Meet Our Team

Meet the amazing people who support the network!

Board of Directors Doula Volunteers by Cohort The First Doula Volunteers

Mission

Our Vision

At Mary's Hands Network, we're on a mission to empower women, promote birth excellence, and bridge the health equity gap in our community. We provide top-notch training programs and manage a network of dedicated volunteer community doulas who offer essential support services to the women in our community free of charge.

Our Vision

To ensure that every woman has access to the benefits of a doula and a dedicated community of support during the perinatal period. We strive to create a society where women can achieve birth excellence and have equitable access to quality healthcare, regardless of their socioeconomic background.

Our Name

Why are we called “Mary’s Hands”?

In the first chapter of the Christian Bible’s Gospel of Luke is the story of the birth of John the Baptist. John’s mother was Elizabeth, the cousin of Jesus’s mother, Mary. In the Gospel story, Mary is called by an Angel of the Lord to visit her cousin Elizabeth who is in the final months of her pregnancy. Mary supported and helped Elizabeth through her pregnancy, birth, and afterwards. Mary was Elizabeth’s doula.

We are called to serve the women of our community in the same way that Mary did for her cousin Elizabeth. We are here to teach our community members how to use their hands to serve and change the narrative around birth. Our nation has some of the worst statistic around maternal morbidity and mortality especially for women of color and it is time to fight back. Join our mission to empower women to empower each other.

Mary's Hands Network Equal Opportunity Policy

Mary's Hands Network maintains a strong policy of equal employment opportunity for all employees and applicants. Our partners must have their own equal employment opportunity policies and comply with both their policies and ours in the hiring and supervision of volunteers and staff.

Mary's Hands Network Equal Opportunity Policy

Mary's Hands Network is dedicated to hiring the best-qualified individuals. We ensure equal employment opportunities, hiring, training, promoting, and compensating based on competence and potential. We do not discriminate based on race, color, ethnicity, religion, gender, gender identity, sexual orientation, marital status, disability, or any other protected classifications. This policy applies to all employment aspects.

We comply with the ADA and relevant laws, providing reasonable accommodations for disabilities. Partner applications and job descriptions must align with our policy. We may request partners remove unnecessary ableist language unless it is an essential function that cannot be reasonably accommodated. For example, "must be able to lift and carry 50 pounds" might be revised to include “with the assistance of a lift, dolly, or other reasonable accommodation.”

Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion

At Mary's Hands Network, we're all about leveling the playing field and ensuring everyone gets a fair shot. We're tackling the stark disparities in maternal health head-on, especially for minority groups. Did you know Black women in the US are three to four times more likely to face pregnancy-related complications compared to white women? And Indigenous women are also at significantly higher risk. That's why diversity, equity, and inclusion are not just buzzwords for us—they're the heart and soul of what we do.

We believe it's time for bold moves. By forging strong partnerships with organizations that share our commitment to equity, we're ensuring everyone has a voice in tackling society's biggest challenges. Because healthy communities can't thrive when historic and systemic racism, class oppression, and gender discrimination hold people back. We're investing in equity and divesting from outdated systems to pave the way for real change.