Jamie has a long history of advocacy. While receiving her master’s degree in sociology from the University of Central Florida, she worked as a crime victim advocate supporting survivors of intimate partner violence, sexual assault, and stalking. As a nurse, Jamie has been deeply impacted by seeing women and birthing people experience serious complications resulting from pregnancy. Over the course of her nursing career, Jamie has earned her master’s degree in nursing and certification in her specialty. Jamie is extensively involved in her professional association, The Association of Women’s Health, Obstetric, and Neonatal Nurses (AWHONN). She serves on committees on the state and national level, she has advocated in the halls of Congress, and she is a member of the AWHONN Insights Podcast Advisory Board. Jamie’s work also focuses on inspiring, teaching, and mentoring other nurses to make childbirth safer.

Emily Taylor is the Deputy Director of the AFE Foundation. As a survivor of AFE during the labor of her first child, she knew her passion to prevent this from happening to other mothers would never dull. She believes every mother should have the birth experience they desire and hope for. Emily assists with several projects at the foundation, including our state liaison program and the research registry.

Emily is also a Village to Village member with NCDHHS and a maternal health advocate.

Emily’s healthcare experience includes her work as Director of Patient Engagement for the International Foundation for Gastrointestinal Disorders, where she primarily handled the engagement between patients and healthcare professionals. She received her Bachelor’s degree in biological sciences from North Carolina State University.

When not working for the foundation, Emily enjoys horseback riding and spending time with her four-legged friends of all sizes. She lives with her husband Alex and her daughter Evie in Cary, NC.

After experiencing an AFE during the birth of her son, Aiden, in March of 2008, Amy immediately started searching for answers and other AFE survivors. Knowing she was fortunate to have survived such a rare and dangerous complication, Amy found it alienating to learn the grim statistics. After meeting through a support group, Amy met founder Miranda Klassen while traveling to San Diego and the two became fast friends. Together, they have overcome the challenges of starting a non-profit from the ground up while also grappling with the many emotions that accompany birth trauma. They have taken the early ideas and made them a reality. Amy served as the board chair for 10 years overseeing the strategic vision and mission. Amy went on to have another son, Liam, and now helps other AFE survivors who would also like to grow their families after experiencing an AFE. Amy serves as board secretary and oversees our support group administration. She and her husband Michaal and two boys live in Atlanta, GA.

Sandi is a Certified Public Accountant with 20 years of extensive experience in financial analysis, forensic accounting, budgeting, forecasting, and financial management. When a close friend suffered and survived an amniotic fluid embolism, Sandi wanted to support the mission of the AFE Foundation. Sandi’s extensive experience in finance, analysis, operations, budgeting, and forecasting enables her to provide a high level of expertise in overseeing the AFE Foundation’s finances.

Diana suffered an AFE in 2016, immediately following the birth of her first child, a daughter – Francesca, who was affectionately named after the ICU Nurse that took care of her. In the days that followed her AFE, and while she laid in the hospital recovering, it was her husband, Alan, who actually found the AFE Foundation through a google search and suggested Diana join the Facebook support group. It was there that she found an army of other survivors who understood what she was going through and supported her with the struggles that she and her family would face in the months and years that followed. In 2017, Diana reached out to the organization to volunteer and assist with the peer-based support groups.

Diana has organized blood drives to raise awareness and funds of AFE and other maternal health issues. In 2018, she and fellow AFE survivors in CT were instrumental in supporting a bill to mandate AFE education to all clinicians in Connecticut. In addition, Diana attended the Champions for Change Summits in 2018, 2019, and 2020, Mom Congress in Washington D.C. to advocate for legislative changes related to Maternal Health in 2019, and joined the CT Maternal Mortality Review Committee in 2021.

Diana holds a Master’s degree in Social Work from the University of Connecticut and is a Licensed Clinical Social Worker. She has worked for various non-profits to support children and families, and currently is an elementary School Social Worker. Diana and her family also support different children and their families involved in the foster care system.

Diana hopes that she can continue to support other survivors and their families and raise awareness for the AFE Foundation and postpartum mental health.

Naomi is an Administrative Business Partner (ABP) at Google joining them in 2017 after an 8-year stint in Burberry as Executive Assistant to the CEO Americas and EMEIA. Naomi is currently an ABP in Sales, UK Lead for State of Black Women – a space for Black women at Google of all levels to build community and align on a shared agenda and Co-Lead of a Race, Empathy & Belonging DEI initiative.

Naomi has held various roles in the tech, legal, and publishing world, and has lived and worked in Australia and Bermuda. She is married and mother to two very wonderful and very cheeky children.
After losing her beloved sister Natalie in July 2014 to an Amniotic Fluid Embolism, Naomi is devoted to raising awareness of AFE and funds for the Foundation in her sister’s name.

Naomi advises the AFE Foundation on cultural and racial inclusivity and helps expand our understanding of international societal norms in many of the areas and countries we serve abroad.