Courtney Scott

Board President

Courtney Scott is a Sr. Manager with 2U, a leading international EduTech company delivering online graduate degree programs, short courses and boot camps around the world. She leads the nursing placement teams for Georgetown University’s Online Nursing Degree programs, including midwifery. Courtney is a passionate supporter of postpartum education and support for birthing parents and their families, as well as a former employee of the birth center. She holds a Master of Social Work degree from NC State University, and a Bachelor of Arts in Communication. Courtney welcomed both of her children at the WBWC (2012 and 2016) in the green room. She feels honored with the opportunity to serve and give back to the WBWC.

Elizabeth Kasper

Immediate Past President

Elizabeth has worked for 15 years in health policy, health services research and non-profit management and governance, most recently with a focus on North Carolina Medicaid policy and primary care safety-net providers. Liz is a lifelong supporter of midwives and out-of-hospital births, beginning with her own birth at a birth center in New Jersey. She has three children, two of whom were born at Women’s Birth and Wellness Center. Liz holds a Master of Science in Public Health from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and a BA from Oberlin College.

Hannah Shumaker

Secretary

Hannah welcomed her children at Women’s Birth and Wellness Center in 2003 and 2013 and is honored to have an opportunity to give back to WBWC through serving on the Board.  Hannah finds her passion in creating equitable spaces, from physical environments to relationships, where people may examine and challenge systems of marginalization.  In addition to pursuing graduate programs in Social Work (UNC-CH) and Disability Studies (CUNY), she works as a consultant bringing an intersectional approach to fields of mental health, gender, sexuality, neurodivergence, parenting, and partnership. Hannah also volunteers as a Child Passenger Safety Technician with Safe Kids Orange/Chatham and on the Human Rights Committee of The Arc of the Triangle.

Alma Montemayor

Board Member

Alma Montemayor is the Director of Project Development with Flad Architects, a national architectural firm. An experienced and passionate relationship builder, Alma has a keen talent for sparking team synergy. She brings the same passion to all of her volunteering endeavors and is excited to leverage her talents to Women’s Birth and Wellness Center.

When she has time, she thinks she practices yoga well, enjoys walking her dog, Otis Redding, and watches too many Netflix documentaries with her cats, Delilah or Abby, by her side.

Christina Murray

Board Member

Christina is Assistant General Counsel with Alliance Health. As In-house counsel, Christina’s practice areas primarily include Employment and Contract law. She attended North Carolina Central University School of Law and is a member of the North Carolina State Bar. Christina holds a Master of Social Work degree from the University of South Carolina at Columbia and a Bachelor of Arts in Sociology from the University of North Carolina at Asheville. Christina is also a North Carolina Licensed Clinical Social Worker.

Morgan Forrester Ray

Board Member

Morgan is a systems thinker, rooted in creating equitable systems for all, especially marginalized populations. She is committed to and passionate about women and children’s health, as an advocate, social worker, and birth doula. She is a multi-skilled program administrator with experience in the government, for-profit, and non-profit sectors.

She began her career as a case manager for Early Intervention in Kentucky, during this time she learned the ins and outs of not only Early Intervention, but also the unique challenges facing families and young children. Upon graduating with her master’s in Social Work from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Ms. Ray worked at the North Carolina Partnership for Children, Smart Start Network, on the Race to The Top – Early Leaning Challenge grant to enhance the early childhood developmental screening and services system in North Carolina. Upon the conclusion of the RTT-ELC grant, she spent two years at the North Carolina Division of Social Services, Child Welfare Section, where she managed the North Carolina Children’s Trust Fund.

Since 2019, Morgan has been the Director of the EarlyWell Initiative, a multi-year initiative to strengthen and expand the state’s early childhood mental health system amidst Medicaid Transformation. Under her leadership, the initiative aims to improve the social-emotional health of children birth-8 by ensuring that children with social-emotional challenges have access to and receive the services needed.

Morgan enjoys spending time with her husband, traveling, hiking, and learning!

