The Team
leadership
Laneceya Russ-Martin, MS
Executive Director
Laneceya Russ-Martin is the Executive Director of March for Moms. She holds a Master’s degree in Communication from the University of Louisiana at Lafayette and a Bachelor’s degree in Communication Studies from Louisiana State University. Laneceya is actively involved in numerous national and state coalitions and organizations focused on maternal and child health.
As a dedicated volunteer, Laneceya currently serves as the Vice-Chair of Sexual Trauma Awareness and Response, a statewide sexual assault center. She is also a board member of the Louisiana Crime Victim Reparations Board and serves on the development committee for Planned Parenthood Gulf Coast. Additionally, she is the Co-Vice President of Philanthropy for the Greater Baton Rouge chapter of the Association of Fundraising Professionals.
National Team Members
Elizabeth Kester, MSN, RN, NEA-BC
Marketing Director
Elizabeth Kester, MSN, RN, NEA-BC is the Head of Nursing Programs at Pomelo Care, a virtual maternity care program that supplements traditional pregnancy care with unlimited, customized support.
Lewis Booth
Event Project Manager
Lewis Booth is a project manager for an MSP in Kansas City and helps navigate projects in the medical field on a daily basis. Lewis graduated in 2014 with a Bachelor’s in Project Management. Lewis has been serving as March for Mom’s event project manager since 2017.
Katie Breen, MPH
Communications Director
Katie Breen is the Director of Program Management and Evaluation for the Colorado Perinatal Care Quality Collaborative. She is the founder and host of The Femtastic Podcast, where she features expert interviews on issues of gender equality, social justice, and reproductive health. Katie has a Master of Public Health from the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health.
YULIYA LABKO, CNM
Policy and Advocacy Director
Yuliya Labko, MSN, CNM is a certified nurse midwife at Abington- Jefferson Health where she provides full scope midwifery care to families. She is a One Young World Ambassador, current Health Equity Academy Transformational Fellow at Families USA, and runs a mentoring program for students and new midwives within the American College of Nurse Midwives. Yuliya holds a BSN and MSN from the Johns Hopkins School of Nursing and Post Master’s Certificate in Midwifery from Shenandoah University.
Mya Prean
Community Outreach Coordinator
Mya Prean is a Serve Louisiana member serving with March For Moms throughout the 2022-2023 Americorp service term. She is a Louisiana native and attended Louisiana State University studying English with a concentration in writing, rhetoric, and culture. She also has a background in architectural design and history. Mya is very passionate about advocating for human rights and acting as a conduit for change.
Board Members
Lastascia Coleman, CNM, MSN, FACNM
President
Lastascia Coleman, CNM, MSN, FACNM is a Clinical Associate Professor the University of Iowa. She is the program director for the midwifery education program at the University of Iowa Hospitals and Clinics which she implemented. She is a PhD student at the University of Iowa College of Public Health in Health Management and Policy. She is a Robert Wood Johnson Health Policy Research Scholar. Her research interests include alternative payment models in perinatal care, perinatal health disparities, and applying a reproductive justice framework to health services research.
Neel Shah, MD, MPP, FACOG
Vice President, Co-Founder
Neel Shah is the Vice-President of the March for Moms Board. He also is the Chief Medical Officer of Maven Clinic, the world’s largest virtual clinic for women’s and family health. Neel is a father, OB/GYN, professor at Harvard University, and the founder of Costs of Care.
ELON KOTLAR, MD, FACOG
Treasurer
Elon Kotlar combines his experiences as a practicing Obstetrician, Women’s & Children’s Health Assistant Chief Medical Information Officer and Medical Director of Population Health Management. He is dedicated to improving maternal health care by bridging the gap between birthing families, health care providers and the systems they work in. He brings a process oriented approach rooted in mutual respect and leverages information solutions to envision new models of care that overcome current obstacles to change.
Elon is a father, Midwifery advocate and Obstetric faculty member at Jefferson Health where he teaches and mentors the next generation of OBGYN residents and medical students.
IROGUE IGBINOSA, MD
Secretary
Dr. Irogue Igbinosa is a Women’s Reproductive Health Scholar and Maternal Fetal Medicine physician at Stanford University. Dr. Igbinosa graduated from the University of Houston, earned her medical degree from Baylor College of Medicine, and completed her residency at Louisiana State University School of Medicine Baton Rouge. After residency, Igbinosa was an AAMC-CDC Public Health Policy Fellow able to serve in the CDC Emergency Operations Center and was a member of the U.S. Zika Pregnancy and Birth Defects Taskforce dedicated to research and resources for health care providers regarding the treatment of pregnant women and infants. Subsequently, she completed her maternal-fetal medicine fellowship at Stanford University.
