Karie Stewart is a certified nurse midwife at the UIC and has provided care to predominantly Black and Brown patients for the past two years. Karie introduced racially concordant group prenatal care to the University of Chicago Medical Center and founded the community-based organization, Melanated Midwives, to address maternal health disparities on the South Side of Chicago.

Dr. Liese is an Assistant Professor of Nursing at UIC. She is a medical anthropologist and practicing nurse midwife who brings 14 years research experience in maternal health disparities and 11 years of midwifery practice to leading this project. She is an expert in maternal mortality and maternal health care disparities research.

Dr. Geller is the G. William Arends tenured Professor of Obstetrics and Gynecology in the College of Medicine and the Director of the Center for Research on Women and Gender and the National Center of Excellence in Women’s Health at UIC. Her scientific expertise is in applied clinical, health services, and epidemiological research focusing on maternal mortality and morbidity.

Pamela Pearson is an Assistant Clinical Professor and the Director of Nurse-Midwifery at UIC. She brings 29 years of practice experience to this project with most of her years working in minority and low resource communities.

Dr. Patil is Professor of Nursing at UIC and a medical anthropologist with 20 years of qualitative and mixed-methods analytical expertise related to health systems innovations and implementation science including group prenatal care.

Mama Jo Ann is a seasoned professional in maternal and child health. She has been an International Board-Certified Lactation Consultant (IBCLC) since 1994. Her professional experience includes Research Specialist in UIC College of Nursing on Preterm Labor and H-Hope projects, clinical nursing experience in Obstetrics and Gynecology, Pediatric Emergency Department and Outpatient Departments.

Jessica Ogwumike (she/they) is a public health researcher, trained labor doula, and abortion companion. She is experienced in adapting and implementing evidence-based programming to improve health outcomes for marginalized birthing communities, especially serving Black and queer families. Their work with the Melanated Group Midwifery Care (MGMC) team involves recruiting patients into care, participant management, and working with the MGMC community advisory board to ensure the project remains grounded in community insight and expertise.

Kat Dillane (she/her) is a reproductive health researcher and the project manager for the MGMC team. Kat provides strategic leadership and oversight for all aspects of the research project. She brings over five years of experience managing clinical trials for folks with chronic and acute gynecological pain conditions. Kat is dedicated to closing gaps in patient-centered care and working alongside communities to dismantle systems of oppression and advance health equity. Kat will receive her Master of Public Health in Community Health Practice from DePaul University in June 2023 and holds degrees in Psychology and Neuroscience from Loyola University Chicago.

Tayo Mbande (she/her) is an educator, birth and postpartum doula and maternal health innovator. As a co-owner of Chicago Birthworks Collective–Chicago’s first Black maternal wellness company, she prioritizes the work of making the experiences of marginalized families more equitable, enjoyable and liberated. With a commitment to reproductive justice and liberation, Tayo works to amplify the stories of Black parents and birthing people and create solutions to alleviating the structural barriers that contribute to poor reproductive outcomes.

Kate Craemer (she/her) is a perinatal health researcher at the UIC Center for Research on Women and Gender. She is passionate about promoting positive healthcare experiences and maternal health outcomes. Kate is leading the development of the group prenatal care curriculum and stakeholder advisory board.

Grace Olatunji (she/her) is a registered nurse in her final year of the Women’s Health Nurse Practitioner DNP Program at the University of Illinois at Chicago. As a Research Assistant for MGMC, she participates in outreach to recruit new patients. Grace’s 6-year nursing experience on the frontlines has allowed her to witness the impact and implications that poor healthcare can have on Black and Brown patients living in Chicago. Her goal is to bridge the gap between women of color and the current healthcare system to provide culturally competent care and reduce racial disparities.

Pia Pauline Lenon (she/her) is a registered nurse and second year PhD student at the University of Illinois Chicago, College of Nursing. She is involved in two maternal healthcare research projects on Black women at UIC. Her goal is to build trustworthy and sustainable healthcare models and systems level changes to improve health equity for vulnerable and underserved populations.

Courtney (she/her) is a registered nurse in her first year of the Women's Health Nurse Practitioner DNP Program at the University of Illinois at Chicago. Courtney works as a Research Assistant for the MGMC Project with the responsibilities of patient outreach and community engagement. Courtney has worked as a nurse for six years and has a passion to decrease health disparities especially in African American women.