Message from the Board of Directors

The Board of Directors wishes to express our most sincere gratitude for your support. We are doing this work for the benefit of parents, babies, and families for generations to come, and we will only succeed with support from others like you. Please donate today because childbearing families deserve: OPTIONS in birth location and provider, EQUITABLE ACCESS to safe and empowering midwifery care, and SUPPORT through their journey to healthy parenthood.

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Board of Directors

Sumi Thaiveettil
Sumi ThaiveettilBoard President
  • Pronouns: She/Her/Hers
  • Preferred name: Sumi
  • Holds a Master of Science, Information Systems at Northwestern University
  • Senior Product Manager at Nava PBC making government services simple, effective, and accessible to all.
  • Parent of birth center baby Raveen born in 2022
Catherine Bonomini-Smith
Catherine Bonomini-SmithVice President
  • Pronouns: She/Her/Hers
  • Preferred name: Catherine or Katie
  • Holds a Bachelors of Arts in Dance from UC Irvine
  • Associate Director, Human Resources Operations at University of Oregon
  • Parent of birth center baby boy Jaiden (pictured) born in 2017
Rachel Basolo
Rachel BasoloBoard Treasurer
  • Pronouns: She/Her/Hers
  • Doula Rachel Basolo, Professional Doula
  • Holds a Bachelors in Psychology from University of Oregon
  • Parent of birth center babies born in 2001 and 2009, Rachel’s baby born in 2009 was the last baby girl born at the former Nurse Midwifery Birth Center in downtown Eugene before it was rebuilt in Springfield
Lindsay DuBois
Lindsay DuBoisBoard Secretary
  • Pronouns: she/her/hers
  • Lindsay has worked in reproductive healthcare as a program director, birth and abortion doula, and now as a consultant with Planned Parenthood of Southwestern Oregon.
  • Holds a Master of Public Health from Columbia University.
  • Parent of birth center baby, Vega, born in 2023
Chris Heritage, CNM
Chris Heritage, CNM
  • Pronouns: She/Her/Hers
  • Certified Nurse Midwife
  • Graduate of Oregon Health & Sciences University
  • Chris has worked in maternal-child health for over 30 years and as a Birth Center Midwife in Lane County for 24 years
  • She is the parent of three sons, one hospital birth, one birth center birth, and one home-birth
Margaret Giddens
Margaret Giddens
  • Pronouns: they/them
  • Associates in Graphic Design from Lane Community College
  • Margaret was raised in Eugene and has worked within the community as a chef, teacher, and personal support worker. Margaret is currently a stay-at-home parent.
  • Parent of two birth center children, Eleanor Rose, born in 2018 and Wyatt Oak, born in 2023
Rebecca Tobias
Rebecca Tobias
  • Pronouns: She/Her/Hers
  • Moved to Oregon in 2020 with my husband from Florida
  • Presentation specialist at Target since 2018
  • Became a mother to Imogene in May 2023 at Our Community Birth Center.
Danielle D’Amore
Danielle D’Amore
  • I have a Bachelor’s degree in Fashion Design from IADT in Nevada. 
  • I help design and manage small apparel production. 
  • originally from South Dakota, lived and worked in NYC until 2017 when my husband and I RV’ed around the country for 3 years before finding beautiful Oregon as our forever home. 
  • I am a mother to a birth center baby, Luca, born in 2023. 

Former Board of Directors Members

Dennis Carr, 2019 – 2020

Piper Bonacquist, 2022-2023

Ruth Ezeonwuka, 2019 – 2020

Mak Estill, 2000 – 2021

Ricky Grand, 2019 – 2021

Iliana Lang Lundgren, 2021-2023

Justine Parker, 2019-2019

Kara Schnoes, 2019 – 2022

Puja Clifford, 2020-2023

Devin Jenkins, 2021-2023

Teresa Roark, 2019-2023

Mary Carpenter, CNM, 2019-2023

Stewardship Council

Lynn Kane
Lynn KaneBirth Center Parent
  • PhD in Musicology from the University of Oregon
  • Parent of two birth center babies born 2010 and 2012
  • Member of Lane County Friends of the Birth Center since 2010
  • Member of the Commission for the Accreditation of Birth Centers Board of Commissioners since 2015
Jenny Noyce
Jenny NoyceBirth Center Parent
  • PhD in English from the University of Oregon
  • Full-time parent & part-time writer
  • Parent of two birth center babies, born in 2012 and 2014
  • Member of Lane County Friends of the Birth Center since 2014
Rabbi Jacob Siegel
Rabbi Jacob SiegelBirth Center Parent
  • Rabbinic ordination, Yeshivat Chovevei Torah
  • Bachelors degree, Washington University in St. Louis
  • Director of Engagement at JLens
  • Proud parent of two birth center babies!
AlexAnn Westlake CNM
AlexAnn Westlake CNM
  • Pronouns: she/her/hers
  • Founder and Executive Director of Our Community Birth Center
  • Certified Nurse Midwife
  • Graduate of Oregon Health & Sciences University
  • Former Nurse Midwifery Birth Center Midwife
  • Parent of one child born with a midwife in 2016
Annie Hoag RN IBCLC
Annie Hoag RN IBCLC
  • Pronouns: she/her/hers
  • Registered Nurse and International Board Certified Lactation Consultant.
  • Graduate of University of Wisconsin, Bachelors of Nursing.
  • Annie has worked in women’s health since 1999 and as a birth center nurse and lactation consultant in Eugene/Springfield since 2002.