7th Annual Black Maternal Health Conference

Along with charisma and leadership, Sundé brings to the Center of Black Maternal Health and Reproductive Justice over a decade of experience in providing strategic guidance and advice to senior leadership, maximizing budgetary resources, expanding partnerships, and improving operations. It has been said of Sundé that “…she has a buoyancy and positive, forward-thinking outlook; Sundé takes the initiative to identify problems and devise solutions, she organized the day-to-day operations to Swiss clock precision and her communication skills of are a high order.” Sundé’s strong background in business, the pharmaceutical industry, and academia fuels her passion for public health and life science research, improving operational efficiency and shaping organizational strategy and culture. Her career has afforded her to work with companies and institutions such as Pfizer, Boston University, Boston Medical Center, and Harvard University. Sundé received her BA in Biochemistry (Eastern University) and holds a Master of Business Administration, with a concentration in Pharmaceutical Business (University of the Sciences Philadelphia), and she has also studied law. She is a Certified Life Coach, Notary Public, and a Certified NFL Contract Negotiator.

Dr. Ndidiamaka Amutah-Onukagha is the Julia A. Okoro Professor of Black Maternal Health in the Department of Public Health and Community Medicine at Tufts University School of Medicine. Dr. Amutah-Onukagha is the Founder and Director of the Center of Black Maternal Health and Reproductive Justice (CBMHRJ), and of the Maternal Outcomes of Translational Health Equity Research (MOTHER) Lab. In addition, she is the founder of the largest conference on Black maternal health in the United States held annually in April during Black maternal health week. In its 7th year, the conference attracts participants from over 46 states and 10 countries. An active scholar, Dr. Amutah-Onukagha’s research investigates maternal health disparities, infant mortality, reproductive health and social justice, and HIV/AIDS as experienced by Black women. She also serves as the inaugural Assistant Dean of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion for the university’s Public Health and Professional Degree Programs. A well-published author, Dr. Amutah-Onukagha’s research has been presented in over 80 manuscripts, 6 book chapters, a best-selling book on Amazon, and a textbook on culturally responsive evaluation. Her research has also been featured across a series of platforms, including, The Lancet, TedX, USA Today, MSNBC, and most recently in the New York Times. She also serves on the editorial board for the Journal of Women’s Health Issues. Currently, Dr. Amutah-Onukagha is the Principal Investigator of two multi-year studies on maternal mortality and morbidity, an R01 funded by the National Institutes of Health and an interdisciplinary grant on maternal health equity funded by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. Dr. Amutah-Onukagha also serves as the DEI training director for the KL2 and BIRWCH fellowship programs at the Tufts Clinical and Translational Science Institute (CTSI). She is an active co-investigator on several other research studies with collaborators at Tufts Medical Center, Brandeis University, the State University of Buffalo, and Harvard University School of Medicine. In 2022 she received the John MacQueen Lecture Award from the Association of Maternal and Child Health Programs. Dr. Ndidiamaka Amutah-Onukagha was an honoree of the 2020 Top 40 under 40 Minority Leaders in Healthcare, as presented by the National Minority Quality Forum. She is a founding member of Birth Equity Justice MA, a board member for the Neighborhood Birth Center in Boston, and a board member for Dr. Shalons’ Maternal Action Project (DSMAP). In 2019, she was honored with the American Public Health Association’s Maternal and Child Health Section’s Young Professional of the Year Award. She currently serves as co-chair of the section’s Perinatal and Women's Health Committee. Dr. Amutah-Onukagha received her Master of Public Health from The George Washington University School of Public Health and Health Services before completing her Ph.D. in Public Health from the University of Maryland. She also completed the Kellogg Health Scholars postdoctoral fellowship with an emphasis on community-based participatory research and health disparities.

Kimberly Seals Allers is an award-winning journalist, five-time author, international speaker, strategist, and advocate for maternal & infant health. A former senior editor at ESSENCE and writer at FORTUNE magazine, Kimberly is a leading voice on the racial and socio-cultural complexities of birth, breastfeeding, and motherhood. She is the founder of Irth, a new "Yelp-like" app for Black and brown parents to address bias and racism in maternity and infant care. Kimberly also created Birthright, a podcast about joy and healing in Black birth that centers on positive Black birth stories as a tool in the fight for birth justice and reverses the narrative of negative statistics common in mainstream media coverage of Black maternal health. Learn more at KimberlySealsAllers.com. Follow her @iamKSealsAllers on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.

