Board of Directors

The Board is currently accepting nominations and self-nominations,  you can submit your self-nomination application by clicking here.

Rosalba Ruiz, Board Chair

A Mexican American, Hispanic General Practitioner with a Master’s in Public Health (MD, MPH). She has worked in the area of Public Health for more than 20 years. Committed to improve the health of US- Mexico border residents and believes that we need to change the way we approach “mothers to be” in the area of breastfeeding not only to we need to increase knowledge but also create the environments that foster breastfeeding.

Has worked for more than 18 years in the area of diabetes and believe that if we could only do one thing to prevent diabetes and chronic diseases it is to breastfeed. She is a mother of two, a 20 year old boy that I breastfeed for 2 years and a 9 year old girl that I breastfeed for 4 years.

A founding member of the Binational Breastfeeding Coalition, established in 2012 its mission that all children born across the US- Mexico Border have an opportunity to be breastfeed. To achieve this we have been creating support networks for mothers to breastfeed such as mother friendly establishments, mother friendly worksites, mother friendly hospital. We do considerable amount of promotion and awareness including the Big Latch On.  

Founding member of the Latina Breastfeeding Leader’s (LBL), the group’s goal is to connect with other Latina leaders around the country in order to increase breastfeeding among Latinas.

She received a grant from the New Mexico State University/ Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center partnership to conduct a pilot study to measure increase in the intent to breastfeed among Hispanic women of childbearing age (18-44 years) that receive a brief education intervention that focusses on the important relation between breastfeeding and breast cancer. Initial analysis show that the Hispanic women participating in the BFBCCP learned more about the importance of breastfeeding, particularly as it relates to Breast cancer prevention, reported greater levels of intent to breastfeed, and reported more positive attitudes towards breastfeeding in the workplace compared to the control group.

She was selected by the Center of Social Inclusion to be part of a cross section of breastfeeding leaders, to effective build alliances across divisions and in delivering the message that racial equity impacts and can truly benefit all communities.

She currently works for the Alliance of Border Collaboratives, this non- profit has been designated as a mother friendly worksite by the State of Texas. She has worked extensible with Community Health Workers, and with Coalitions to improve health outcomes in both Texas and the Southern part of New Mexico.

Charolette Gonzales

Charolette Gonzales is a dedicated advocate, policy professional, and emerging leader committed to advancing justice and equity for Indigenous communities. She is a proud member of San Ildefonso Pueblo and Diné, and her work is deeply rooted in the values, resilience, and strength of her communities. She currently serves as the Policy and Advocacy Director at the Coalition to Stop Violence Against Native Women, where she leads strategic initiatives focused on addressing systemic issues, supporting survivors, and strengthening community-driven solutions. In this role, she oversees program operations, manages budgets, and collaborates with partners to influence policy, secure funding, and promote meaningful change for Native women and families. Charolette holds a bachelor’s degree in political science and criminal justice from Fort Lewis College and is TESOL certified. She is also a trained, trauma-informed advocate, bringing a survivor-centered and culturally grounded approach to all aspects of her work. Her professional background spans legal and advocacy spaces, including serving as Interim Restorative Justice Director and Legal Intern with the La Plata County District Attorney’s Office. In these roles, she managed restorative justice programming, worked closely with attorneys, and supported case processes through legal writing and client engagement. In addition to her policy work, Charolette has experience in communications and community education through her work with Transcending Strategies and the Changing Woman Initiative, where she developed content, edited press materials, and created presentations on maternal health and reproductive justice. A certified 40-hour advocate, Charolette is deeply committed to community- centered work and brings a strong foundation in legal systems, policy development, and advocacy. She plans to further her education by pursuing law school, continuing her path toward creating lasting, systemic change.

Pip Howard, Board Secretary

Originally from England, Pip Howard has lived in the Four Corners area for the last 30 years. With a lifelong interest in health and birth, she is very happy to work professionally teaching prospective parents about healthy birth practices and assisting new parents in reaching their breastfeeding goals. She is the mother of two grown children who were each breastfed for a year.

Danny Kirby

Danny Kirby is a nutritionist supervisor for the New Mexico WIC program. Danny was born and raised on the island of St. Croix in the Virgin Islands. After graduating high school in the Virgin Islands, Danny traveled to the U.S. mainland to pursue higher education—first attending Barry University in Miami, FL; second, Fort Valley State University in Fort Valley, GA; and third, Georgia State University in Atlanta, GA where Danny received his Bachelors of Science degree in nutrition. Recently, Danny’s partner opened a plant-based restaurant that serves native pueblo food, where Danny aids as the head nutritionist and helps with kitchen prep. Today, Danny resides in Jemez Pueblo NM, with his partner and 3 daughters. 