Venus Standard, MSN, CNM, APRN, FACNM, LCCE

Board Member

Venus Standard, MSN, CNM, APRN, FACNM, LCCE is an Assistant Professor and the Director of DEI for Education and Community Engagement at the University of North Carolina School of Medicine, Department of Family Medicine. Venus received her BSN from Duke University’s School of Nursing, earned an MSN in Midwifery from East Carolina University, and became certified as a Nurse Midwife. As a midwife, Venus cares for patients with obstetrical and gynecological needs. Still, a good portion of her clinical time is spent with the Family Medicine residents during their OB rotation on labor and delivery. She focuses on a patient-centered-low intervention approach that’s culturally appropriate to managing labor. She precepts UNC’s Internship in Science and Health Training and Research (ISHTaR) annual program: a program designed to expose high school students of color to the medical field through the eyes of a provider of color. She also precepts for the Proyecto Puente de Salus (PPS) program; this program sponsors eight first-year medical students to rural areas of San Miquel, Mexico, to serve the under privilege with necessary medical assessments. From 2012 – 2016, Venus sat on the Board of Directors of Lamaze International. She is the immediate past chair of the American Association of Birth Centers (AABC) Diversity and Inclusion committee. She currently sits on the Board of Directors of the NC Perinatal Association, the American Association of Birth Centers (AABC), and the NC American College of Nurse-Midwives (NC ACNM). Venus is the co-chair of the Family Medicine Interest Group (FMIG), the co-chair of the Patient Advisory Council (PAC), the co-chair of UNC’s Advanced Practice Provider Education committee. She serves on the Maternal Health Learning and Innovations Center advisory committee (MHLIC), the 4th Trimester Project, the NCMS Maternal and Infant Health summit planning committee, Family Medicine’s Community Health Collaborative (CHC), and the AABC nominating committee. Venus is the Primary Investigator for a pilot program, “Black Doulas for Black Mamas.” A pilot program design and taught by Black perinatal professional women to teach Black women to be labor support Doulas to the most at-risk maternal population, Black women. Venus is passionate about educating women and their families and is dedicated to promoting healthy natural childbirth and encourages breastfeeding. She enjoys partnering with women to ensure their physical, emotional, spiritual, and cultural needs are met.

Katie McKenna

Board Member

Katie McKenna is the Associate Director of Development for UNC Global where she works with donors within the U.S. to support UNC’s global programs and international alumni to fundraise for the University. Prior to joining UNC Global, Katie worked as the Director of Development for Miraclefeet, an international organization dedicated to correcting clubfoot in children. Katie also previously worked at UNC as the Director of Development for the Institute for Global Health & Infectious Diseases, which is a pan-University Institute housed in the School of Medicine under the direction of Dr. Myron Cohen. The Institute works throughout the world, but the flagship sites are in Malawi, Zambia, and China.

Before moving to North Carolina, Katie worked with Oxfam America raising funds for their women’s programs, disaster relief, and agricultural initiatives. She started her career working for UNICEF, where she helped develop their first HIV-focused fundraising and education campaign. Later she worked with the International AIDS Vaccine Initiative developing a science advocacy and communications plan before moving to North Carolina.

Katie earned a Masters of Arts from Georgetown University’s School of Foreign Service and a bachelor’s degree from Wake Forest University. Katie lives with her husband and three children in Chapel Hill and her youngest child was caught by the WBWC midwives.

Suzanna Hernandez

Board Member

Suzanna Hernandez teaches Community Spanish Interpretation and Translation in the North Carolina Community College System. Prior to her tenure in postsecondary education as an instructor and department chair, Suzanna worked as a Spanish/English translator and interpreter for the NC Division of Public Health – Women and Children’s Branch. Throughout her career, she has developed and presented numerous trainings on language access, how to successfully work with interpreters/translators, Latinx culture, and cultural awareness and competency. She has also served as a trained doula, offering free services to Spanish-speaking women who were patients at the Buncombe County Health Department in Asheville.

Suzanna was raised in a bilingual and bicultural family and has spent extensive time abroad. She has called Durham home for the past 15 years and feels passionate about serving the vibrant and diverse community of The Triangle. In addition to her current work as an Interpretation and Translation instructor, she works on projects that pertain to language access support, DEI, and cultural education.
Both of Suzanna’s children were birthed with the assistance of WBWC midwives (one at UNC Hospital and one at WBWC) and she remains a dedicated patient of WBWC.