Board Meeting Reflection

by Ximena Rojas, Licenciada Enfermeria y Obstetricia UNAM/Partera

I'm a Partera from Mexico, invited to be part of the MANA Board a few months ago after Claudia Breglia - one of the MANA board members - saw my hard work, passion and dedication to a Mexican association of midwives and my homebirth practice in Baja, California.

The invitation was flattering and I was excited with the possibility. I started visioning ways I could bring ancestral medicine, traditional midwifery and make midwifery education accessible for more students at the border and Mexico with MANA support. The goals of MANA are my own goals too and I didn't know that before.

My first Board meeting happened (even though it was a new modality online this year); it was absolutely amazing and touching, we were able to connect, to work and visualize MANA as the organization that keeps gathering all midwives, represents them, unites them, and nurtures them to bloom in ways that can have a powerful effect on midwives and families that we serve. My favorite words at the beginning of the workshop were: curiosity as an antidote for discouragement, playfulness when feeling overwhelm, awareness to disrupt vicious patterns, visibility for everyone, and co-creation in order to manifest our goals as a group of midwives. Also, reflecting on various ways to contribute and collaborate, I felt like my voice was heard and my thoughts were important too. 

I'm looking forward to the next meetings and conference. Midwifery has taken me to places that I have never imagined, the scope of my practice and skills keep growing beyond what I ever expected and I can't wait to invite and have more sister midwives be part of the amazing MANA that we all can create together.

2018 MANA Board Election Report

Why did we not have an election this year?

Because we didn’t have enough people nominated for board positions!

Every fall MANA puts out a call for nominations for open board positions, which may include up to four positions in each year’s election. In 2018, the positions up for election were:

Director of Organizational Development
Director of Health Policy and Advocacy
Director of States Advocacy
Secretary

Other positions open that remain unfilled are:

Treasurer
Director of Events
Director of Public Affairs

An additional position became open earlier this year due to resignation:

Director of Professional Development

Eight positions on a ten-position board were available at once...

Click to continuing reading the full 2018 MANA Board Election Report.