Foundation for the Advancement of Midwifery

To increase access to midwifery in North America through education, research and public policy initiatives.

The FAM Board members at MANA 2006 —
BJ Mackinnon, Karen Webster, Barbara Lahey, Maggie Bennett, Priya Morganstern, Ann Sterling, and Marie Meakin

Maggie Bennett is BFA graduate of the University of Illinois , Maggie is an artist as well as a midwife. She began her midwifery career in 1975, overlapping her study and practice of midwifery with her teaching career. She has a private homebirth practice in Monterey and has trained several apprentice midwives who are now in practice themselves. Maggie has been active in midwifery politics on the local, state, and national levels for thirty years. She was the Chairwoman of California Association of Midwives when that state passed legislation to license midwives. She has served several terms on the Board of Directors of the Midwives Alliance of North America, and has been honored with the Sage Femme, the highest accolade MANA bestows for her participation, wisdom, and vision for midwifery. Maggie brings to the FAM Board her creativity, expertise in policy-making, and her enthusiasm for the future of midwifery care in the U.S. Maggie has two children and lives in Seaside, California.

Jana Borino is the founding Executive Director of the Florida School of Traditional Midwifery, a position she grew for 13 years. She served as Executive Director of the Birth Center of Gainesville, the oldest birth center on the east coast of the United States, for 3 years. Jana attended births as a midwife assistant for 20 years and served on numerous boards and committees of national, state and community based midwifery organizations. Jana was very involved in legislative action during key political years that resulted in successful passage of Florida Statue 467, The Midwifery Practice Act. Her fundraising accomplishments at FSTM included over $550,000 in cash donations, a $575,000 loan from the Florida Community Loan Fund and a $150,000 Johnson & Johnson grant. Jana is mother to three daughters born at home with midwives in attendance. Her work continues to advance midwifery through her teaching, writing and public speaking.

BJ Mackinnon, CPM, CNM, MS, works for the foundation in the capacity of "dreamer".... If we can dream it, we can do it! Foundation work is a wonderful challenge for her. She thrives on "giving away" (granting) money to the projects that fund ideas supporting the midwifery model of care. Her expertise comes from years of organizational work through the Midwives Alliance of North America, her state midwifery organizations, and avid personal enthusiasm. BJ has been a midwife since 1982 and became involved in fundraising and grant making due to her interests and satisfaction in seeing every dollar count in relation to a cause that is near and dear to her heart.

Linda McHale, CPM, EMT, is a homebirth midwife and has been involved with the midwifery community since 1980 as an advocate, instructor, and speaker. She currently serves on the MANA Board of Directors as the Region 2 representative and was MANA's first Fundraiser Chair. Linda was the Conference Coordinator for MANA 2006 in Baltimore. She brings extensive fundraising experience to the Foundation. Linda is married with three children and lives in Lakewood, New Jersey.

Marie Meakin , RN, BSN, CD, CBE/Director, has been working as a nurse in Maternal-Child Health since 1989. She has been involved in legislation to change healthcare policy as well as fundraising. Joining the crusade to change maternity care in 2001, she owned her own Childbirth Education and Doula business, taught nursing students in Obstetrics, as well as experiencing birth at home and hospital. Marie brings a passion for change and a consumer-oriented focus to the Foundation with a special interest in creative fundraising. Marie is married with two children and lives in Albuquerque, New Mexico.

Michelle Medlin, BSChE, MBA, earned her degrees at Purdue University and Wilmington College in Delaware. Her life as a chemical engineer consisted of working as a contractor to the U.S. Army designing plants to destroy agents of chemical warfare and then designing and managing a chemically-oriented database/website for a national laboratory. Michelle has recently become active in the midwifery arena. She began a letter writing campaign used during the 2005 MANA rally in Boulder. The importance of informing women about the benefits of midwifery became evident after her own childbirth experiences and developed into a reality when she joined the FAM Board as Treasurer. Michelle is married with two children and lives in Boulder, Colorado.

Priya Morganstern, J.D., specializes in the law of tax-exempt organizations. She has been involved in women's health and midwifery education and advocacy since 1982 as a founding member of Long Island (NY) Childbirth Alternatives and the Massachusetts Friends of Midwives, and later as president of Connecticut Friends of Midwives. She taught medical students for a number of years as part of a woman-run gynecological teaching program and was a contributing editor of "The Whole Birth Catalog" published in 1983. Ms. Morganstern currently directs the Nonprofit Pro Bono Initiative, a legal aid program based in Hartford, CT that uses volunteer attorneys to provide free legal assistance to nonprofit organizations serving the public interest, and which is funded by local corporations, law firms, and foundations. In addition to her seat on the Board of the Foundation for the Advancement of Midwifery, Ms. Morganstern is on the Board of the Connecticut Appleseed Center for Law and Justice, and is a member of the Social Action Committee of her synagogue. Priya is married with one daughter and lives in West Hartford, Connecticut.

Karen Webster CPM, LM, has a home birth practice and has been involved in birth and women's health starting in 1979. She served on the MANA Board of Directors as the Region 2 Representative for six years and is the MANA Regional Conference chair. She has worked actively on midwifery related legislation efforts in four states. She is a charter member of the National Association of Certified Professional Midwives and has been a MANA member since 1985. She has been involved in the planning of at least nine midwifery conferences and brings her unique organizational skills to the FAM Board, along with her desire to make midwifery care accessible to all women. Karen is married with eight children and lives in Elkton, Maryland.


