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Alreema has always had a passion and love for helping pregnant women and infants.

Born and raised in Newark, she also knows firsthand how underserved urban, Black, brown, and low-income communities are. 

Alreema’s maternal health journey began as a teenager assisting families at a local health clinic. She officially earned the title of doula in 2018, and since then, has gained many new skills through additional training. As a Full Spectrum Doula in New Jersey and Virginia, her love for serving families continues to grow. 

Alreema is the owner and founder of Nurturing BayBees - her independent doula practice, Nurturing Families Two - a community led program, and recently launched the AAVE Doula Collaborative, a community-based birth worker training and education organization. Although she operates her own organizations, Alreema can be found behind the scenes building other MCH programs or curriculums for others. She is also the mother of three children and one heavenly angel. Alreema's goal is to change the way marginalized families receive care by creating safe spaces with tailored programs and education for them to flourish.

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Chéna Davis is the Owner of Butta's Holistic Services, Cocoa Careworkers Nanny Service and Founding President of The Diverse Doula Collective.

She is a Holistic Lifestyle Coach, Certified Holistic Full-Spectrum Doula, Lactation Counselor, wife, and mother of three. Chéna’s mission centers on empowering communities through holistic education, guiding individuals to care for themselves in mind, body, and spirit.

Raised in St. Croix, U.S. Virgin Islands, by her family of Guyanese heritage, Chéna combines her culturally rich upbringing with her New Jersey roots to advocate for health and wellness grounded in tradition and self-awareness. Her personal journey as the product of a teen pregnancy and becoming a mother at 20 ignited her passion for supporting families, particularly teen mothers and moms of color, to reclaim agency over their health and well-being.

Chéna firmly believes that understanding oneself is the foundation of meaningful change and healing. Through education, she inspires individuals to honor their bodies’ innate wisdom while embracing holistic practices that promote overall well-being. Her work extends beyond pregnancy care to encompass teaching communities how to nurture a balanced lifestyle that fosters sustainable health and resilience.

Deeply influenced by the “village mentality” from her upbringing, Chéna advocates for equitable and culturally competent care for Black and Brown families. She passionately reminds others: “It takes a village to raise a child, but it also takes a village to nurture and uplift the woman who bore the child. Holism is about connection and community.”

Through her leadership and services, Chéna is dedicated to fostering a culture of holistic wellness, empowering individuals and families to thrive with intention, balance, and vitality.

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Evana Cooper is a devoted mother of four incredible children, ranging in age from 17 to 5, and a proud resident of South Jersey, where she cherishes the vibrant community around her. Over the years, she has actively engaged in her local community as a leader, organizing youth groups, coordinating community events, and providing essential support to refugee families. During her homeschooling years, she co-founded the 'South Jersey Muslim Homeschoolers' group, creating a nurturing environment for Muslim moms and their families. Today, Evana continues to serve on multiple committees in Cherry Hill, where she advocates for diversity, inclusion, and equality for families of color.

With over 15 years of experience in birthwork and education, Evana’s journey into supporting expectant mothers began with her own unique and challenging birth experiences. Inspired by the difficult pregnancies and postpartum periods she faced, she embarked on a mission to provide the kind of support she wished she had. In 2018, she founded 'Evana Births', a venture aimed at empowering families through childbirth education, labor, and postpartum care. As a certified monitrice, labor and postpartum doula, and childbirth educator, Evana has supported over 300 families in their deliveries and postpartum journeys, providing unwavering guidance and care throughout each stage.

 Evana currently serves as the Doula Liaison at all three Virtua Hospital Campuses, where her role is pivotal in fostering collaboration between hospital staff and doulas. She works to ensure that doulas have the resources, training, and support they need to provide comprehensive care to families, advocating for a seamless integration of doula services within the hospital system. Evana is also responsible for facilitating ongoing education and professional development for doulas, ensuring that they are equipped to provide compassionate, evidence-based care that aligns with hospital protocols while always centering the needs of birthing families.

Evana was recently blessed to be part of the NJ Doula Dialogues program, which aimed to create a digitally-archived storytelling narrative of what it was like to work as a doula during the COVID-19 pandemic. This project allowed her to share the challenges and triumphs of supporting families through unprecedented times.

Her professional journey has taken her across five countries, where she has worked as a teacher, head of English, curriculum coordinator, and summer camp director. Her extensive travel and experience with diverse cultures allow her to connect deeply with families from various backgrounds. Certified in Newborn Resuscitation, Rebozo Practices, labor acupressure, and CPR, she strives to offer the utmost comfort and safety during childbirth and postpartum recovery.

A respected voice in the birth community, Evana has been invited to speak at prestigious institutions like Rutgers University on topics such as doula work, motherhood, teenage development, and community outreach. She also collaborates with organizations like IDEO.org and The Taub Foundation in research efforts to create sustainable programs for families across New Jersey.

Evana’s ultimate vision is to empower women by providing them with the education, care, and support they need to achieve empowered births. She is a firm believer in the importance of maternal mental health and works tirelessly to ensure that every mother feels supported, heard, and valued throughout the birthing process.

