CWI Staff

Monica (she/her/ella) has been a leader in the non-profit sector for over 8 years, most recently as Executive Director of the New Mexico Breastfeeding Task Force. With extensive experience serving on advisory and nonprofit boards dedicated to maternal and infant health, language justice and reproductive justice, she brings a grassroots, community-driven approach to every aspect of her work. She firmly believes that centering families and BIPOC communities is essential to achieving birth equity and improving familial health.She is a Certified Lactation Counselor and trained Community Interpreter with over a decade of experience providing direct support to pregnant and postpartum families. As a community facilitator and convener, she is deeply committed to fostering connection, advocacy, access, and equitable care.An alumnus of Health Connect One Birth Leadership Academy, NM Women of Color Leaders in Non-profit and Rockwood Leadership Institute, she has honed her leadership as a Mexican immigrant woman of Indigenous descent, drawing from ancestral knowledge to center community in her work. She integrates these teachings into her leadership roles, shaping the way she manages nonprofit organizations with a focus on equity and sustainability.Outside of her professional commitments, she enjoys hiking, gardening, and cosplaying with her husband and two children.

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 two phenomenal daughters is often filled with the sounds of drums and singing.

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.

Lety Knight is a community midwife passionate about immigration justice and reproductive rights. She grew up on the El Paso/Juarez border, where she's raising her four children. An active birth worker in El Paso since 2015, she has been providing childbirth workshops, midwifery services, doula services, perinatal care, community education, and support groups in an effort to improve infant and maternal outcomes in a highly medicalized birthing region. A first-generation Mexican American, she provides culturally centered care, combining traditional practices with the best perinatal health standards. Lety is currently serving families in the El Paso/Juarez borderland and New Mexico.

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.

Stephanie Murillo 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.

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 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.

Diné

Natasha Bowman 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.

Pueblo/ Anishinaabe