Behind the Confident Smile - Who Holds the Mother While She Holds the Baby?
On a very special episode of Behind the Confident Smile, I sit in conversation – and community – with three phenomenal women: Star August Ali, Mary Kay Devine, and Moniqueca Long unpacking the topic: Who’s Holding the mother while she’s holding the baby?
Guests Bios
Star August Ali, CPM, LM-affectionately known as "Sister Star"-is a midwife, mother of four, and descendant of a Grand Midwife who has dedicated over 20 years to advancing Black maternal health. As Executive Director of the Black Midwifery Collective she leads community and legislative efforts to close racial disparities in maternal and infant outcomes. Her mission is to transform midwifery care by increasing racial diversity among community based midwifery providers, dismantling institutionalized birth practices, and ensuring every birthing person has access to culturally respectful, community-based care. Simply she wants a midwife in every neighborhood around the world.
Star is a trailblazer in both advocacy and systems change in the U.S. and internationally. She made history as the first Black Certified Professional Midwife (CPM) eligible for licensure in Illinois and now serves on the inaugural Illinois State Midwifery Board Chair. She is currently 1 out of 3 black home birth midwives in IL offering home births. Through her legislative work, she has helped pass several key maternal health bills in the Illinois House and Senate including legalizing home birth with Certified Professional Midwives (CPM's) in IL. Now, she is leading a historic initiative to launch the first MEAC-accredited direct-entry midwifery program in Illinois-only the 11th of its kind in the U.S.-creating new pathways for aspiring midwives of color and reshaping the future of midwifery education and access across the United States.
Title: Black Midwifery Collective Executive Director & Founder
IG: @sisterstarmidwife
Mary Kay Devine has devoted her life’s work to organizing women to build their economic power. She is an accomplished activist and advocate who connects communities and provides resources to help women and their families thrive.
Mary Kay serves as the Chief of Staff for Women Employed, a 50-year-old advocacy organization whose mission is to improve the economic status of women and remove barriers to economic equity. With the bold social goal of closing the wealth gap at the intersection of race and gender, Women Employed is leading the movement to grow the economic power of women in Illinois.
As Chief of Staff, Mary Kay supports the work of WE’s President and CEO and works closely with the Board of Directors. She directs the external affairs of the organization and manages corporate and community partnerships. Mary Kay provides oversight for the annual strategic implementation plan and leads the office of the P/CEO strategic initiatives which currently focuses on building equitable and inclusive workplaces and the Women’s Entrepreneurship HUB.
Prior to joining Women Employed in 2008, Mary Kay worked as a union organizer helping thousands of women build power in their workplaces. She fought alongside retail workers in New York City, textile workers in North Carolina, and laundry workers in Detroit. In her ten years in the labor movement, she gained an invaluable lesson on the dignity of work and discovered how joy is found in the struggle.
Mary Kay and her husband have four children and live in Rogers Park. They love experiencing Chicago’s treasures like swimming in Lake Michigan, eating tacos at Los Comales, and listening to live music at the Riviera Theater.
Title: Chief of Staff, Women Employed
IG: @womenemployed
Moniqueca Long is a mother of three, a full-spectrum doula, childbirth educator, and mental health advocate. Her experiences in motherhood have shaped her passion for living with compassi–on and authenticity, while fostering spaces where families and communities can grow stronger together.
She is dedicated to building connection and support networks that remind people they don’t have to navigate life alone.
Title: Full Spectrum Doula & Mom
IG: @wedreamofbabyllc