We’re excited to announce the winners of the 2021 ACNM Election! Thank you to the Nominating Committee (Nena Harris, Terri Clark, Celina Cunanan, Lisa Hanson, Gwendolyn Foster, and Linda McDaniel), the candidates, and the members who voted over the last month. Join us in congratulating our new leaders, who will be sworn into office during the virtual 66th ACNM Annual Meeting, May 21 – 25, 2021.
President-Elect of the ACNM Board of Directors:
Heather Clarke, DNP, CNM, LM, APRN, FACNM
Heather’s midwifery career spans over 41 years with a rich history of clinical practice, public health, and academia. Throughout that time, she was an active member of ACNM. Beginning in the mid-1980s, she served as Treasurer on the board of the New York ACNM chapter when it successfully fought to develop the first state board of midwifery in the US and paved the way for the development of the LM credential that is equally inclusive of CMs and CNMs.
Racial unrest and calls for equity are not new to the ACNM. Heather was present in 1987 when the ACNM ad hoc committee on minority affairs was formed to give voice to midwives of color for the first time in its history. The ad hoc committee changed its name in the 1990s and became the standing ACNM Midwives of Color Committee (MOCC). Following previous pioneers, Heather became the chairperson of MOCC in 2013. Under her leadership, MOCC continued to fundraise for the Watson scholarship for midwifery students of color and developed the Carrington-Hsia-Nieves scholarship to support doctoral education. Her other positions of leadership included Co-Chair of the ACNM Students and New Midwives Committee and alternate ACNM representative to US-MERA. Heather’s active engagement within ACNM has prepared her for leadership at the highest level.
Heather has five specific goals in mind: 1) To grow more midwives who reflect the diversity of our consumers; 2) To push for system change that centers midwives as the primary providers for women and families throughout the reproductive health cycle; 3) To close the gap in MCH disparities among BIPOC families; 4) To build equity, unity, and respect for all members around common goals; 5) To build ACNM’s membership and become more responsive to members’ professional needs.
Secretary of the ACNM Board of Directors:
Bridget Howard, CNM, MSN
Since 1998, Bridget has cared for families in New Jersey and Pennsylvania, educated generations of midwives, and supported strong working environments for her colleagues. She is committed to health equity, patient education, and helping women and families find their voices. She seeks to increase the midwifery presence and philosophy and support birth, family planning, and quality of life.
Bridget has dedicated almost 21 years of service to ACNM and the A.C.N.M. Foundation, promoting funding for awards and scholarships to aid students in completing their basic midwifery education and for midwives to further research propelling our profession forward. During her initial three years on the Board, she ensured accurate documentation of board meetings so members could easily obtain references to agenda items brought to the board by membership and the volunteer leadership committees. Her duties have also included board liaison to the PAC, American Midwifery Certification Board (AMCB), and the Anti-Racism in Midwifery Education Task Force. She also serves on the ACNM Finance and Audit Committee (FAC).
Bridget ensures members’ voices are heard in all Board meetings and events. She is dedicated to initiatives including the ACNM Anti-Racism Roadmap for Change, and works tirelessly to develop and implement strategies to move ACNM forward in funding, project development, membership growth, increasing student membership while reducing student annual dues, and marketing strategies. Most importantly, she encourages ACNM to continue to create welcoming and safe spaces for all students and midwives. Recognizing the healing that is needed and taking place within ACNM, she looks forward to continuing fostering opportunities for positive change and reflection.
Region II Representative to the ACNM Board of Directors:
Nichole Wardlaw, CNM, FACNM
Nichole became a CNM in 2005 and has been active in ACNM since graduation. She has also served locally in ACNM’s Virginia Affiliate as a past president and currently as Legislative Chair. She has served on several task forces and committees including the Nominating Committee, MOCC, and Program Committee. Her current work focuses on anti-racism in education, working specifically with students. As the current Region II Representative, Nichole has worked within the ACNM structure to network with others and bring a new perspective. She enjoys being able to bring colleagues together to be resources for each other and to bring people to the table where they may have previously felt there was not a place for them. She is excited for the opportunity to continue this work in another term.
Nichole is originally from Brooklyn, New York, but loves her current coastal living in the Hampton Roads area of Virginia. She is the mother of two daughters and one one fur baby as well, and in her free time enjoys traveling, knitting, and exploring different cultures.
Region V Representative of the ACNM Board of Directors:
Carrie Neerland, PhD, APRN, CNM, FACNM
Carrie has been a midwife for 15 years and is now in her third year as Assistant Professor at the University of Minnesota School of Nursing. Carrie has been actively involved in ACNM since she was a student and has served at multiple levels, from the Minnesota Affiliate to the national level. In the MN Affiliate, Carrie has served as Treasurer, Media Chair, Co-President, is a founding member of the MN Committee for Equity and Justice, and helped spearhead the affiliate’s regional interprofessional conference, Optimal Outcomes in Perinatal, Sexual, and Reproductive Health.
At the national level, Carrie has served as Chair of the Membership and Marketing Committee and is the current Chair of the Division of Membership and Publications. She also has been a member of the Minnesota state Perinatal Quality Collaborative and now serves on the University of Minnesota’s Women’s Faculty Cabinet and the state Maternal Mortality Review Committee as an abstractor. Carrie is committed to anti-racism, unifying midwifery in the US, and ACNM’s vision of midwifery for every person and community.
