Keisha (pronounced key-sha) is an advocate and former nurse. She has a decade of experience providing support to pregnant and postpartum people. Keisha is committed to promoting reproductive justice. This commitment is rooted in lived experience, her own and stories shared by matriarchs, clients, and our ancestors.
Keisha identifies as a cisgender black woman. She uses the pronouns she/her. Keisha is married and intentionally childfree. She enjoys reading, listening to music, observing nature, and practicing yoga. Keisha likes to watch sports, especially women’s basketball.
Keisha earned a bachelor of science degree in nursing. Her nursing license and specialty certification have expired. Keisha completed DONA’s postpartum doula workshop and LER’s certified breastfeeding specialist course.
Origin Story:
As a young child, Keisha read the book “Where Did I Come From?” by P. Mayle with the guidance of her mom. She was encouraged to talk about the human body and ask questions. Her mom shared stories about experiencing natural childbirth with Keisha and breastfeeding her for more than a year. She also learned that her mom experienced discrimination for these practices and during Keisha’s birth for being single and low income.
Keisha attended a birth for the first time at age sixteen when her best friend became a mom. The impact of sex, pregnancy and parenting made a lasting impression on her. Keisha’s first job after graduating from university was as a labor and delivery nurse. She worked for two years at the hospital before starting midwifery school. Keisha withdrew from school due to life circumstances. Afterwards, she worked as a home visitor with pregnant and postpartum families and provided health care to people at abortion clinics. Keisha worked as a nurse for many years. She worked briefly as a doula.
Keisha developed burnout while working as a nurse at companies with discriminatory practices. Racism was rampant. Colleagues labeled clients as “non-compliant” instead of addressing their social determinants of health. This conflicted with her values. Now Keisha focuses on advocacy and provides support to people outside of those institutions. She centers the lived experience of marginalized folks to ensure they feel seen and heard.
Root Intuit was founded with the mission to support pregnant and postpartum people, advocate for human rights, and promote health equity for people that experience discrimination.