Meet our Board
Rooted in leadership, guided by community.
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President
Nickie Tilsner, RN, BSN (she/her) is a nurse leader, educator, and longtime harm reductionist with over two decades of experience advancing community-rooted care. Based in both Portland, Oregon and the Bay Area, California, Nickie’s work bridges reproductive health, substance use care, and public health research. She served the Bay Area as a doula for over 18 years, and has spent the last 19 years training doulas through a justice-centered lens.
Nickie is the Co-Founder of Cornerstone Birthwork Training, a nationally respected program committed to trauma-informed, culturally responsive doula education, and currently serves as President of the Cornerstone Oakland Doula Collaborative, a nonprofit advancing Reproductive Justice through scholarships, advocacy, and community-based care.
She is a proud graduate of OHSU School of Nursing (magna cum laude) and of the pre-nursing program at Mills College, where she later designed and led the first for-credit doula training course in a U.S. university, offered through Mills’ Health Equity and Public Health program.
Nickie also serves as the Nursing Services Program Manager at Cascadia Health Primary Care, where she leads systems-level initiatives to integrate harm reduction, nursing case management, and equity-based practice into community health settings.
She previously led the implementation of a nationally recognized hepatitis C intervention for young people who use drugs in Sacramento and Newark, and she is the soon-to-be Co Principal Investigator on a groundbreaking study integrating doulas and harm reduction to support smoking reduction and cessation during pregnancy.
At the heart of her work is a commitment to co-creating systems of care that are community-driven, responsive, and justice-rooted—emerging from the leadership, wisdom, and lived experience of the communities they are meant to serve.
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Vice President
Juli Tilsner (she/her) has been immersed in birthwork since 1977, when she and four close friends went through pregnancy and birth together. Experiencing five distinct births and working with midwives during her own care left a lasting impression—and sparked a lifelong commitment to birthwork and community-rooted care. She began attending births professionally in 1999 and has since built a path shaped by passion, justice, and collective learning.
Juli is a semi-retired midwife and holds the Certified Professional Midwife (CPM) credential. She is Co-Founder and Co-Executive Director of Cornerstone Doula Trainings, where she works as a mentor, consultant, educator, author, and full-spectrum birthworker, including as a doula and montrice.
Her journey in the birth world has been a steady unfolding—one marked by personal, professional, and political growth. Coming from challenging beginnings, she brings lived experience and a deep commitment to care into everything she does. Her work is grounded in vision, care, and a belief in the power of showing up for each other.
Outside of birthwork, Juli finds joy in being active in her community and spending time with her daughter and grandchild. She loves cooking for others, making art, studying and working with crystals, and recharging in Scotland, her favorite place to land and reset.
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Secretary
Anna Balagtas (she/they) is a queer Filipina non-binary femme prioritizing supporting systemically marginalized and underserved communities across Turtle Island. They are the founder of Pocket Doula and founding member of the National Collaboration for Doula Access (NCDA).
Anna supports emerging careworkers and reproductive health organizations in radicalizing their practice through queer reproductive justice advocacy and community organizing.
When they’re not working, Anna is tending to the many marble pothos plants she has in their house or is scoping out the best place to buy ataulfo mangoes.
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Treasurer
Camilla Rae (she/her/they/them) is a Black, Mexican, and Jewish full-spectrum doula, newborn care specialist, and founder of Full Circle Baby, with more than 20 years of experience supporting families through the perinatal year. Her journey into birthwork began at age 18 when she helped a family welcomed triplets—an experience that sparked a lifelong dedication to postpartum care. Since then, Camilla has supported over 1,000 families from preconception through the first postpartum year, specializing in newborn sleep, postpartum healing, and helping families establish sustainable rhythms in early parenthood.
Rooted in a lineage of Mexican parteras and community healers, Camilla blends ancestral wisdom with evidence-based care. She is a CPST, CLC, and certified infant & child sleep consultant, and serves on multiple community boards including Howard’s Heart and the Perinatal Provider Network.
When she’s not supporting families, Camilla can be found crafting (weaving, sewing, and paper arts), cooking for friends, traveling, and adventuring with her husband of ten years and their three lively children.
Your Support Fuels More Than Access—It Builds the Future of Birthwork.
When you give, you help fund scholarships and shape the systems that hold birthwork at the center of care. You’re investing in advocacy, equity, and a web of solidarity that reaches far beyond a single training. This is how we build the future—together.
Cornerstone Oakland Doula Collaborative is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization. EIN: 33-4546791.
Your donation is tax-deductible to the fullest extent allowed by law. No goods or services were provided in exchange for this contribution.