Asia Blackwell, MPA Executive Director
Asia (she/her) is the Executive Director and an avid supporter of midwifery services globally. Asia holds a Master of Public Affairs degree with a concentration in Nonprofit Management from Indiana University's O'Neill School of Public and Environmental Affairs and has over fifteen years of experience in the nonprofit / philanthropic sectors, placing immense importance of organizational transparency, sustainability, efficiency, relevance, and impact.
With BAs in Anthropology and Gender Studies and training as a direct entry midwife, doula, and childbirth educator, Asia has devoted her work to cultural preservation, Indigenous Women’s rights and reproductive justice, and RMNCH development in Guatemala for the last nine years.
As Executive Director, she hopes to increase local, national, and international advocacy for Indigenous Maya midwives, Traditional Knowledge Systems, and Indigenous Reproductive Healthcare Sovereignty. Asia firmly believes that Indigenous midwives are a key resource that must be engaged and supported to successfully address maternal and child health disparities in Guatemala and beyond.
Asia lives full time in Guatemala with her Guatemalan husband and three young children.
Martina Spain, MPH
Director of Research & Indigenous Data Sovereignty
Martina (she/her) is the Director of Research and Indigenous Data Sovereignty and a doctoral student at UNC Chapel Hill. Her work is guided by Indigenous methodologies, human rights frameworks, and restorative justice, her primary areas of research include maternal health and family planning among structurally marginalized populations, with particular attention to barriers in accessing MCH services.
Prior to pursuing her PhD, Martina worked across policy and advocacy, program design and implementation, and monitoring and evaluation. She served as a Peace Corps Volunteer in Guatemala, where she partnered with World Food Programme Community Health Worker to establish a grassroots network of MCH advocates, and continues to center community-led approaches in her work.
Martina is committed to advancing women’s health globally and translating research into policy that promotes equity and sexual and reproductive health and rights. She holds a Master of Public Health from Boston University with certificates in Maternal and Child Health and Global Health Program, Design, Monitoring, and Evaluation, and a BA in International Affairs at the George Washington University.
Stephanie Martinez, CNM
Midwife Preceptor
Stephanie (they/she/he) is the Midwife Preceptor and a certified nurse midwife, lactation consultant (IBCLC), and nurse.
They lived and worked with a Nahuatl community in Morelos, Mexico before earning a BA in Latinx/Latin American studies from the University of Illinois at Chicago. They have trained as a birth worker and herbalist under Shafia Monroe, Indigemama, and La Loba Loca, have worked L&D in the largest public hospital in the Caribbean (in the Dominican Republic), and received their Masters in Nursing with a specialization in midwifery from Frontier Nursing University.
They are a founding member of Chicago Birth Workers of Color, earning them a Reproductive Justice Trailblazer award from the Chicago Abortion Fund and a Birth Justice award from Chicago Volunteer Doulas. While they specialized in out of hospital birth for 7 years, they transitioned to the hospital setting in 2020 to diversify their experience and serve La Villita, Chicago, where they live and work.
In 2024, they became involved with MMI through the Student Immersion Program and were thrilled to learn from Maya midwives and the Mam community, which has started migrating to Chicago since the pandemic. They are honored to take on this role as Midwife Preceptor and act as that cultural and midwifery liaison to other interested participants. They look forward to continuing to support and engage with the best midwives in the world in the hopes of improving birth outcomes for BIPOC families throughout the diaspora.
LCDA. Milena Riha,
Director of Operations
Milena (she/her) has a Bachelor's Degree in Legal and Social Sciences from Rafael Landivar University and is currently study her Master’s in Hospital Administration.
She has work experience in Guatemala, as well as in Europe, in the fields of education, administration, and coordination of alliances with various NGOs.
As Director of Operations at Naye Xjaw, she leads local administration, logistics, management, and coordination while at the same time empowering the midwives so that they can better develop their skills in these areas.
Dr. Angel Rodas,
Medical Director
Pending Bio
MGTR. Lukas Riha,
Financial Director
Lukas (he/him) holds a Master’s degree in Public Administration and Economics from the University of Pardubice, Czech Republic. He has over 10 years of expeirence in the public sector for different international companies in Czech Republic and London, England. In 2012, he came to Guatemala as a nonprofit volunteer and he never returned. He has dedicated his education, experience and passion to help Guatemalan communities. Over the past 10 years, he has worked as a Finance Manager/Officer in 4 different NGOs specialized in education, healthcare and community development.
As a Financial Director at Naye Xjaw Maya Midwifery International, he hopes to improve the efficiency of finance information collection, processing. and archiving. He has established regular financial reporting on a monthly, quarterly and annual basis with focus on information for decision-making, BOD meetings and for donors’ purposes. He is eager to demonstrate organizational transparency as we move forward.
LCDA. Doris Gomez,
Administrative Professional Nurse
Pending Bio
Kevin Romero,
Chofer/ Security
Pending Bio
Mercedes López,
Cocinera/ Limpieza
Pending Bio
