Coalition Servant Leadership Team
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Awara Tete Mendy Adeagbo (She/Her)
Awara Tete Mendy Adeagbo (She/Her)
Awara’s true passion is advocating for birth equity and justice for black and brown women. She strongly believes that a positive prenatal, birth and postpartum experience has the power to empower women and set up families for success for decades to come.
Awara’s 15+ year career spans management consulting, Silicon Valley health tech startups, early childhood development, and social entrepreneurship. She considers her professional specialities to be business/impact model development, talent/HR, product-market fit, organizational strategy development, and cross-functional project management.More recently, Awara has aligned her passion for birth equity with her professional time and energy in several ways. She proudly works as a birth doula with Accompany Doula Care, exclusively serving the MassHealth eligible population in the Greater Boston Area. Awara also manages a philanthropic fund that invests in black maternal health, sits on several maternal health focused nonprofit boards, and provides strategic advising to nonprofit entrepreneurs. Awara holds a BA from Harvard University and an MBA from Stanford University.
Awara was born and raised in a few places across the Greater Boston area - Dorchester, Medford and Malden. She is Cape Verdean and Gambian, and is inspired by the strength, resilience and determination of her immigrant family. Awara enjoys spending time outside with her two beautiful boys and husband, doing spin workouts, searching for the best chocolate chip cookies, and watching high school dramas on Netflix.
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Tatikqua Austin
Tatikqua Austin
Tatikqua Austin, Entrepreneur and Training and Development Specialist from Boston, MA, graduated from the Social Justice Academy, where she seasoned her advocacy skills. As a Certified Professional Life Coach, she is dedicated to promoting beauty, self-care, and the overall well-being of others.
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Eurnestine Brown, PhD
Eurnestine Brown, PhD
Program Director and Director of Relational Equity and Belonging - Brazelton Touchpoints Center Director of Equity, Diversity, Inclusion, Belonging, and Access - Division of Developmental Medicine Senior Strategic Advisor on Equity, Diversity, Inclusion, Belonging, and AntiRacism - Rosamund Stone Zander Translational Neuroscience Center
Boston Children's Hospital
Dr. Eurnestine Brown leads BTC’s efforts to become an anti-racist and inclusive Center that promotes sustainable excellence by creating an organizational culture committed to equity, diversity, inclusion, and belonging. As a developmental psychologist with 25+ years of experience, doula, and equity strategist, she is dedicated to improving the lives of birthing people, families, infants, toddlers, and children — especially those who are racially and
historically marginalized. She moderates BTC’s Parenting While Black, Family-to-Family Real Talk Series and is Co-PI on Transforming Funding to Enable Community Rooted Solutions: Reducing Racial and Economic Inequities in Maternal, Neonatal and Infant Morbidity and Mortality - the Birthing, Infants and Child Health Equity Project. Dr. Brown has extensive experience in research design, implementation, analysis, evaluation, and all aspects of data collection, observation, and coding with infants, children, and families. She has consulted for nonprofit agencies, school districts, and child and adolescent former Early Head Start/Head Start Program Director. She is the co-editor of African-American Women: An Ecological Perspective and has published papers in journals such as Developmental Psychology and Development and Psychopathology. Dr. Brown is Vice - President of the Board for Infant Massage USA and a Board member for Eliis Early Learning.
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Soraya DosSantos
Soraya DosSantos
Soraya is a mother, a birth keeper, and a family wellness advocate. She is on fire about creating a paradigm shift around how we understand the changes during and throughout childbirth and the essentials to support mothers to thrive throughout their motherhood journey. Soraya co-founded Maternal Nurturing Collective, which provides Afro-Rooted holistic, spiritually connected, and evidence-centered nurturing support to help mothers feel connected, liberated, and thrive. She is also the founder and program director of Sacred Birthing Village Southcoast, bringing joy, dignity, and liberation through SisterFriending for pregnant and birthing families. Soraya believes that if the mother is well, so are our communities, societies, and the world! Soraya lives in New Bedford with her family, although she calls Cabo Verde home.
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Rita Fernandes
Rita Fernandes
My name is Rita Fernandes. I am originally from Cabo, Verde, West Africa. I am a devoted mother to nine beautiful children. I advocate for birth equity, equality, and justice for women of color. I am deeply committed to ensuring every woman has accessible, safe, and equitable healthcare. I have always been passionate about serving my community and being an advocate.
With a background in maternal health, labor & delivery, and pediatric care, I bring much knowledge and experience. In 2004, I facilitated a breastfeeding support group at Cambridge Hospital. In 2006, I became a certified doula from the Boston Medical Program through the Birth Sista Program. In 2024, I joined Vital Village, the birth equity coalition of Greater Boston. I am presently enrolled in Urban College’s Community Leadership and Advocacy Certificate Program, a collaboration with Vital Village Networks, to better serve women in my community. Having witnessed disparities and injustices firsthand with myself, my family, and my community within the maternal healthcare system, I, Rita Fernandes, made it my mission to become an agent of change. I am dedicated to empowering women and their birthing experiences, nurturing and supporting families, and providing support and resources for well-being during childbirth.
