ACNM welcomes Elle Annalise L. Schnetzler, CM, DM, MS, LM as the new Chair of the Division of Organizational Capacity. She was recommended by past chair and ACNM past president, Lisa Kane Low, CNM, FACNM, PhD, FAAN and appointed by ACNM President Dr. Susan Stone, DNSc, CNM, FACNM, FANN.
Elle currently serves as a Lieutenant Colonel in the United States Army and is a Certified Midwife who is committed to reducing racial and ethnic healthcare disparities among women. She received her commission as an officer in the United States Army through the Reserve Officer Training Corps (ROTC) Program as a Medical Service Officer in 2004 from Fayetteville State University, Fayetteville, NC, where she obtained a degree in biology. Elle continued her education earning a master’s degree in midwifery from Philadelphia University in 2014 and made history alongside seven fellow midwives as one of the first graduates to earn a Doctor of Midwifery in the United States.
Her doctoral work was focused on developing pipeline programs and initiatives from undergraduate programs at Minority Serving Institutions (MSIs) to graduate midwifery programs, thereby growing the profession and increasing the number of midwives of color, a vital strategy to dismantling healthcare disparities among women. Elle is a member of the ACNM Committee of Midwife Advocates for Certified Midwives (C-MAC). She is Founder of Midwifery In Color, a foundation for the preservation and perpetuity of the legacy of midwives of color and the midwifery profession.
