Meet the Team

Lead consultant & 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 Rsearcher 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 and 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.

Hermine Hayes-Klein

Lawyer and International Advocate for Women’s Rights in Childbirth,

Hermine is passionate about justice, civil rights, and sexual and reproductive rights since the beginning of her studies at the University of Chicago. One of her law school professors, Barry Alberts, inspired her to see how lawyers can use advocacy to take legal burdens off of clients’ shoulders and to speak on their behalf in the language of the law. These concepts still motivate her as an attorney. After law school, she worked at law firms in New York City and Connecticut, before starting her own practice in 2003. Her law practice focused on LGBTQ rights, family law, and art law, until she moved to The Netherlands in 2007. From 2008 – 2012, she taught International Law at The Hague University in The Hague, where she was also the Director of the Research Center for Reproductive Rights at the Bynkershoek Institute. After giving birth to her two sons in the woman-centered Dutch maternity care system, she began to focus her research on how women are treated during childbirth in maternal health systems around the world. She learned that women’s fundamental human rights are routinely violated in maternity care systems. The disrespect and abuse of women during childbirth is an issue that was just beginning to attract the attention of the feminist movement, and she was inspired to support the activism and legal advocacy necessary to make women’s rights a reality during childbirth. In 2012, before moving back with her family to the US, she led the organization of the first global Human Rights in Childbirth conference at The Hague University. She became licensed to practice law in Oregon in 2013 and have represented clients in family law, midwifery, and birth rights cases ever since. From 2013-2016, she organized five additional international conferences of maternity care stakeholders to discuss various aspects of human rights in childbirth. Through these undertakings, she learned from many amazing people who were working on different aspects of maternal healthcare around the world. Since 2017, she has focused her practice on legal advocacy in the state of Oregon, while continuing to consult on cases and with organizations in states and countries around the world. When she is not working, she enjoys life in the beautiful state of Oregon with her family and their dog, Bella. She loves to cook, spend time with her fast-growing boys, and garden.

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 Midwiifery 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.

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.