Who We Are
Lead consultant & Licensed midwife, lm
Zul Ruiz Gines
Zulgeil Ruiz-Gines is a midwife, educator, and advocate for culturally safe midwifery care and education. She holds licenses as a Licensed Midwife in the states of California and Florida, serving in community birth settings. Born and raised on the magical island of Puerto Rico, she earned her BA degree in Humanities from the University of Puerto Rico. Zul‘s journey into midwifery education began in Temixco, Mexico, where she spent nine months learning from an indigenous midwife who opened her vision, spirit, and heart to the world of midwifery. She graduated from the National College of Midwifery and obtained her license in California through the Medical Board. Additionally, she earned her license in Florida through the Commonsense Childbirth School of Midwifery. Zul is deeply committed to the education and training of new midwives and the future of midwifery. Her dedication has led her to various roles, including Midwifery Instructor at the Midwifery Program at Southwest Wisconsin Technical College , Midwifery Education Consultant, founder of KIBI Consulting, Research and Education and Dean of Commonsense Childbirth School of Midwifery founded by Jennie Joseph. CCSM is a national program that provides quality, practical, culturally-sensitive training and education that is integral to maternity health care systems in United States.Currently Zul is pursuing her masters degree in Oregon State University in Applied Medical Anthropology under Dr.Melissa Cheyney, PHd,LDM as her advisor.. Her research focuses on the growth and sustainability of the accredited Midwifery programs for community midwives in the United States.
Administration, Operations & Communications
Andrea Herrada
Project Manager
Andrea Herrada, BA, MAEd, has been KIBI’s Director of Operations and Project Manager since January 2023. Her expertise is in education and project management, with over 10+ years in the field of education. She has specialized in the implementation of various technologies into the learning environment to promote online learning engagement. Andrea is also the Admissions & Student Services Manager of Commonsense Childbirth School of Midwifery. She graduated from Western Governors University in 2019 with a B.A. in Interdisciplinary Studies with a focus in Education and is completing her M.A. in Mathematics Education. As Director of Operations, she is in charge of managing the daily activities of KIBI by overseeing several departments, such as: project managing, marketing, product mapping, instructor onboarding, and finances.
Andrea Herrada, BA, MAEd, has been KIBI’s Director of Operations and Project Manager since January 2023. Her expertise is in education and project management, with over 10+ years in the field of education. She has specialized in the implementation of various technologies into the learning environment to promote online learning engagement. Andrea is also the Admissions & Student Services Manager of Commonsense Childbirth School of Midwifery. She graduated from Western Governors University in 2019 with a B.A. in Interdisciplinary Studies with a focus in Education and completed her M.A. in Mathematics Education. As Director of Operations, she is in charge of managing the daily activities of KIBI by overseeing several departments, such as: project managing, marketing, product mapping, instructor onboarding, and finances.
Krisha K. Manalo
Virt Asst - Course Support
Krisha Manalo, CpE, is the warm and reliable support behind the scenes at Kolibrí International Birth Institute (KiBi). Based in the Philippines, she graduated with a B.S. in Computer Engineering from Don Honorio Ventura State University (DHVSU). Krisha brings both technical know-how and a heart for service to her role, managing the transfer and setup of our courses to ensure everything flows smoothly for students and instructors. She’s passionate about contributing to a global community that uplifts birthworkers and centers healing, equity, and care in education.
Krisha Manalo, CpE, is the warm and reliable support behind the scenes at Kolibrí International Birth Institute (KiBi). Based in the Philippines, she graduated with a B.A. in Computer Engineering from Don Honorio Ventura State University (DHVSU). Krisha brings both technical know-how and a heart for service to her role, managing the transfer and setup of our courses to ensure everything flows smoothly for students and instructors. She’s passionate about contributing to a global community that uplifts birthworkers and centers healing, equity, and care in education.
Carolina Brinkley
Creative Manager
Carolina Brinkley, BFA, FNTP, is KIBI's Designer and Brand Guru. She has been with KIBI since its birth and helped develop its iconic branding. Professionally, Carolina is a Graphic Designer and Functional Nutritional Therapy Practitioner (FNTP).
After earning her certification with the Nutritional Therapy Association in 2021, she founded Empower Family Nutrition, a company whose focus is to help individuals and families navigate health concerns via whole food.
Her mission is to bring a greater awareness of the world of nutrition, especially as it relates to pregnancy, to the minority community. Before becoming a FNTP, Carolina worked as a Graphic Designer for 10 years.
Carolina Brinkley, BFA, FNTP, is KIBI's Designer and Brand Guru. She has been with KIBI since its birth and helped develop its iconic branding. Professionally, Carolina is a Graphic Designer and Functional Nutritional Therapy Practitioner (FNTP).
After earning her certification with the Nutritional Therapy Association in 2021, she founded Empower Family Nutrition, a company whose focus is to help individuals and families navigate health concerns via whole food.