Dr. Elicia Harris, MD, MBA is the Chief Medical Officer (CMO) of Navigate Maternity. Dr. Harris is a board-certified OB/GYN who currently practices as an OB/GYN Hospitalist in Indianapolis, IN. During her 13 years of practice, she spent over 10 years in private practice in Fort Wayne, IN. Dr. Elicia Harris has always been a passionate advocate for her patients and a warrior of healthcare disparities. In addition to providing excellent care to her patients, she also works as an advocate for healthcare policy and reform as the Treasurer of the American College of Obstetrics and Gynecology (ACOG) District V. She completed her undergraduate studies at Purdue University and her medical school training and OBGYN residency at Indiana University School of Medicine. She recently completed a Physician Executive Masters of Business Administration (EMBA) at IU Kelley School of Business.

Theadora James, MHA is the Chief Operating Officer (COO) of Navigate Maternity. As a leader in project management and processes improvement for over 11 years at managed care organizations and large hospital systems (The VA Hospital System, Novant, and Centene) Thea brings a deep expertise in healthcare operations. Thea’s passion for healthcare stems from her experience growing up in her hometown, Gary Indiana. She witnessed many health disparities and inequities in midwestern, BIPOC communities. This inequity drove Thea to dedicate her life to help solve this injustice. Thea graduated from Indiana University with a B.S. in Healthcare Administration and a business foundations certificate from Kelley School of Business. She earned her Masters of Health Administration from Franklin University and a Data Analytics Certificate from Georgia Institute of Technology.

Ariana McGee is the Founder and CEO of Navigate Maternity (NM). NM has created a remote patient monitoring system for prenatal and postpartum patients. Mothers are dying and specifically, Black women are dying 3-4x the national average during childbirth and postpartum due to reactive care, data gaps, and bias. Ariana experienced the inequity in perinatal care after almost dying during childbirth with her fourth child. As a healthcare leader in the medical device and biopharmaceutical industries (BD, Biogen, Genzyme, etc.) for the last 11 years, Ariana brings a wealth of knowledge and is uniquely positioned as a mother and healthcare leader to commercialize NM. In her free time, she enjoys spending time with her husband, AJ, and their four little ones – Jade (5), Trey (4), Naomi (2), and Aliya (1). “We’re here to save the mamas and the babies.”

Jessica Bell van der Wal is reframing the path to parenthood as the CEO and Founder of Frame, a venture inspired by her own challenging fertility and maternity journey. Founded in 2020, Frame is a virtual-first collaborative care model for fertility and family building. Prior to Frame, she led teams in growth, customer success and strategy at various early and late stage companies including Castlight Health, Nike, Deloitte Consulting and Genentech. She currently sits on the advisory boards of multiple digital health companies, educational institutions, nonprofits, and women’s empowerment organizations. Jessica’s foundational training in public health and international volunteer experience colors her passion for health solutions on a broad scale. Jessica holds a BA in Public Health from UNC Chapel Hill and an MBA from Harvard Business School.

I have more than 10 years of experience in maternal health systems. I understand stakeholders’ needs and nuances and develop innovative communications and strategies. I lead a team of culturally competent multidisciplinary subject matter experts to address the maternal health crisis. I have led the creation of groundbreaking products for CRISP, a Health Information Exchange company. Before founding Wolomi, I was a quality improvement specialist at the Primary Care Association. and currently serve on the Unity Healthcare Board.

Melissa Hanna, JD, MBA, is Co-founder and CEO of Mahmee, a maternal healthcare company on a mission to make the United States the best place in the world to give birth. Mahmee empowers families with wraparound support during the pregnancy and postpartum period. An activist-entrepreneur, Melissa received her Masters of Business Administration from the Peter F. Drucker School of Management at Claremont Graduate University, and her Juris Doctor from Southwestern Law School where she now teaches as an adjunct professor of corporate and technology law. Melissa’s modus operandi has always been to forge cross-industry collaborations and partnerships to solve big challenges, and she believes that equitable access to healthcare for women and children is a challenge we can all solve by working creatively together.

Simmone Taitt is the CEO and Founder of Poppy Seed Health, a telehealth app transforming the way we care for pregnant and postpartum people with 24/7 text access to doulas, midwives and nurses. On a mission to democratize accessibility, emotional support and well-being for all birthing people, Taitt comes to this work through the highly personal experience of navigating her own pregnancy loss in an inequitable medical system. Prior to Poppy Seed Health, Taitt spent thirteen years working on go-to-market strategies with early-stage startups Gilt Groupe, SpaFinder, and KidPass. She is a deep believer that technology can and should leverage its power to connect us all with radical empathy. Her work has been covered by The New York Times, CBS Mornings with Gayle King, Vogue and many more.

