Birth Equity & Justice Massachusetts is proud to announce the appointment of Dr. Jo-Anna Rorie, CNM, and Tiffany Vassell, MS, RN, as Interim Co-Chairs. Their appointment reflects BEJMA's continued commitment to collaborative leadership, community partnership, and the advancement of birth equity across Massachusetts.
Together, Rorie and Vassell bring decades of combined experience spanning clinical care, public health, policy, advocacy, education, and community engagement. While their professional backgrounds are distinct, they share a common vision: ensuring that every birthing person, baby, child, and family has access to safe, respectful, culturally responsive, and equitable care throughout the perinatal journey.
As a certified nurse-midwife, Dr. Jo-Anna Rorie has dedicated her career to expanding access to midwifery care and advocating for models of care that center dignity, autonomy, and physiologic birth. Her leadership has supported the growth of community-based maternity care, strengthened maternal health systems, expanding access to birth centers, and advanced efforts to ensure families have access to high-quality reproductive and perinatal healthcare.
As a registered nurse and public health leader, Tiffany Vassell has spent more than a decade advancing maternal and child health through clinical practice, public health leadership, and systems change. Her work has focused on improving maternal and infant outcomes, strengthening community partnerships, access to birth centers, supporting perinatal mental health initiatives, and advocating for policies that promote health equity throughout Boston and the Commonwealth.
Collectively, Rorie and Vassell have been at the forefront of efforts to expand access to birth centers and midwifery care, improve maternal health outcomes, elevate community voices, and strengthen partnerships among healthcare providers, community organizations, advocates, and policymakers. Their combined expertise reflects BEJMA's belief that achieving birth equity requires collaboration across clinical care, public health, policy, and community leadership.
As Interim Co-Chairs, they will focus on strengthening BEJMA's statewide coalition, expanding strategic partnerships, increasing members, and building the infrastructure needed to support sustainable growth. Their leadership will prioritize advocacy, education, policy, and collective action to advance equitable maternal and child health outcomes while ensuring that the voices of Black families remain central to the coalition's work.
Under their leadership, BEJMA will continue to serve as a statewide convener, bringing together organizations, birth workers, healthcare professionals, researchers, advocates, and community leaders committed to eliminating disparities and creating systems where families can thrive.
BEJMA looks forward to this new chapter and the continued collaboration that will drive impactful and lasting change across Massachusetts.
