Black Mamas ATX Leadership & Staff
We are a group of everyday women dedicated to an extraordinary movement to save the lives of Black mothers.
Black Mamas ATX is governed by the Black Mamas Community Collective
Black Mamas Community Collective was founded by Dr. Michele Rountree, Ph.D. Read her full bio here.
ANGELA PIE
CHAIRPERSON
META BROWN
VICE CHAIRPERSON
JENNIFER DUNGEY
SECRETARY
JOYCE JAMES
LATOYA SWAN
Kelenne Blake-Fallon
Executive Director
Kelenne Blake-Fallon is a health advocate, creative and Blackacademic from Trinidad and Tobago, based in Austin TX. She has been involved with Black Mamas Community Collective, a.k.a Black Mamas ATX in various roles since 2018 and now serves as the Executive Director.
As a creative, Kelenne does visual and performance art as well as writing, including poetry and screenwriting. She also considers herself a Blackademic. Kelenne is a former professor at Huston-Tillotson University and a current doctoral student of Public Health at Johns Hopkins University, concentrating in Health Equity and Social Justice.
Living in the intersections as a Black immigrant woman, everything she does involves working creatively with vulnerable communities, disrupting false hierarchies and creating spaces for those communities to assert their unique voices, perspectives and power — and, in so doing, creating a better world.
Aphrica Farrow
Sister Doula
Born and raised in Austin, Aphrica is a full time mother of 4 beautiful girls. Prior to becoming a DONA certified doula with Black Mamas ATX, she worked as Breastfeeding Peer Counselor at Mom’s Place. Aphrica is also a certified community health worker and through a grant from ConnectHer, she is currently completing requirements to become an International Board Certified Lactation Consultant (IBCLC).
When she is not working with mamas , she is busy attending any number of extra-curricular activities in support of her daughters. Aphrica shares that “If and when have any spare time I like to spend it sleeping, reading or catching up on any missed TV shows.” When speaking of the work she does with BMATX she says, “I am so blessed and proud to be a part of an organization that impacts the lives of mothers and babies in such a meaningful way!”
Aisha Ralph
Sister Doula
Aisha Ralph has been a birth worker for more than ten years. She’s a doula, midwife, childbirth educator and natural birth advocate. She strongly believes in women’s innate ability to give birth their way, safely and with strength. Aisha is committed to using her both knowledge and experience to positively impact the maternal health of Black women in the USA, the Caribbean and throughout the continent of Africa.
Originally from Antigua and Barbuda in the Caribbean, she’s been a Texas resident since 2018. Aisha is an avid reader, a writer, and loves to travel. In a former life she was an accountant, auditor, actress and model. She’s a wife, step-mom, sister, auntie and friend.
Erin Backus, MPH
Grant Manager
Erin is a native Texan who’s social service roots have impacted youth and the underserved across the state’s following major cities: DFW, Austin, El Paso, and Houston. She received her BA in African and African Diaspora Studies and BS in Athletic Training from the University of Texas at Austin. She recently graduated with her Master of Public of Health from the UT Health Science Center at Houston. Her background in healthcare and lived experience as a Black woman led her to intern twice for Black Mamas ATX. Now she has returned for a third appearance as a grant manager for BMATX and the MHEC’s Safer Childbirth Cities grant! Her dream is to empower BIPOC to live their best lives through health and wellness, self-expression, and art. She believes in the power of people and advocates for the empowerment of BIPOC women everywhere. When she’s not in a class or out hustling, you can find her traveling the globe, out in nature, or curled up on the couch with a good book or movie.