CWI Staff

Carolina Nkouaga, MPH, LM, CPM

Carolina Nkouaga, MPH, LM, CPM

Interim Executive Director
Stephanie Murillo, LM, CPM

Stephanie Murillo, LM, CPM

Director, Rematriating Apprenticeship
Marissa Evarts, BSM, LM, CPM

Marissa Evarts, BSM, LM, CPM

Staff Midwife
Claire Barrett Bettler, CNM, IBCLC

Claire Barrett Bettler, CNM, IBCLC

Easy Access Clinic Midwife
Taleisa Benally

Taleisa Benally

Functional Nutrition Counselor
Angelique Steadman

Angelique Steadman

Midwifery Fellow
Saychelle Rincon Y

Saychelle Rincon Y

Midwifery Fellow
Natasha Bowman

Natasha Bowman

Student Midwife
Julia Hall (Hoki Pah), BA

Julia Hall (Hoki Pah), BA

Health Administrator

Carolina Nkouaga, MPH, LM, CPM

Interim Executive Director

Carolina Nkouaga is a public health consultant and a community midwife. She currently serves families as a midwife with Changing Woman Initiative, in addition to assisting with administration of the organization, and is a consultant to the National College of Midwifery, the New Mexico Breastfeeding Task Force, and the University of New Mexico Health Sciences Center. She is a member of the New Mexico Department of Health Licensed Midwife Advisory Board, and previously served on the Board of Directors of the Midwifery Education Accreditation Council, the Beyond Flexner Alliance, and Cien Aguas International School Governing Council. For over a decade, she served as the Director of the University of New Mexico Health Sciences Center Office for Community Health, where she collaborated on the development of the health extension model and various community health worker initiatives, as well as working with community partners to improve health and health equity in the state of New Mexico. She currently serves families during the prenatal, birth and postpartum period, holding space and honoring their traditions as they welcome a new life. She draws on her experience of working in indigenous communities throughout Latin America on community development projects, as well as the Bahá’í principles of unity and service, to guide her work. With ties to Costa Rica and Cameroon, the family home that she shares with her awesome husband and two phenomenal daughters is often filled with the sounds of drums and singing.

Stephanie Murillo, LM, CPM

Director, Rematriating Apprenticeship

Stephanie Murillo directs our Rematriating Apprenticeship initiative. She graduated from the MEAC-Accredited National College of Midwifery in 2023 and is the founder of Parteria Xantico in the borderlands. She lives in El Paso and is bilingual in English & Spanish.

Marissa Evarts, BSM, LM, CPM

Staff Midwife

Marissa was first introduced to the concept of physiological birth in 2007 while working on a bachelor's degree in Holistic Nutrition. This is when her passion to become a midwife began. She went on to serve as a birth doula for over 10 years before studying to become a midwife. Marissa is a certified professional midwife (CPM) and is a licensed midwife (LM) in the state of New Mexico. She holds a Bachelor of Science in Midwifery from the Midwives College of Utah and is currently working on a Master of Science in Midwifery with a focus on education. Marissa has a passion for working with students and teaching midwifery topics and skills as well as preserving the profession of midwifery.

Marissa has been married to her spouse since 2000 and they have two children together. Marissa has a deep pride for her Sicilian and southern Italian heritage and loves to share this with others. Marissa loves to be outdoors homesteading, hiking, and canoeing. Gardening is one of her favorite forms of meditation. Marissa also has a creative side and enjoys making jewelry, stained glass, and mosaics. She has lived in Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Oregon, and Colorado, but has found a home in the beauty, people, and culture of New Mexico. She lives in the South Valley of Albuquerque where she cherishes the rich farming history of this community. She also shares her life with a few dogs, several goats, a large flock of chickens, two bearded dragons, and a parakeet. Marissa is honored to serve the clients of CWI and work alongside their amazing team.

Claire Barrett Bettler, CNM, IBCLC

Easy Access Clinic Midwife

My name is Claire Barrett Bettler (she/her) and, as a midwife who is passionate about community-based healthcare, I feel incredibly honored to be joining CWI’s amazing team. I have watched this organization grow and create real change in our state, and I’m deeply grateful for the opportunity to be a part of this work.