Dr. Hudson is anl Assistant Professor at the Tufts University School of Medicine. The strength of her contribution has been in community-based practice, implementation, management and evaluation of programs designed to facilitate health-related behavior change by addressing individual and community level determinants of health. In her early doctoral work, although not published, was designed to examine chronic disease prevention behaviors among women specific to protective behaviors associated with Lupus (secondary data analysis from a national study), and prevention behaviors associated with Obesity (e.g. physical activity and nutrition) among women in an urban environment. Her most recent work has been in the community-based formative research designed to adapt a nationally tested curriculum addressing CVD prevention, for the express use of African-American Women. (Manuscript in process)

Hadiya Severin holds her MPH from Tufts University School of Medicine with a concentration in Behavioral Science and Health Communication and a BS from Oakwood University, an HBCU in Huntsville, AL. She is also a certified doula and lactation specialist. These degrees and experiences have informed her research work on doula program implementation and black female equity. There is no better teacher than experience and Hadiya believes to become the mother she wants to be, she must help pave the way for those who also want to bring life into the world. As a strong advocate for Black maternal health and public health disparities, Hadiya hopes to empower her community through proactive, integrative policies. She aspires to earn her doctorate in Maternal Health and Reproductive Justice, with the ultimate goal of bringing her knowledge and skills to her home island, St. Lucia. As a first-generation American who loves her St. Lucian and Guyanese culture, she celebrates it any chance she gets and spends as much time with her family as possible. She loves educating young people and supporting black excellence through education and community engagement. Joining the MOTHER lab has been a passion of Hadiya’s since starting her public health journey at Tufts’. Being under the leadership of Dr. Amutah-Onukagha has been and continues to be an irreplaceable experience for her. She believes this team is an amazing group of diverse powerhouses that are revolutionizing the world of black maternal health and reproductive justice as we speak, and she is honored to be a part of this amazing team.

Emily Lycurgo Teixeira is from Cape Cod, MA attending Tufts University as a first-generation American and college student studying Spanish Cultural Studies and Biology. Her interest in reproductive and maternal health started young in her own family with the rich culture surrounding birth in Brazil and other Latin American countries. Emily speaks English, Portuguese, and Spanish and believes that representation and multiculturalism is an essential step to eradicating negative social determinants of health. She hopes to give back to her community one day as an obstetrician.

Emily is currently a Social Media Co-Chair of Maternal Advocacy and Research for Community Health (MARCH), the maternal health student organization at Tufts University.

Lily Snape is an undergraduate junior at Tufts University studying Community Health and Human Development. Her interest in reproductive and maternal health started in high school when she founded one of the first high school chapters of Protect Our Breasts, a non-profit empowering women to make safer consumer choices and avoid the carcinogens that lead to reproductive cancers. She went on to intern there, working on developmental and educational projects. She is the current President of the Maternal Advocacy and Research for Public Health (M.A.R.C.H.) organization at Tufts University. Lily was the Chair of the Marketing Committee and the Co-Chair of the Speaker Committee of the 5th Annual Black Maternal Health Conference. Lily is currently working at Harvard School of Public Health as a research data coder for the Health Professionals Follow-up Study and is an incoming fall Academic Public Health Corps Member for the Health Equity Team. In the future, her goal is to pursue a doctorate in Public Health and work in the maternal and child health field, either in academia or in consulting.

Originally from Kentucky, Grace Rahman currently resides in Boston, where she contributes significantly to pediatric interventional cardiology research at Boston Children’s Hospital as a Clinical Research Specialist.

She has a bachelor’s in public health from the George Washington University, a Master in Public Health from University of North Carolina- Chapel Hill, and is currently pursuing a Master of Business Administration from University of Massachusetts Amherst.

Beyond her academic and professional commitments, Grace is an active mentor with Science Club for Girls, where she passionately leads STEM-related lessons and activities for elementary and middle school girls. Her dedication to mentorship, particularly for empowering young girls, is a cornerstone of her community involvement. Additionally, she serves as an active member of the Community Engagement, Advocacy, and Policy Committee at the MOTHER Lab, organizing policy-focused panels, writing grants, and contributing to the MOTHER Lab podcast.

Grace's professional and volunteer work converges in her primary passions: Maternal and Child Health and pediatric cardiology. This intersection reflects her dynamic engagement with critical healthcare areas. Looking ahead, Grace envisions a future in medicine and aspires to become a physician, leveraging her experiences to make a lasting impact.

Stephanie Saintilien is a Co-Chair of the Community Engagement Advocacy and Policy Committee (CEAP). Her journey with the MOTHER Lab started in the Fall of 2021 as a Policy Liaison for the CEAP Committee. Stephanie works as a City Research Scientist for the Bureau of Health Equity Capacity Building at the New York City Department of Health and Mental Hygiene. She also serves on the Climate and Inclusion Committee at her alma mater, The University at Albany School of Public Health. Stephanie’s main goal in public health is to ensure that all persons receive equitable access to necessary resources that allow them to achieve and maintain a healthy lifestyle. She wishes to continue to pursue opportunities in food security and maternal and child health. As a Queens, NY native, she enjoys trying new foods, seeking new experiences, and is a film photographer.

