Meet Our Team
Faculty and Staff
Toni Hill, CPM (she/her)
Director of Midwifery Education, Lead Facilitator, and Founding Member
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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.
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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.
Heather Robinson, CPM (she/her)
Co-Facilitator and Founding Member
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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.
Rory Keay (she/her)
Director of Operations and Founding Member
Board of Directors
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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.
Liz Harvin (she/they)
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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. Their work is deeply influenced by their own health journey living with chronic pain and illness. Rachel was brought to this work, like so many of us, by her 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.
Rachel Sementilli (she/they)
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As the founder and Clinical Director of MotherlandCo., LLC, she leads a mission-driven private practice dedicated to the mental wellness of ALL Black people with a specialized focus on reproductive mental health, reproductive justice, race-based stress and liberation-informed care.
Rooted in lived experience and community practice, Desirée’s expertise spans therapeutic intervention, clinical supervision, and program development, particularly for queer, trans and Black communities navigating life transitions, racial trauma, and identity formation.
She is the co-founder of the Alliance for People of Color and the creator and longtime administrator of a 11,000+ member Facebook group for perinatal mental health professionals, building community and expanding access to culturally responsive care. Her leadership extends to consulting with national nonprofits, digital health startups, and universities, helping them develop sustainable, anti-oppressive practicum programs, curricula, and clinical infrastructure.
She is also a trained birth and postpartum doula, certified breastfeeding specialist, and a forever herbalist-in-training.
An unapologetic Black, queer/pansexual, fat femme, Desirée brings her whole self into every space—centering joy, justice, and collective healing.
Desirée Israel (she/her)
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Her work lives at the intersection of ancestral wisdom and emerging technology. She believes the midwives already serving underserved and rural communities are among the most important voices missing from conversations about AI in healthcare and she is building the bridge to bring them in.
Previous speaking engagements include National Black Midwives Alliance (NBMA), T.H.I.N.K. AI Healthcare Conference (2026), and participating in AI in Healthcare Conference at Stanford University. Her research and presentations center maternal mortality disparities and algorithmic bias in clinical decision-making tools.
Jael holds a forthcoming Bachelor's degree in Artificial Intelligence (Developer Track) from the University of Maryland School of Cybersecurity & Information Technology which grounds her applied AI work in rigorous academic training. In her best friend and fellow midwife’s honor, Jael founded the Jennifer Koue Legacy Foundation Scholarship, which has since supported many aspiring midwives on their journey.
Jael Marajh (she/her)
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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.
Danny McNeal (he/him)
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Diamond is the eldest daughter of a Jamaican father and African-American mother, a cultural legacy that deeply informs her creative and community-driven work. Diamond holds a master’s degree in Organizational Leadership from Oakland University, earning her bachelor’s degree in Arts & Entertainment Administration from Eastern Michigan University. She is also a proud member of Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Inc., a reproductive health educator, and an active community organizer.
In 2018, Diamond established her arts, culture and wellness company, now recognized as Art Birth & Alchemy, carving out a unique path as a multi-hyphenate millennial blending fine art, cultural commentary, wellness and creative direction. As a certified full-spectrum doula, Diamond is committed to empowering clients to make healthy, informed decisions on their birth journey. In 2020, she completed prenatal, labor, and postpartum training under the dynamic leadership of Chanel Portia-Albert of Ancient Song Doula Services in Brooklyn, New York. Diamond continued her education and certification through the National Black Doula Association, continuing to take pride in fostering positive client relationships, community, supporting families, and providing resources to her clients as needed.
Through her commitment to art, wellness and social impact, Diamond continues to champion representation, healing, advocacy and empowerment for communities of color.
Diamond Symoné (she/her)
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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.
Janay Scott Hill (she/her)
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Combining continuous improvement with strategic program implementation, Cass utilizes Lean Six Sigma Black Belt and project management skills to drive operational changes that strengthen services and creates real impact for the communities which she serves.
She is passionate about client-centered solutions—listening closely, understanding needs, and designing programs that deliver meaningful outcomes and partnering with government, philanthropy, and community organizations to advance racial equity, strengthen public systems, and support community-led solutions that last.