Patanjali de la Rocha, Executive Director
Patanjali de la Rocha MSW, MPHc (Kalinga, Tagalog) is a community organizer, full spectrum doula, mother, and herbalist. Patanjali received their MSW in Administration and Policy from the University of Washington in 2020 and is currently pursuing a master’s degree in Global Health from the same institution. They specialize in program development, implementation, and evaluation using community-rooted practice and intergenerational trauma lens.
Patanjali has presented their work on systemic and historical violence in perinatal health practice at the Decolonize Birth Conference, Trauma and Birth Conference, Northwest Doula Conference, and the American Public Health Association Annual Meeting. Patanjali brings their view of birth as a traditional practice as an act of reclamation to heal intergenerational and systemic trauma. Aligned with a transformative justice lens, they founded Birth Beyond Bars in 2017 with the vision of ending violence for birthing families caught in the carceral system. Born and raised in Los Angeles, Patanjali enjoys spending time with their 6 year-old, working in the garden, and making zines.
Alex Sosa, President
Alex Sosa, MS, IBCLC, is the Director of the Simkin Center for Allied Birth Vocations at Bastyr University. Alex brings over 30 years of experience in both the public health and academic sectors. Many of you may know Alex for her efforts leading the Breastfeeding Coalition of Washington for the past 6 years, a statewide breastfeeding coalition working with community health organizations and individuals to support best practices and to advocate increase equitable access and culturally relevant breastfeeding support for low income and women of color.
Prior to her role leading the Breastfeeding Coalition of Washington, Alex spent 11 years at South Los Angeles Health Projects-WIC Program as a Maternal Child Health Specialist trainer and consultant in California. While at South Los Angeles Health Projects, Alex also managed a hospital-based postpartum breastfeeding peer support project funded by a grant from First 5 LA. Alex also held a number of student affairs leadership positions at several colleges and universities, first in New York and later in California. It was advocacy that would lead Alex to change career paths over 15 years ago from the field of student affairs to the field of maternal and child health by way of breastfeeding. This change was influenced by Alex’s personal breastfeeding experience after the birth of both of her daughters’, Camila and Isabella. Alex states, “I believe in the amazing powers of human milk and when support is provided in a compassionate and culturally responsive manner, it can be such a powerful tool for change.” Born in the Bronx, Alex is grateful to have been raised in two communities, Puerto Rico and New York City.
Nancy Anderson, Secretary
Nancy Anderson, MD, MPH, faculty member in Bastyr University’s Department of Midwifery and program director for the Maternal Child Health Systems (MCHS) program, believes that more women of color will access midwifery care when more midwives of color join the profession. Nancy is originally from New York City, and attended Barnard College and Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons.
She is a board certified pediatrician with an MPH in Maternal-Child Health from the University of Washington. Nancy spent five years working in Mozambique, and worked for the Department of Social and Health Services here in Washington for twelve years. She taught public health for eight years in the division of Evening and Weekend Studies at The Evergreen State College. Her particular interests are health equity, global health issues, and the health of women and children, with a particular focus on the elimination of maternal-infant health inequities in the US. Nancy is a community physician member of a biomedical human subjects review board. Nancy also has carried out research on the role of traditional healers in Senegal and a project sponsored by the National Association of Certified Professional Midwives to understand the barriers that women of color experience with respect to the midwifery profession in The United States.
Alain Chan, Treasurer
Alain Chan, MSW, grew up in Brooklyn (Lanapehoking), and now resides in the unceded Duwamish land known as Seattle. In their spare time, they enjoy practicing Brazilian jiujitsu and other forms of movement. They received their Master in Social Work from the University of Washington, and are the Operations Coordinator at APACE.
Camie Gold
hammer, Operations
Camie Jae Goldhammer, MSW, LICSW, IBCLC, (Sisseton-Wahpeton) is a Clinical Social Worker and Lactation Consultant. Camie received her Master of Social Work degree from the
University of Washington in 2006, specializing in Maternal Mood Disorders and the affects of complex/Intergenerational trauma on attachment, bonding and the parenting practices of Native families.
Camie is the founder and chair of the Native American Breastfeeding Coalition of Washington. She is also a founding mother and President-Elect of the National Association of Professional and Peer Lactation Supporters of Color. In 2013 she became Washington state’s first Native American IBCLC. Camie is a consultant with CHEER and is also a part of the Center for Social Inclusion’s First Food Racial Equity Cohort. Recently she worked as a Campaign Director with MomsRising working to bring paid family and
medical leave to Washington State which was signed into law in July 2017. She is now a member of the MomsRising breastfeeding team. She is a National leader on topics of racial equity and first food justice and recently launched the Indigenous Breastfeeding Counselor training.
Erika Pablo, Legal
Bio coming soon.