Her mission is to bring a greater awareness of the world of nutrition, especially as it relates to pregnancy, to the minority community. Before becoming a FNTP, Carolina worked as a Graphic Designer for 10 years.
KIBI Collaborators
Dr. Melissa Cheyney
Principal Investigator
Maternal Health Researcher and Author
Jennie Joseph, a British-trained midwife, stands as a beacon of advocacy and change in the realm of maternal healthcare, tirelessly working to ensure that every individual experiences pregnancy, birth, and postpartum with the utmost dignity and support. Through her innovative approach, known as The JJ Way®, she has pioneered an evidence-based maternity care model that prioritizes accessibility, patient-centeredness, and cultural congruence, particularly in areas she terms 'materno-toxic zones'. In these spaces, often characterized by broken and inequitable maternity health systems, Jennie's focus remains steadfast on safeguarding the safety and empowerment of Black women and other marginalized communities who are disproportionately affected.Jennie Joseph's unwavering commitment to transforming maternal healthcare transcends boundaries, leaving an indelible mark on the field and the lives of countless individuals. Through her innovative approaches, steadfast advocacy, and visionary leadership, she continues to champion the cause of perinatal equity, inspiring change and empowering communities worldwide.
Dr. Cheyney is a professor of clinical medical anthropology in the College of Liberal Arts and an international leader in maternal healthcare and midwifery research. She has authored and edited multiple books and over 125 papers and has served as a PI or co-PI on more than 30 grants, including from the NIH, Skyline Foundation, the Meyer Memorial Trust, and many others. Recently she received a $500,000 gift from Skyline to support her OSU Uplift Lab’s work in community birth excellence, quality and safety. Her outstanding teaching at both the undergraduate and graduate levels has been recognized with the Thomas R. Meehan Award for undergraduate teaching in the College of Liberal Arts, designation as Eminent Professor in the Honors College, and the university’s Professional Development and Mentoring Award. Her extraordinarily active public engagement is influencing the reform of maternal care in Oregon and the nation, resulting in improved birth outcomes, especially among underserved populations.
Jennie Joseph, CPM, LM
Maternal Health/Policy and Author
Jennie Joseph, a British-trained midwife, stands as a beacon of advocacy and change in the realm of maternal healthcare, tirelessly working to ensure that every individual experiences pregnancy, birth, and postpartum with the utmost dignity and support. Through her innovative approach, known as The JJ Way®, she has pioneered an evidence-based maternity care model that prioritizes accessibility, patient-centeredness, and cultural congruence, particularly in areas she terms 'materno-toxic zones'. In these spaces, often characterized by broken and inequitable maternity health systems, Jennie's focus remains steadfast on safeguarding the safety and empowerment of Black women and other marginalized communities who are disproportionately affected. Jennie Joseph's unwavering commitment to transforming maternal healthcare transcends boundaries, leaving an indelible mark on the field and the lives of countless individuals. Through her innovative approaches, steadfast advocacy, and visionary leadership, she continues to champion the cause of perinatal equity, inspiring change and empowering communities worldwide.
Jennie Joseph, a British-trained midwife, stands as a beacon of advocacy and change in the realm of maternal healthcare, tirelessly working to ensure that every individual experiences pregnancy, birth, and postpartum with the utmost dignity and support. Through her innovative approach, known as The JJ Way®, she has pioneered an evidence-based maternity care model that prioritizes accessibility, patient-centeredness, and cultural congruence, particularly in areas she terms 'materno-toxic zones'. In these spaces, often characterized by broken and inequitable maternity health systems, Jennie's focus remains steadfast on safeguarding the safety and empowerment of Black women and other marginalized communities who are disproportionately affected.Jennie Joseph's unwavering commitment to transforming maternal healthcare transcends boundaries, leaving an indelible mark on the field and the lives of countless individuals. Through her innovative approaches, steadfast advocacy, and visionary leadership, she continues to champion the cause of perinatal equity, inspiring change and empowering communities worldwide.
Nichole Blum
Strategic Partnerships and Innovation Expansion
A leader in early childhood education, trained in adult learning and applied anthropology, Nichole provides active leadership to early care and education systems as a consultant to community-based non-profit organizations and statewide grantmaking agencies, providing technical assistance, project support, grant writing/management, Peer Learning Community facilitation, and supervision over the project coordination of a neighborhood-based, early-childhood-focused career pathway. She has demonstrated experience addressing systemic inequities in accessing high-quality early childhood programming through fund development, workforce development, strategic planning, and policy advocacy. She is a longtime advocate for equitable access to early care and education, community-led systems change, survivors of abuse (domestic violence, sexual assault, human trafficking), maternal and infant health, and closing racial disparities with 15 years of direct service and non-profit community-based work in Kalamazoo, Michigan.
