We envision a world where communities are resilient and sovereign through intact systems of safety and wellness.
Our mission brings midwifery back to the people through self-sufficient, community-based maternity care.
Meet the Team
Board of Directors
Lesa Kelley
Board President — Chicago, IL
Lesa (pronounced Leesa or Lisa) brings more than 20 years of experience in communications, marketing, public relations, and nonprofit leadership. She holds a master’s degree in Integrated Marketing Communications from Northwestern University and has worked with organizations ranging from The Mothers of Gynecology to Facebook. Throughout her career, she has been passionate about helping organizations tell their stories, build meaningful relationships, and create lasting impact in the communities they serve.
Lesa’s commitment to women’s health and thriving Black families is imbued with the strength, courage, and love of a daughter, auntie, cousin and sister. When she’s not working, Lesa enjoys spending time with family and friends, writing, building LEGO creations, and exploring creative projects that bring people together.
Elizabeth Mekuria
Member At-Large — Harlem, NY
Elizabeth Mekuria (She/We), of Liminal Birth Services, is a mother of 3, a trained Birth and Postpartum Doula, Lactation Counselor, HypnoBirthing® Educator, Reiki Master, Masters student in Clinical Mental Health Counseling, and she prepares nourishing plant-based meals for families. She currently lives in and serves New York City.
She became certified as a Full Spectrum Doula in 2014 through Ancient Song Doula Services, where she provided care to BIPOC people regardless of their ability to pay for services. Driven by a deep passion for teaching and tending to the postpartum period, Elizabeth later trained with Innate Postpartum Care. She’s a founding member of Ayzosh Berchi, a collective in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, dedicated to nurturing, supporting and empowering families through education, body based practices and support during the childbearing continuum.
Since becoming a mother, her passions have converged. She weaves together dedication to social justice, healing, the transformative miracle of birth, and her love of delicious, nourishing whole foods.
Elizabeth believes deeply in the inherent power and wisdom of women. “Truly, when we change the way birth and the postpartum time are tended to, we change the future.”
Suzanna Kinsey
Secretary/Treasurer — Honolulu, HI
Suzanna’s journey into birth work began with three successful, empowering homebirths of her own. She is a mother, musician, educator, holistic practitioner, and traditional birth attendant who believes that informed, empowered people make the best decisions for themselves and their children. She sees herself as a witness, guide, and protector of women’s innate capacity to birth with strength and dignity, and is committed to building systems that support autonomous, safe, and culturally rooted birth for all.
Suzanna trained under Medrakanoe’onapua, a deeply spiritual, traditional midwife who has been a legendary figure in Oahu’s birthing community for over 40 years. Medra’s mentorship grounded Suzanna in community-centered care and taught her to see birth not only as a physical event but as a sacred, transformative process that touches the spirit, the family, and the community.
Suzanna also trained as a high school science and math teacher, which informed her ability to translate complex information into clear, accessible knowledge. As a holistic practitioner, she fosters ancestral connections while balancing the body, spirit, and mind. She integrates traditional wisdom, birth support, and contemporary wellness approaches to support whole-person healing.
Suzanna travels extensively, has given workshops in Asia and Canada, and supports birth workers and families internationally. Her work reflects a lifelong commitment to sustainability, self-sufficiency, and empowering women to make informed choices about their health and bodies.
Executive Director
Tara Compehos
Executive Director — Oakland, CA
Tara Compehos believes that birth is a mother’s dance with her baby and not about the midwife.
She’s proud to carry the lineage of legendary traditional midwife Medrakanoe’onapua and renowned lomilomi teacher Auntie Margaret Machado. Additional education includes a BFA from New York University, an internship with Mercy in Action in the Philippines and a Midwifery Arts degree from The Matrona. She’s the mother of two homebirth babies and a Certified Professional Midwife, licensed in Hawaii and Louisiana.
As a birth justice activist and community health advocate, Tara served as the Vice Chair of The Hawaii State Homebirth Task Force and currently sits on the board of directors for The Mothers of Gynecology. Tara works intimately with plant medicine in all of her practices and specializes in the development and implementation of innovative, grassroots programs which grow out of communities and return power to birthing people.
Other Members
Nadia Rumbolt
Social Media and Website Manager — Big Island, HI
Nadia Rumbolt is a mother of two homebirth children. She’s a passionate advocate for women making informed decisions about birth.
In addition to her role with SHINE, she is a fantasy romance author who’s been writing since she was single digits years old in paperback notebooks with №2 pencils. She was born in Jamaica and currently lives off-grid in Hawai’i with her hubby and children.
When Nadia isn't writing manuscripts on her phone, or writing copy for SHINE, she's cooking a vegan meal, gardening, sunbathing at the beach, or chatting about the hidden mysticism of life.
Nicole Woo
Facilitator — O'ahu, HI
Nicole Maileen Woo, daughter of Veronica Hall, who is the daughter of Elsie Mae Ingram, who is the daughter of Purie Vincent who is the daughter of proud, strong, tender, wise, loving women of the African diaspora. She is a birthing woman who is kind, curious, essentially creative, timidly brave, and growing in love.
She’s the mother to two brilliant beautiful black boys, a multiplicitous artist, hearthkeeper, certified practitioner of Integrative Quantum Medicine™, ordained minister, and teaching artist who is dedicated to collective liberation through healing and communal acts of creation. Her healing journey informs her mission to weave together ritual, art making, movement, and community as sacred acts of re-membering wholeness.
Her sons, ancestors, and Mother Earth fuel her devotion to the path of freedom for all sentient beings, which is why she’s passionate about serving mamas. She’s here to witness, support, and love sovereign mamas towards their recollection of sovereignty.
Piper Lovemore
Subject Matter Expert — Atlanta, GA
Piper Lovemore is inspired by the concept of birth as a catalyst for personal growth and transformation. She has enjoyed a passion fueled career in the birth arts, and supported hundreds of families as a birth educator, doula, and midwife.
Driven by the insight gained through her own holistic birth experiences, she has become especially keen to highlight the potential for ‘alternative’ birthing practices to correct black maternal health disparities, reclaim ancestral knowledge, and heal from the problematic legacy of obstetric violence / institutional inequity.
Ancestors
In an era where more and more people practice midwifery as a a scientific procedure; a set of steps which, when followed, is expected to ensure safety, Medra developed and perpetuated a style of midwifery which is grounded in a more indigenous understanding of safety. Over more than 40 years she has refined a combination of keen observation, courage, sharply honed skills, intuition and humility to support every birth as the unique spiritual journey of one woman.
Read about her legacy here.
Medra Kanoeonapua
Gina Kan
Gina was both incredibly beautiful and incredibly sensitive. Born in the Pacific Island of Kosrae, Gina grew up between there and Hawaii. From very early in life, she knew her calling was energy healing.
The homebirth mother of six, Gina was hands down, the most powerful energy worker Tara has ever met. In addition to in-person and virtual personal sessions, Gina curated a selection of embodied practices which fostered agency and surrender in one's own healing journey. She was a Sacred Path Certified Energy Healer and Ingham Method Certified Reflexologist.
Some of the modalities she incorporated into her practice included Organic Intelligence Trauma Therapy and 5 Element Theory. One of the ways she described the unique, ephemeral, and powerful work she did in this life was, “Mapping ancient and modern alchemical healing systems.”