentoring programs, and working to ensure the retention and well-being of midwives in practice. We work closely with many CNMA committees and external groups, including the CNMA Student Representatives, the Health Policy Committee, the California Nurse-Midwives Foundation, and ACNM's Workforce Committee.
Workforce Development and Education Support Committee Co-Chairs: Melanie Cabezas Phipps & Kim Dau
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, address the racism-based disparities in reproductive health care, and promote access to anti-racist training and education for all California midwives.
Reproductive Justice & Antiracism Committee & Workgroup Chair: Mayra Lizette Yniguez arrj@cnma.org
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.
National Government Affairs Committee: Serves as the liaison between the ACNM national committee and CNMA.
National Government Affairs Committee Chair: Open
Bylaws Committee:
Bylaws Committee Chair: Katherine Heilig