Wanda Irving, MPA is forever the mother of Dr. Shalon Irving and Co-Founder of Dr. Shalon’s Maternal Action Project (DSMAP), Inc. DSMAP is a community driven, non-profit organization dedicated to alleviating Black maternal health disparities. The organization was established to honor Wanda’s daughter, Dr. Shalon, who passed away from preventable pregnancy complications in January 2017, three weeks after giving birth to her only child. Dr. Shalon was a brilliant researcher and fierce health equity champion. In an effort to continue Dr. Shalon’s legacy, Wanda co-founded DSMAP, where she is President of the Board and Acting President of the organization. Prior to establishing DSMAP, Wanda worked in various leadership roles in federal agencies and city organizations and provided consultative services and technical assistance to nonprofits across the country. Wanda possesses years of experience in organizational development and community outreach and has led numerous strategic initiatives and programs. Wanda is now fully dedicated to the mission of DSMAP and utilizes her keen expertise to enhance organizational resources such as Believe Her, an anonymous peer support app aimed to increase awareness of the Black maternal health crisis and promote evidence-based strategies that improve health outcomes for Black birthing people and families. Wanda is a highly sought-after health equity advocate appearing on national and influential media outlets such as NPR, MSNBC, GMA, Newsy, REVOLT, and Health Affairs, a peer- reviewed healthcare journal to name a few. Wanda has appeared before Congress and numerous organizations reaching tens of thousands, with the goal of ending preventable Black maternal deaths in the United States. The work of DSMAP is based on the life mantra of Dr. Shalon Irving: “I see inequity wherever it exists. I am not afraid to call it by name and work hard to eliminate it. I vow to create a better earth.” At DS-MAP we honor Dr. Shalon’s vow by working to remove barriers, biases, and disparate practices that impede access to equitable, quality and respectful care for Black women and birthing people.

Dr. Ndidiamaka Amutah-Onukagha is the Julia A. Okoro Professor of Black Maternal Health in the Department of Public Health and Community Medicine at Tufts University School of Medicine. Dr. Amutah-Onukagha is the Founder and Director of the Center of Black Maternal Health and Reproductive Justice (CBMHRJ), and of the Maternal Outcomes of Translational Health Equity Research (MOTHER) Lab. In addition, she is the founder of the largest conference on Black maternal health in the United States held annually in April during Black maternal health week. In its 7th year, the conference attracts participants from over 46 states and 10 countries. An active scholar, Dr. Amutah-Onukagha’s research investigates maternal health disparities, infant mortality, reproductive health and social justice, and HIV/AIDS as experienced by Black women. She also serves as the inaugural Assistant Dean of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion for the university’s Public Health and Professional Degree Programs. A well-published author, Dr. Amutah-Onukagha’s research has been presented in over 80 manuscripts, 6 book chapters, a best-selling book on Amazon, and a textbook on culturally responsive evaluation. Her research has also been featured across a series of platforms, including, The Lancet, TedX, USA Today, MSNBC, and most recently in the New York Times. She also serves on the editorial board for the Journal of Women’s Health Issues. Currently, Dr. Amutah-Onukagha is the Principal Investigator of two multi-year studies on maternal mortality and morbidity, an R01 funded by the National Institutes of Health and an interdisciplinary grant on maternal health equity funded by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. Dr. Amutah-Onukagha also serves as the DEI training director for the KL2 and BIRWCH fellowship programs at the Tufts Clinical and Translational Science Institute (CTSI). She is an active co-investigator on several other research studies with collaborators at Tufts Medical Center, Brandeis University, the State University of Buffalo, and Harvard University School of Medicine. In 2022 she received the John MacQueen Lecture Award from the Association of Maternal and Child Health Programs. Dr. Ndidiamaka Amutah-Onukagha was an honoree of the 2020 Top 40 under 40 Minority Leaders in Healthcare, as presented by the National Minority Quality Forum. She is a founding member of Birth Equity Justice MA, a board member for the Neighborhood Birth Center in Boston, and a board member for Dr. Shalons’ Maternal Action Project (DSMAP). In 2019, she was honored with the American Public Health Association’s Maternal and Child Health Section’s Young Professional of the Year Award. She currently serves as co-chair of the section’s Perinatal and Women's Health Committee. Dr. Amutah-Onukagha received her Master of Public Health from The George Washington University School of Public Health and Health Services before completing her Ph.D. in Public Health from the University of Maryland. She also completed the Kellogg Health Scholars postdoctoral fellowship with an emphasis on community-based participatory research and health disparities.