My pathway to and through midwifery has been varied and winding, allowing me to observe, support, and experience birth & reproductive health care in homes, birth centers, small community clinics, and large hospitals. I have lived & worked in rural communities and busy cities in the US and other countries, and I currently own a small community-based midwifery practice here in Albuquerque. I deeply value respect, simplicity, and humility, and I look forward to our working together.

Taleisa Benally

Functional Nutrition Counselor

My name is Taleisa Benally (Diné) and I am the new Nutrition Aid Coordinator for Changing Women Initiative. I come from the Navajo Nation out in Arizona and came to New Mexico as a college student. I am a recent graduate from the University of New Mexico where I completed my BS degree in Nutrition and Dietetics. The opportunity CWI has given me is a dream come true and I look forward to leading the indigenous people of New Mexico to a brighter, healthier future. I grew up on a traditional Navajo Ranch, what most Navajos know as sheep-camp, where I grew up farming and herding sheep and goats as a young child. Because of this, I am very well aware of the declining health of our people and the struggles we face in getting access to fresh, nutritious food. I am happy to guide you in your journey to health. I live by the motto that “Health is Wealth.”

Angelique Steadman

Midwifery Fellow

Angelique Steadman is CWI's Midwifery Fellow and is in the final stages of becoming a Licensed Midwife.  She was born and raised in Albuquerque, which is also the place she gave her four children beginnings of their own. As a doula and student midwife, I feels blessed to serve this community that has nourished my family for so long.

Saychelle Rincon Y

Midwifery Fellow

Saychelle is an intuitive, kindhearted Midwifery Fellow who strives to always be learning. Saychelle is proud to be part of a large Caribbean family who immigrated to New York City and Miami, Florida. After earning their Bachelor's degree in English Literature, they began attending births in 2010 as a DTI doula and in 2017 as a Birth Assistant with CPR and NRP certifications. Since then they have attended over 100 births in Utah, Pennsylvania, Idaho and the Big Island of Hawaii. They had their own home birth to a kiddo named Zeke in 2015 and have been an advocate for Queer family-making wherever they serve. Although new to the Enchanted Desert, Saychelle is creating a sustainable relationship with those supporting the childbearing year here in New Mexico.

Their offerings as a birth keeper and facilitator range from Spiritual Cleanings (Limpias) and Bone Closing Ceremonies to Full Spectrum Doula support, as well as transmuting Placenta medicine and practicing as a Licensed Massage Therapist, specializing in Child Development and Pregnancy Massage. They have been studying and applying the wisdom gleaned from Birthwise Midwifery School, Body Ready Method and Spinning Babies, as well as attending a range of birth environments from hospitals to birth centers, bath tubs to bedrooms, even outside in nature, for the last 10+ years, loving every minute of growth given.

Now, as they focus into developing their Midwife skills towards licensure, as well as authentically showing up as a queer and non-binary matriarch, they take pride in serving their ancestral, chosen and surrounding community.

Natasha Bowman

Student Midwife

Diné

She is from the Navajo Nation Reservation; Fort Defiance, AZ. She currently resides in Rio Rancho, NM. Her clans are Red Running into Water and Meadow People. Natasha is committed to helping birthing people feel empowered through their pregnancies, labor/postpartum period and through their breastfeeding or chest feeding journeys. Birth services should be accessible to everyone and not considered a luxury.

Julia Hall (Hoki Pah), BA

Health Administrator

Pueblo/ Anishinaabe

Julia Wall also known as Hoki-Pah, is a Pueblo/ Anishinaabe woman continuously exploring the intersection between land based sovereignty and reproductive justice. Julia is a mother to 7 year old Orion Rain and is grateful to have such an incredible teacher. Most of her life was spent living in the Pueblo of Jemez and learning from her grandmother Rose Fragua. In 2017, Hoki-Pah completed her undergraduate at the Institute of American Indian Arts with a BA in Indigenous Liberal Studies and a certificate in business. Julia is currently a Masters candidate at the University of Saskatchewan and is majoring in Indigenous Land Education.Julia’s work in land based architecture, mainly the medium of adobe, or earthen bricks has been her inspiration and convergence point of Indigenous Land Based Education and Reproductive Justice. Currently under the name Adobe Doula, Julia provides full spectrum doula services for expecting parents in central New Mexico. Hoki-Pah looks to combine the core values of Indigenous Land Education and Reproductive Justice to create a curriculum that centers healthy land - healthy family for all stages of life.