Jennie Joseph, a British-trained midwife, stands as a beacon of advocacy and change in the realm of maternal healthcare, tirelessly working to ensure that every individual experiences pregnancy, birth, and postpartum with the utmost dignity and support. Through her innovative approach, known as The JJ Way®, she has pioneered an evidence-based maternity care model that prioritizes accessibility, patient-centeredness, and cultural congruence, particularly in areas she terms 'materno-toxic zones'. In these spaces, often characterized by broken and inequitable maternity health systems, Jennie's focus remains steadfast on safeguarding the safety and empowerment of Black women and other marginalized communities who are disproportionately affected.Jennie Joseph's unwavering commitment to transforming maternal healthcare transcends boundaries, leaving an indelible mark on the field and the lives of countless individuals. Through her innovative approaches, steadfast advocacy, and visionary leadership, she continues to champion the cause of perinatal equity, inspiring change and empowering communities worldwide.
Pandora Hartman, RN, CNM
Global Midwifery Policy and Author
Pandora has gained 20 plus years of midwifery experience working in a wide variety of healthcare settings in the USA, Caribbean, South East Asia, the Middle East and Africa. She functions as a Midwifery Capacity Building Consultant for European and US governmental agencies Specializing in low resources and conflict/fragile settings. She obtained a BSN and induction into Sigma Theta Tau Nursing Honor Society of Nursing from John Hopkins University, a MSc in Nursing from the University of California Los Angeles, and a Doctorate of Nursing Practice from University of Alabama at Birmingham. She is a Fellow of the American College of Nurse Midwives and serves as the national governmental affairs committee liaison for southern states with additional active function on the ACNM GA legislative/state government affairs committee and the Georgia Perinatal Quality Collaborative. While in the US, she serves in socioeconomically diverse practices in the Atlanta Metro area. A recipient of the ACNM 2018 Distinguished Service Award, she has been recognized by the reproductive justice movement as a “Warrior Woman “and is known for encouraging midwives to “push for change past the perineum”. In her spare time, you will most often find Pandora with a book in her hand, and soca on the speakers.
Jennie Joseph, a British-trained midwife, stands as a beacon of advocacy and change in the realm of maternal healthcare, tirelessly working to ensure that every individual experiences pregnancy, birth, and postpartum with the utmost dignity and support. Through her innovative approach, known as The JJ Way®, she has pioneered an evidence-based maternity care model that prioritizes accessibility, patient-centeredness, and cultural congruence, particularly in areas she terms 'materno-toxic zones'. In these spaces, often characterized by broken and inequitable maternity health systems, Jennie's focus remains steadfast on safeguarding the safety and empowerment of Black women and other marginalized communities who are disproportionately affected.Jennie Joseph's unwavering commitment to transforming maternal healthcare transcends boundaries, leaving an indelible mark on the field and the lives of countless individuals. Through her innovative approaches, steadfast advocacy, and visionary leadership, she continues to champion the cause of perinatal equity, inspiring change and empowering communities worldwide.
Research Assistants & Interns
El Guo
KIBI Research Intern, Oregon State University
El Guo is a Master of Public Health Candidate (MPH) candidate at Oregon State University (OSU). They will graduate with their Bachelor’s degree in Public Health from OSU in Spring 2026 and again in Spring 2027 with their Master of Public Health (MPH). Born in Seattle, El is a second-generation immigrant and the first in their immediate family to attend college. El strives to mitigate inequities for the social determinants of health through a racial, social, and reproductive justice lens.
El Guo is a Master of Public Health Candidate (MPH) candidate at Oregon State University (OSU). They will graduate with their Bachelor’s degree in Public Health from OSU in Spring 2026 and again in Spring 2027 with their Master of Public Health (MPH). Born in Seattle, El is a second-generation immigrant and the first in their immediate family to attend college. El strives to mitigate inequities for the social determinants of health through a racial, social, and reproductive justice lens.
Miranda Maple
Research Assistant, Oregon State University
Miranda Maple (they/she). I am an anthropologist and cultural resource archaeologist focused on ethnobotany, cultural plant protection, feminist and Indigenous anthropology, and Traditional Ecological Knowledge (TEK). My current area of focus is the Columbia Plateau Basin here in the PNW. I have over seven years of experience working with nonprofits and focus my work and identity on creating land base relationships.
Miranda Maple (they/she). I am an anthropologist and cultural resource archaeologist focused on ethnobotany, cultural plant protection, feminist and Indigenous anthropology, and Traditional Ecological Knowledge (TEK). My current area of focus is the Columbia Plateau Basin here in the PNW. I have over seven years of experience working with nonprofits and focus my work and identity on creating land base relationships.
KIBI International Specialists
Mercedes Young
International Nonprofit Specialist
Martha Arotingo
Ancestral Midwife and Lawyer
Erika Arteaga
Professor and Physician / Right to Health Activist
Emilio Ruiz
International Health Law Specialist
KIBI collaborates with national and international experts across a variety of fields—including maternal health, research, legal affairs, policy and legislation and board development—to ensure each organization receives tailored, high-quality guidance and support rooted in expert assessment.
