Cornerstone Oakland Doula Collaborative

Building the Future of Birthwork—Community-Led, Justice-Rooted, and Fully Resourced

Get to know us

The Cornerstone Oakland Doula Collaborative is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization dedicated to championing Reproductive Justice, community care, and harm reduction. We exist to remove barriers, grow a diverse, community-rooted perinatal workforce, and strengthen culturally responsive birthwork through training, mentorship, organizing, advocacy, and research.

We believe everyone who feels called to this work should have access to the training, support, and community they need to thrive—not just survive. And we believe every person navigating pregnancy, birth, parenting, or reproductive transitions deserves care that is affirming, accessible, and grounded in justice.

Why we launched CODC

For the past 19 years, our parent organization, Cornerstone Birthwork Trainings, has trained thousands of full-spectrum birthworkers Internationally. Cornerstone was the first doula training program to formally incorporate harm reduction into its curriculum—recognizing that birthwork lives at the intersection of all transitions and systems. Birthworkers often support people navigating substance use, mental health challenges, housing instability, marginalization, and reproductive injustice. Our training acknowledges that care doesn’t happen in a vacuum—it’s shaped by the conditions people are living through, and doulas are often the only consistent support walking with them through it.

Along the way, we quietly funded over $400,000 in scholarships out of pocket, making free of cost training fully accessible to more than 800 birthworkers—all without institutional funding.

Those doulas now serve in clinics, homes, shelters, jails, and birth centers—meeting people where they are and providing care rooted in cultural knowledge, trust, and community connection.

We launched CODC to scale that legacy.
As a nonprofit, we’re transforming what we’ve always done—training, scholarship, mentorship, advocacy—into a shared infrastructure that others can help build and sustain.

What We Do

CODC works at the intersection of care, access, and systems change. We support birthworkers and transform the conditions under which they give care by focusing on four core areas:

Scholarships:

We provide holistic scholarships that go beyond tuition—covering training, childcare, peer mentorship, continued learning, and community connection. These investments reduce barriers, build sustainability, and help diversify the birthwork ecosystem.

Advocacy:

We advocate for policies that protect birthworker autonomy, expand access to culturally grounded care, and advance equity in reproductive and perinatal health. This includes shaping Medicaid reimbursement models and helping define inclusive practice standards.

Organizing:

We cultivate networks of support for birthworkers and careworkers through mutual aid, peer-led leadership development, and strategic alignment. Our organizing reduces burnout, fosters collective power, and strengthens the long-term sustainability of this work.

Research and Thought Leadership:

We contribute to research that strengthens the evidence base for community-based doula care, harm reduction-informed support, and culturally responsive models. Our partnerships with public health leaders and academic institutions help ensure that the experiences and insights of birthworkers directly inform policy development, workforce investment, and healthcare integration.

We envision a future where birthwork is recognized, resourced, and protected—and where those offering care are trusted as leaders.
A future where families are met with care that reflects who they are, honors their choices, and supports their full humanity.
A future where the people doing the work are not the last to be funded—but the first to be invested in.

We are committed to dismantling systemic barriers to equitable care, while uplifting the leadership, knowledge, and voices of birthworkers and the communities they serve.