"I have been a member of the Vital Village community since 2015, and I am a certified Doula in the Cape Verdean community, as well as the Muslim community. I am a grateful mother of 9 children and a grandmother of 10 children. I’ve shared and nurtured many families, especially women with my lived experience, which reflects my compassion to my community and the families I serve on a daily basis from wraparound services, to being the bridge who connects families and medical professionals to be part of a change for Wellness. One of my greatest gifts is my love and dedication to serve the families in my community."
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Latarsha Gaines
Latarsha Gaines
Latarsha Gaines is from Boston, MA born and raised. Graduated from the University of Hartford CT and employed at one of the major Boston hospitals working in Labor and Delivery.
Has worked in the healthcare field for 15+ years from Primary Care, Long Term Care, Rehabilitation Care, Clinical Outpatient Care and currently in Maternal Health.
Passionate about Brown, Black and Indigenous Mother and Baby while focusing on improving their overall wellbeing, health and development. And ensuring they are provided equal rights and opportunities afforded to their counterparts.
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Shamilia Lloyd
Shamilia Lloyd
Mother, Sister, Aunt & Friend
Hello World!
I am The Resident Program Coordinator for the Charlestown Housing development, under the Charlestown Resident Alliance. I do not always consider myself a leader, but more a community healer. We all deserve to make our own decisions, we also deserve support throughout doing so.
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Katia Powell-Laurent
Katia Powell-Laurent
Katia Powell-Laurent is an award-winning nutrition and wellness expert, a practicing Holistic Nutrition Practitioner, maternal health researcher, Birth Doula, and a policy advocate. She's a distinguished member of the MIT linQ Faculty, a Servant Leader at the Greater Boston Birth Equity Coalition, Lactation Counselor Trainee and a Co-Lead Member of the Massachusetts Doula Coalition.
Katia is the founder of Black Girls Nutrition – a digital nutrition startup tech company that provides culturally tailored nutritional solutions. All services are designed exclusively for Women from the Black Diaspora that want to improve their overall quality of health or who are on their journey to motherhood; from preconception, pregnancy, and postpartum.
Katia has helped her current and past clients lose over 100,000 lbs. She has been featured in People Magazine, Boston Business Journal, NECN, WBUR, personally lost 200lbs, is a Robert Woods Johnson Scholar, completed five years of doctoral studies in nutrition/health policy and has 25 yrs + of expertise in nutrition, maternal health, health equity, food justice, public health and medicine.
"We will never sacrifice our cultural heritage to be considered healthy. The foods and flavors we eat are woven into the fabric of our culture, our families, our history, and our DNA.” ~Katia
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Candice Privott (She/Her)
Candice Privott (She/Her)
A distinguished African American maternal health advocate, who began her journey after the loss of her stillborn son, Aiden, in 2019. This tragedy ignited her passion to prevent similar losses and address systemic racial disparities in maternal healthcare.
Candice's personal experiences include surviving postpartum depression, preeclampsia, and post-delivery hemorrhages twice. These challenges fuel her advocacy for comprehensive maternal healthcare prioritizing all mothers' well-being.
Recognized for her tireless commitment, Candice leads efforts to improve Black mothers' lives and outcomes. She advances research, and policy initiatives, and mentors future advocates, sharing insights as a sought-after speaker.
Collaborating with diverse stakeholders, including community-based organizations and policymakers, Candice works to develop innovative solutions addressing maternal health disparities.
In 2021, Candice welcomed her son, Grayson, renewing her dedication to maternal health. Outside advocacy, she enjoys traveling with Grayson, crafting, and family time, enriching her understanding of motherhood and fortifying her resolve for positive change.
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Dymon Lee (She/Her)
Dymon Lee (She/Her)
Dymon Lee is a Boston native who is passionate about community connection.
She is the founder of The Village Moms Supporting Moms which is a currently a growing group committed to empowering and educating single mothers to overcome emotional and financial barriers. She is a network coordinator for Union Capital Boston , an organization that rewards community engagement and collaboration.
She has spent over 10 years with stronger generations ,as a Young Parent Ambassador and now serves as a council member for Stronger generations at Brighams and womens Hospital.
Stronger Generations focuses on serving the needs of pregnant individuals delivering at Brigham and Women’s Hospital, as well as Boston’s expectant and parenting families under the age of 25.
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Jocelyn Santos-Luong (She/Her)
Jocelyn Santos-Luong (She/Her)
Jocelyn Santos-Luong is a second-generation Latina and fourth-generation birthworker, continuing the legacy of resilient women who champion the empowerment of all birthing people. Throughout her career, she has served in diverse roles, including as a doula, community health worker, and health equity coordinator. Regardless of the title, her work deeply remains rooted in her identity and commitment to the community, understanding that true progress is nurtured within the fabric of those communities.
With each endeavor, Jocelyn is dedicated to amplifying voices, breaking down barriers, and creating pathways for inclusive healthcare. She believes in the foundational importance of grassroots efforts and community engagement in fostering lasting change.
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