Meet Our Team

Faculty and Staff

Toni uses her 20+ years of knowledge and experience to support the entire family as they embrace natural birth, healing, and herbalism. Toni is an advocate for those who are often overlooked or uninformed and is fiercely grounded in issues that advance and uplift maternal health and equity for all. As a community member, she is an intuitive visionary for creating services and opportunities for the marginalized. As a mentor, Toni openly shares knowledge to encourage and empower like-minded birth workers to safely support families with best practices. Both a teacher and a student, Toni is a voice of reason for those who have lost their connection to self and nature, inspiring and planting seeds of wisdom wherever she goes. An approachable and empathetic listener with an endearing sense of humor, she is loved and appreciated by many far and wide.

Heather's passion to become a midwife was fueled by the home birth of her eldest daughter. She is now the mother of 4 and grandmother to 5, three of which were born into her hands, also at home. Heather began her home birth practice, Birth Beautiful Detroit, in 2015 and co-founded The Mosaic Midwifery Collective which supports moms/parents-to-be and students of midwifery with resources and knowledge with an emphasis on Black and Indigenous persons reclaiming their birth culture. Heather believes in the long-standing history, safety and one-on-one care that midwifery and home birth provide. She is bilingual in English & Spanish and a current student of Arabic.

Teaching English at an international language school in Miami gave her the opportunity to design curricula aimed at helping students achieve their career, academic and personal goals, as well as assist with its reaccreditation status. Once a mother, she felt called to help build a community of care around birth and postpartum. She feels lucky to have found her passion project of advocating for the midwifery model of care, creating greater accessibility to midwifery education, especially for marginalized groups, and contributing to a grassroots project based in Detroit. Co-running the household of a bicultural family affirms her belief that raising children is an act of radical hope.

It is her aim to work in tandem with their local communities to decolonize and reclaim midwifery and birth spaces as safe sacred spaces for all.
Motivated by their own birthing experiences and the intersections between her professional and personal spheres, Liz became involved in birth work to advocate for, empower, and defend the rights of all birthing folks regardless of their color, ethnicity, sexual orientation, languages spoken, religion, or socio-economic status.
Liz’s work is grounded in the belief that families require access to care providers who also hold these values and utilize the practice of informed consent to support intuitive, instinctive birthing. Liz is currently conducting graduate research to investigate how linguistic patterns between patients and care providers affect birthing outcomes and satisfaction. Her work as a Michigan Education Policy Fellow, a program for children to explore language fundamentals and variation while honoring Black English, is being implemented throughout the city of Detroit.

She is based locally in Southeast Michigan, and recently completed a Masters of Professional Studies in Sexual Health at the University of Minnesota. Rachel’s work as a doula, educator, and advocate stems from a drive to improve body literacy, menstrual literacy, and the practical skills for boundaries and consent as they relate to reproductive and sexual health across the lifespan. Her work is deeply influenced by her own health journey living with chronic pain and illness. Rachel was brought to this work, like so many of us, by their personal experiences and drive for political activism. They are passionate about reproductive and birth justice; and about being devoted to a praxis that is self-healing, community healing and cultural healing all at once.

His commitment to integrity and accountability was shaped early in his Midwest upbringing, where responsibility was taught as a daily practice. Danny has led complex financial and operational functions across senior living, healthcare, and nonprofit management. As a Certified Public Accountant (CPA), he served as Finance Director for a highly rated nursing home grounded in dignity, clarity, and care, as well as long-standing involvement with the IRS Volunteer Income Tax Assistance (VITA) program, where he provides free tax support to low-income households, seniors, and individuals navigating language or accessibility barriers. Danny’s work with Detroit Midwifery School centers on strengthening governance, ensuring financial clarity, and supporting the school’s long-term sustainability. Across every chapter of his career, he remains guided by a simple belief: investing in knowledge and community yields the greatest returns.

Her goal centers on creating innovative, community-driven solutions that improve health outcomes in maternal and child health while pushing to advance the public's wellness and economic prosperity. She currently works with State Medicaid agencies to promote equitable access to care, ensuring that public projects align with both policy objectives and community needs. In previous roles she's managed research teams focused on reproductive justice oriented access to contraception and developed comprehensive training for community health workers. Honoring the intersectionality of the people she serves through her work, Janay believes that we show up in the world as full, multifaceted individuals deserving of respect and it is imperative that the programs and policies that serve us recognize and respond to those identities.

She discovered her love of nurturing young minds while teaching creative writing workshops during her MFA program. Since moving to Detroit, she has continued this passion through her work as a children's librarian, K-12 art teacher, and adjunct English instructor. Her life-changing experience birthing at home sparked a new-found calling to help reestablish the tradition of natural birth. She is the author of three books, and co-founder of a Detroit-based multi-media art archive, River Rouge Productions LLC. Janelle seeks to serve others and believes beautiful births are the foundation of beautiful lives.