At-Large Midwife of Color Representative:
Charlotte Morris, DNP, CNM, FACNM
Charlotte has spent over 30 years in clinical practice committed to midwifery care for women in under-served communities. She established and served as Director of Temple Hospital’s Midwifery Practice in Philadelphia for over ten years. In 2012, she expanded her education and earned her DNP from Temple University. In ACNM, she has served as Chair of the Membership Committee, and Secretary of the MOCC under two different chairs. In this role she maintained member lists, contact information, and communication from various committee meetings and activities. Currently, Charlotte continues to support MOCC through the mentoring program. She also served as an elected member of the Nominating Committee and serves on ACNM Liability Committee, helping develop peer support tools for midwives experiencing adverse outcomes in clinical practice.
In addition to her academic achievements and work within ACNM, Charlotte is committed to service in the community. She serves as secretary on the executive board of a faith-based organization with 4,000 members. In this role, she maintains confidential documents including financial records, legal papers, and minutes from general and executive board meetings as well as all archived documents. Currently, she is an Assistant Professor at Frontier Nursing University, where she is course faculty in two courses, Introduction to Independent Practice and Gynecologic Health. In addition to her course work, Charlotte serves as a tutor for students needing additional academic support. She also is Co-Chair of the Diversity and Inclusion Committee, supporting the work the Office of Diversity Equity and Inclusion.
ACNM Nominating Committee Member:
Carol Bues, DNP, LM, CNM, WHNP, FACNM
Carol Bues has been a midwife in NYC for over 20 years. She has worked in various settings including hospital based and community practices. Carol is currently co-founder and midwife of a thriving home birth practice in NYC. Within this practice, Carol co-innovated a three-month fellowship based on a midwifery apprenticeship model for new midwifery graduates to prepare for home birth. Carol is full-time faculty at CUNY Lehman College, where she teaches woman’s healthcare for both graduate and undergraduate students.
Carol has been an active member of ACNM since she was a student midwife at SUNY Downstate in 1998. She has served on various committees and is currently on the Racism in Midwifery Education Task Force. She has served on the Home Birth and Birth Center Committee since 2013 is currently co-editing the fourth edition of The Home and Birth Center Practice Manual. Carol is currently Vice Chairperson of New York City Midwives (NYCM) Region I, Chapter 1, the local NYC chapter, and is a past treasurer. She has been a member of the ACNM New York Affiliate since its inception in 1999. She was the Treasurer and an Executive Board Member and prior to that was a Board Member as New York City Representative and Membership Chair.
In the fall of 2019, Carol became a co-founder and treasurer of Haven Midwifery Birthing Center (HMBC) of NYC. HMBC is a 501(c) organization started to raise money for the first not-for-profit midwifery owned and operated birthing center in NYC. The plan is to have a facility that combines women and family health care and offers education on all aspects of health, including parenting. The vision is first and foremost to work towards healing the disparities faced by women of color and non-binary individuals.
ACNM Nominating Committee Member:
Dwynn Golden, DNP, CNM
Dwynn Golden has been a midwife since 1993. She was in full-scope practice from 1992-2012, then was the manager at a prenatal clinic, where she brought Centering Pregnancy to the practice. Since 2012, she has worked at Frontier Nursing University as clinical and didactic faculty for midwifery and women’s health nurse-practitioner students. Dwynn has been an active ACNM member since she became a midwife and attends regional and national meetings regularly. She pursued this role in order to better serve the needs of midwives across the country and ensure representation of all members.
Dwynn was the secretary of the Sigma Theta Tau chapter, Chi Pi, at Frontier Nursing University from 2016-2020 and attended the international congress of Sigma Theta Tau as a delegate in 2019. She believes that serving as part of the nominating committee will help her to engage with the leaders of ACNM and bring forward midwives who can provide leadership and representation for midwives across the country.
ACNM Nominating Committee Member:
Emily McGahey, DM, MSN, CNM
Since becoming a midwife in 2011, Emily has sought to be bold for midwifery; embracing leadership and forward progress. Emily’s journey to midwifery started with an undergraduate degree from Creighton University in Omaha, NE before studying midwifery at the University of New Mexico. She began her career in 2011 at the Midwife Center for Birth and Women’s Health in Pittsburgh, PA, where she continues to practice full-scope midwifery and serves as Associate Clinical Director. Education for midwives and midwifery leadership has been a cornerstone of Emily’s practice. She has precepted midwifery and nurse practitioner students since 2013 and received the Outstanding Preceptor Award from ACNM in 2019. Emily graduated with her Doctor of Midwifery in 2020 from Jefferson University. Her work at Jefferson focused on accurate identification of midwife-attested births on birth certificates.
In 2012, she joined the Board of the Pennsylvania Affiliate of ACNM (PA-ACNM) and in 2013 became Board president for a term of six years. Today, Emily continues as the State Legislative Co-Chair for PA-ACNM, assisting in furthering midwifery through legislation, education, and advocacy. Emily participated in the founding committee for PA-ACNM’s Midwifery Forward statewide conference and continues to serve as an active member of this committee. She is actively engaged in anti-racism work within PA-ACNM and at her workplace. Emily’s commitment to ACNM has reached far beyond Pennsylvania, as evidenced by her work within the national organization. Emily is a current member of State Government Affairs Committee, Committee of Midwife Advocates for Certified Midwives, and Workforce Committee. She also serves on the Scope of Practice and Doctoral Level Competencies task forces. Emily has participated in the formation and ongoing work of the Pennsylvania Perinatal Quality Collaborative (PA-PQC) as a foundational advisory committee member and current member of the Maternal Mortality and Policy Workgroups.