Her research interests include severe maternal morbidity, health disparities, anemia, nutrition, and infectious diseases in pregnancy. Dr. Igbinosa’s research includes a multi-faceted approach to narrowing the gaps in maternal health disparities. In addition to clinical trials, she works with community-based organizations utilizing mixed methods approaches to understand patient perspectives and experiences regarding the role of nutrition and anemia in pregnancy. Dr. Igbinosa is also involved with several quality improvement initiatives at the hospital and statewide levels to improve adverse health outcomes and address health disparities.
Ginger Breedlove, PhD, CNM, FACNM
Co-Founder, Board Member
Ginger Breedlove is the co-founder and past president of the March for Moms Board and is a past president of the American College of Nurse-Midwives. Presently, she owns a consulting company, Grow Midwives, LLC.
Chanel Porchia-Albert
Board Member
Chanel Porchia-Albert is the founder of Ancient Song Doula Services, and a Certified Full Spectrum Doula. She is a maternal mortality advocate.
Angelina Spicer
Board Member
Angelina Spicer is a comedian, producer, mother, and accidental activist. Spicer became an outspoken advocate for maternal mental health after her diagnosis of postpartum depression. Spicer led the advocacy efforts that led to the passage of three new laws supporting families during the postpartum period. She now leads a nationwide initiative for similar legislation on Capitol Hill.
Eugene Declercq, Phd
Board Member
Gene Declercq combines formal training in political science with almost 20 years of experience as a certified childbirth educator to examine policy and practice related to childbirth in the US and abroad.
Charles Johnson
Board Member
Charles Johnson is a father and husband of the late Kira Dixon Johnson, who tragically lost her life after a c-section. Charles is a maternal health advocate and founder of 4Kira4Moms.
Mary D'Alton, MD
Board Member
Mary E. D’Alton, MD, is Chair of the Department of Obstetrics & Gynecology and the Willard C. Rappleye Professor of Obstetrics & Gynecology at Columbia University Irving Medical Center, and is Director of Services at the Sloane Hospital for Women at NewYork-Presbyterian.
Jamila Taylor, PhD
Board Member
Dr. Jamila K. Taylor is the current president and CEO of the Institute for Women’s Policy Research. She is also a national health equity leader, seasoned health policy researcher, and social justice advocate. A renowned health policy expert, Taylor’s work centers issues related to maternal health and reproductive justice, focusing on the structural barriers to health care access, racial and gender disparities in health outcomes, and the intersections between health care and economic justice.
Throughout her 20+ year career, Taylor has championed the health and rights of women both in the U.S. and around the world, promoting policies that ensure access to vital health care, including building support for abortion access, ensuring safe and compassionate reproductive and maternal health care, and dismantling structural racism within the U.S. health care system. She has held leadership positions in national organizations, such as the Center for American Progress, the Century Foundation, the National WIC Association, and others. She started her career as a congressional staffer in the office of Rep. Robert C. “Bobby” Scott (D-VA) in the late 1990s.
Taylor has testified before Congress, and published and presented extensively on various public policy issues. Her work has been seen in The Hill, RealClearPolicy, RealClearHealth, The Nation, U.S. News and World Report, Yale Journal of International Affairs, Georgetown Journal of International Affairs, Scientific American, Journal of Law, Medicine and Ethics, as well as a host of other publications. She has provided commentary on the most pressing women’s issues of our generation on NPR, Morning Consult, Women@Work—Powered by the Wharton School, C-SPAN, Fox News, Black News Channel, BBC World News, Politico Live, and other media programs. Dr. Taylor is a highly sought-after expert by national and international press, as well as by U.S. government officials, academics, advocates, foundations, and other key stakeholders. She holds a PhD in Political Science from Howard University, a Masters degree in Public Administration from Virginia Commonwealth University, and a Bachelor of Arts degree in Political Science from Hampton University.
past board members
Thank you for your service!
Tia Tilson
Founding Board Member & Treasurer (2017-2023)
Ebony Marcelle, PHD, CNM, FACNM
Founding Board Member (2017-2023)