Jessica Eva Montoya Trujillo

About Jessica Montoya Trujillo

My name is Jessica Eva Montoya Trujillo, a disabled Chicana from the foothills of the Sangre de Cristo Mountains in unceded Tewa Homelands also known as O’Ga Pa’Geh or White Shell Water Place or La Villa Real de Santa Fe de San Francisco de Assisi or as most people know it, Santa Fe, NM. I am a seventh generation Native New Mexican and have complicated roots embedded in this land, my grandparents lived in humble homes and later my parents living in the same home where me and my siblings were raised. My childhood and teen years were riddled with trauma and survival which led me to a life of advocacy and education on behalf of children living in domestic violent homes. As a result of my work, I have become a vocal upstander for important issues affecting my life and the lives of the people who I live with and by, my fellow community members. I recently became a mother to a beautiful boy named Judah Elias and have shifted my focus to community building and harnessing the village that exists around me. I currently serve my community as the Administrative Director for Chainbreaker Collective which is a membership-led economic and environmental justice organization serving Northern New Mexico. I am passionate about power-building and social justice particularly in the community I belong to, in Santa Fe, NM. I would love the opportunity to serve on the New Mexico Breastfeeding Task Force Board of Directors to learn how best to support breast/chest-feeding parents and supporters in New Mexico.

Saychelle Rincon

Saychelle is a queer, nonbinary birth worker and student midwife whose fierce dedication to reproductive justice is rooted in ancestral Caribbean lineage and traditional Indigenous wisdom. Since 2007, they’ve supported 150+ births across the East Coast, Utah and Hawai’i as a DTI-certified doula and birth assistant, offering care that centers Queer family-making and culturally reverent healing. Now based in New Mexico, they are cultivating sustainable connections within the birth community in the Land of Enchantment.

With a background in English Literature as well as Massage Therapy, coupled with over a decade of experience in holistic perinatal care, Saychelle’s offerings include Full Spectrum Doula support, Placenta medicine, Spiritual Limpias, Bone Closing ceremonies, and Massage Sessions and Platicas specializing in pregnancy and child development. Informed by teachings from Birthwise Midwifery School, Spinning Babies, and Body Ready Method, their practice bridges clinical skill with sacred tradition.

Proud parent to Zeke, born at home in 2015, Saychelle continues to walk the midwifery path with humility, reverence, and a radical love for their communities—ancestral, chosen, and beyond.

Katie Kivlighan

Katie Kivlighan, MS, PhD, CNM, FACNM is an Assistant Professor at the University of New Mexico (UNM) College of Nursing, where she teaches in the UNM Nurse-Midwifery Program.  Her goal is to improve screening, support, and treatment for lactation challenges and she has built a research program focused on clinical, behavioral, and physiological influences on breastfeeding and lactation.  She is the University of New Mexico Site PI for the Breastfeeding CHAMPS Study, an NICHD-funded study focused on mammary epithelium permeability during established lactation and its effects of lactation outcomes and infant health.  She has been serving New Mexico families as a certified nurse-midwife for 11 years.  She is also a co-director of the UNM Birth Companion Program, a birth-justice focused program that aims to provide respectful, compassionate, and non-judgmental care in birth.

Jean Braun

I am a Maternal Child Health epidemiologist in the Family Health Bureau at the New Mexico
Department of Health. I currently serve as a NM PRAMS epidemiologist and data analyst for
the Maternal Health Program in collaboration with the NM MMRC.
As a Maternal Child Health epidemiologist, I have been working with the Albuquerque Area
Southwest Tribal Epidemiology staff to form a Tribal Toddler Survey. I also partnered with the
New Mexico Breastfeeding Taskforce create a campaign to promote breastfeeding. In my role
as data analyst for the Maternal Health Program, I helped prepare recommendations based on
NM MMRC members input and helped draft the NM MMRC Annual Report and presentation for
the NM Legislative Health and Human Services Committee.
During my practicum work with the Postnatal Patient Safety Learning Lab with the University of
North Carolina at Chapel Hill, I analyzed qualitative data from recorded postpartum stays to
assess patient and health care team interactions around newborn heel prick tests and coded
hours of recorded footage and documented notable interactions and care events. My work with
the Postnatal Patient Safety Learning Lab and analysis work with the NM MMRC propels me
assess and address disparities in maternal and early childhood healthcare and outcomes.
Prior to position and NMDOH and obtaining my Master’s of Public Health in December 2022, I
worked as a genetic technologist at CSI Laboratories in Alpharetta, GA for almost eight years. I
analyzed chromosomes and used fluorescent microscopy for cancer diagnostics and issued
genetic reports to our medical team.
Outside of work, I enjoy spending time with my twin boys and husband, playing boardgames
and videogames, crocheting, painting, taking road trips, and learning the ins and outs of hot air
ballooning.