Whether you’re an expectant mother looking for guidance or a community member seeking a compassionate advocate, Evana is here to provide unwavering care and support on your journey.

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Irina Polanco Ventura is the Director of Public Health Initiatives at the Partnership for Maternal & Child Health of Northern New Jersey and also a trained doula. With a deep commitment to improving maternal and child health, she oversees programs focusing on community doula support, maternal mental health and perinatal addictions, and prematurity prevention.

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Michelle Gabriel-Caldwell is the CEO and founder of Baby, Please Birth Services Agency LLC™, leading a team of over 20 doulas across NJ, NY, PA, MD. She is a triple-certified Birth Doula (Bradley, NBDA, DONA), a certified Fertility and Postpartum Doula (NBDA), and a Childbirth Educator specializing in the Bradley Method® and her own BPBS Holistic Childbirth Course for The Birth Center of NJ, where she serves as Doula Director.

Passionate about maternal health advocacy, Michelle is an NBDA® Licensed Doula Instructor, a Poppy Seed Health Advocate & Anti-Racism Instructor, and Board Chairperson of The Perinatal Health Equity Initiative. She also supports breastfeeding families as a Certified Lactation Educator with CAPPA and embraces movement in birth as a certified Dancing for Birth® instructor.

Her expertise has been featured in The New York Times, Netflix’s Sex Explained, and Every Mother Counts. With nearly two decades of experience, she has assisted over 530 families as a doula, trained more than 350 birth professionals, and empowered over 2,300 families through childbirth education. A mother of two, she balances her birth work with a career as Regional Key Account Manager for Altana GmbH and a Technical Editor for Elsevier, holding degrees in Chemistry (ACS), Chemical Engineering, and Public Health.

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Tonique Griffin is a dedicated full-spectrum doula and advocate with over five years of experience supporting birthing families in New Jersey. She completed her Uzazi Village full-spectrum CD training and certification with Sister to Sister Community Doulas via the Statewide Parent Advocacy Network (SPAN) in October 2018. Since then, Tonique has supported over 100 birthing families. As a credentialed NJ Medicaid Doula Provider since January 2021, she has worked with multiple Managed Care Organizations to provide essential services to clients with Medicaid insurance.

Currently, Tonique serves as a Postpartum Doula with the Partnership for Maternal and Child Health of Northern NJ (PMCH), a role she began in November 2023. Her previous roles include Community Doula positions at Newark Community Health Centers and Sister to Sister Community Doulas.

Tonique is deeply committed to improving maternal and infant health through her involvement in numerous community initiatives. She is an active member of several important boards and committees, including the NJ Maternal Care Quality Collaborative (MCQC) Advisory Board and the NJ MIHIA Community-Based Doula Curriculum Steering Committee. Additionally, Tonique is a co-founder of Care Forest, a national communication platform for doulas, and a steward for the Coalition for Change NJ, which amplifies the voices of community members supporting the perinatal to three population.

Through her advocacy and hands-on support, Tonique continues to be a passionate leader in the maternal and infant health space, dedicated to uplifting the doula community and advocating for systemic change to better serve birthing families.

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Marie Kinsella is the Director of Community Programs for The Partnership for Maternal and Child Health of Northern New Jersey. Ms. Kinsella is responsible for managing community-based programs and the staff who support these programs. In this role, Ms. Kinsella oversees five counties and numerous programs such as Evidence-Based Home Visitation programs, Community Health Workers, and Connecting NJ. Additionally, Ms. Kinsella supported the inception of two Centering Pregnancy sites. With over 20 years of service as a member of the Fetal Infant Mortality Review Team, dedicated to Northern New Jersey, Marie has developed and implemented novel educational programs focusing on several health topics/issues surrounding Black Infant Mortality, HIV perinatal transmission initiative, and substance abuse and reproductive health in a female correctional setting. Marie holds a Master's degree in Community Health with a concentration in minority health; she is a Master's Certified Health Education Specialist (MCHES), as well as an Adjunct Professor in the Health Science Department at New Jersey City University. More recently Marie has begun work as a community Doula which only amplifies her passion to strengthen communities through support, advocacy, and education.

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Silvia Corado born in Guatemala and moved to New Jersey in 2002. She has been a La Leche League Leader since 2009. She was trained as a Labor Doula, Lactation Educator and Childbirth Educator from CAPPA (Childbirth and Postpartum Professional Association) This 2025 she obtained her certification as Community Health Worker.

In 2019, Silvia was certified as a Community Base Doula from the Health ConnectOne curriculum provided by CHS of NJ.  In the same year she was employed as a Community Base Doula, in 2022 she was promoted to Doula Supervisor for AMAR Doula program, and in 2024 she was promoted to Program Administrator of Community Doula Programs in CHS of NJ.

Silvia has a passion to support and provide information and guidance to women and her families from the Hispanic Community of Trenton, NJ, so that they can be prepared and ready for a whole new chapter in their new life as a mother.  She is happy and blessed to have the opportunity to share her knowledge with the women of Mercer County to make the difference in the Community.