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.

Dr. Pearson is a Clinical Assistant Professor and Director of the UIC Midwifery and WHNP program at UIC. She has 30 years of experience as a Nurse Midwife and has been working in the college for 5 years. She has a lot of experience working in low resource communities and communities of color.

Dr. Patil is Professor of Nursing at the University of Michigan and a medical anthropologist with 20 years of qualitative and mixed-methods analytical expertise related to community and 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.

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.

Abigail Suleman (she/her) is a reproductive health researcher, advocate, and educator. As a proud “auntie” of 9, she loves spending time with her sweet nieces and nephews, going on walks with her family, and drinking cultural teas. Ultimately, she aspires to advance equity in sexual, reproductive, and adolescent health and bring people together in impactful, storytelling spaces. 

Alexandra holds an MPA from UIC with experience in the government and nonprofit sector. She brings her community organizing experience to her new role as Recruitment Specialist to our MGMC project. 

Dr. Asantewaa Darkwa is the Senior Qualitative Researcher at MGMC and an Adjunct Lecturer at the UIC Jane Addams College of Social Work. Her research has deeply rooted her in a commitment to serving the unique needs of Black women and mothers. Through her journey, Dr. Darkwa has developed a profound understanding of the challenges they face, and she is dedicated to empowering and supporting them in their perinatal care, carceral experiences and beyond.

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.

Cynthia Jones is the Assistant Doula Manager at MGMC.

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.

Brittani is a recent graduate from Northeastern Illinois University with a BS degree in Community Health and Sociology. At MGMC, she is skilled in participant recruitment and retention, data collection, and qualitative data analysis. She is a mom and extremely passionate about maternal health equity.