Common sense is the knack of seeing things as they are, and doing things as they ought to be done. -Harriet Beecher Stowe
About the Foundation for the Advancement of Midwifery
Home About Us Ways to Give Volunteer Grants FAQ Questionnaires Contact Us Links	To increase access to midwifery in North America through education, research and public policy initiatives. Photo Copyright © 2004 Harriette Hartigan, all rights reserved The FAM Board members at MANA 2006 — BJ Mackinnon, Karen Webster, Barbara Lahey, Maggie Bennett, Priya Morganstern, Ann Sterling, and Marie Meakin Maggie Bennett is BFA graduate of the University of Illinois , Maggie is an artist as well as a midwife. She began her midwifery career in 1975, overlapping her study and practice of midwifery with her teaching career. She has a private homebirth practice in Monterey and has trained several apprentice midwives who are now in practice themselves. Maggie has been active in midwifery politics on the local, state, and national levels for thirty years. She was the Chairwoman of California Association of Midwives when that state passed legislation to license midwives. She has served several terms on the Board of Directors of the Midwives Alliance of North America, and has been honored with the Sage Femme, the highest accolade MANA bestows for her participation, wisdom, and vision for midwifery. Maggie brings to the FAM Board her creativity, expertise in policy-making, and her enthusiasm for the future of midwifery care in the U.S. Maggie has two children and lives in Seaside, California. Jana Borino is the founding Executive Director of the Florida School of Traditional Midwifery, a position she grew for 13 years. She served as Executive Director of the Birth Center of Gainesville, the oldest birth center on the east coast of the United States, for 3 years. Jana attended births as a midwife assistant for 20 years and served on numerous boards and committees of national, state and community based midwifery organizations. Jana was very involved in legislative action during key political years that resulted in successful passage of Florida Statue 467, The Midwifery Practice Act. Her fundraising accomplishments at FSTM included over $550,000 in cash donations, a $575,000 loan from the Florida Community Loan Fund and a $150,000 Johnson & Johnson grant. Jana is mother to three daughters born at home with midwives in attendance. Her work continues to advance midwifery through her teaching, writing and public speaking. BJ Mackinnon, CPM, CNM, MS, works for the foundation in the capacity of "dreamer".... If we can dream it, we can do it! Foundation work is a wonderful challenge for her. She thrives on "giving away" (granting) money to the projects that fund ideas supporting the midwifery model of care. Her expertise comes from years of organizational work through the Midwives Alliance of North America, her state midwifery organizations, and avid personal enthusiasm. BJ has been a midwife since 1982 and became involved in fundraising and grant making due to her interests and satisfaction in seeing every dollar count in relation to a cause that is near and dear to her heart. Linda McHale, CPM, EMT, is a homebirth midwife and has been involved with the midwifery community since 1980 as an advocate, instructor, and speaker. She currently serves on the MANA Board of Directors as the Region 2 representative and was MANA's first Fundraiser Chair. Linda was the Conference Coordinator for MANA 2006 in Baltimore. She brings extensive fundraising experience to the Foundation. Linda is married with three children and lives in Lakewood, New Jersey. Marie Meakin , RN, BSN, CD, CBE/Director, has been working as a nurse in Maternal-Child Health since 1989. She has been involved in legislation to change healthcare policy as well as fundraising. Joining the crusade to change maternity care in 2001, she owned her own Childbirth Education and Doula business, taught nursing students in Obstetrics, as well as experiencing birth at home and hospital. Marie brings a passion for change and a consumer-oriented focus to the Foundation with a special interest in creative fundraising. Marie is married with two children and lives in Albuquerque, New Mexico. Michelle Medlin, BSChE, MBA, earned her degrees at Purdue University and Wilmington College in Delaware. Her life as a chemical engineer consisted of working as a contractor to the U.S. Army designing plants to destroy agents of chemical warfare and then designing and managing a chemically-oriented database/website for a national laboratory. Michelle has recently become active in the midwifery arena. She began a letter writing campaign used during the 2005 MANA rally in Boulder. The importance of informing women about the benefits of midwifery became evident after her own childbirth experiences and developed into a reality when she joined the FAM Board as Treasurer. Michelle is married with two children and lives in Boulder, Colorado. Priya Morganstern, J.D., specializes in the law of tax-exempt organizations. She has been involved in women's health and midwifery education and advocacy since 1982 as a founding member of Long Island (NY) Childbirth Alternatives and the Massachusetts Friends of Midwives, and later as president of Connecticut Friends of Midwives. She taught medical students for a number of years as part of a woman-run gynecological teaching program and was a contributing editor of "The Whole Birth Catalog" published in 1983. Ms. Morganstern currently directs the Nonprofit Pro Bono Initiative, a legal aid program based in Hartford, CT that uses volunteer attorneys to provide free legal assistance to nonprofit organizations serving the public interest, and which is funded by local corporations, law firms, and foundations. In addition to her seat on the Board of the Foundation for the Advancement of Midwifery, Ms. Morganstern is on the Board of the Connecticut Appleseed Center for Law and Justice, and is a member of the Social Action Committee of her synagogue. Priya is married with one daughter and lives in West Hartford, Connecticut. Karen Webster CPM, LM, has a home birth practice and has been involved in birth and women's health starting in 1979. She served on the MANA Board of Directors as the Region 2 Representative for six years and is the MANA Regional Conference chair. She has worked actively on midwifery related legislation efforts in four states. She is a charter member of the National Association of Certified Professional Midwives and has been a MANA member since 1985. She has been involved in the planning of at least nine midwifery conferences and brings her unique organizational skills to the FAM Board, along with her desire to make midwifery care accessible to all women. Karen is married with eight children and lives in Elkton, Maryland.
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About the Foundation for the Advancement of Midwifery