Kim Alderson
Kim currently works for the University of Florida in the financial aid department. Prior to that she was Interim Director of Finance at FSTM and worked as Director of Finance for another nonprofit for five years. Kim earned a BA in English and a BS in Accounting from the University of Florida. Kim is honored to serve on the Board of Directors at FSTM.
Suzanne Byam
Suzanne is a state certified prevention specialist, working with at risk” teens in the Gainesville area. She has worked in partnership with the following schools and programs: First Step Facility for girls, PACE for girls, Horizon Middle School, Gainesville High School, Hoggetowne Middle School and Loften High School. She has also with with Theatres for Social Change in New York and Gainesville. Suzanne was drawn to FSTM through her commitments to Loften High School and the PACE program, and is pleased to be making a contribution to women’s health.
Kym Dalton, C.C.C.E., C.L.D., I.C.C.E.
Kym has been teaching and supporting women since 1994. She is the owner of Traditions of Love Childbirth Services, LLC where she provides private childbirth education, sex education, labor doula services and is a professional speaker on the subjects. She is a national and international certified childbirth educator and labor doula trainer for CAPPA, conducting workshops all over the world. She has been a member of CAPPA since 2000 and is currently the Executive Director of Marketing, as she has a successful background in Marketing and Event Planning. Kym lives in Gainesville and has been a FSTM Board member since 2011.
Rae Davies
Our Board of Directors is pleased to welcome Rae Davies whose professional career has spanned over forty years and is dedicated to providing training programs for doulas, childbirth educators, and midwives. Rae has provided doula training for our students over the past several years. She is the administrative director for the International MotherBaby Childbirth Organization board of directors, and is co-chair of the World Alliance of Breastfeeding Action (WABA) Health Care Practices Task Force; she is the past executive director of the Coalition for Improving Maternity Services (CIMS) where she represented CIMS on the US Breastfeeding Committee, In addition to the United States, Rae has presented to audiences internationally. We are thrilled to have her expertise as part of our development, outreach and overall sustainability.
Lynn Max
Lynn has a Masters degree in Family, Youth and Community Sciences with a focus on Nonprofit Management from the University of Florida. She has a Bachelor of Arts degree from Douglass College at Rutgers University in New Jersey with a major in Psychology. Lynn has been a political activist for women’s rights for the last 25 years. She has great respect for the work of the midwifery school in educating our future midwives.
Su Mendez
Su is the proud parent of two beautiful sons born with the help of the phenomenal midwives from the Birth Center of Gainesville. She graduated cum laude with a BA in Cultural Studies/Critical Theory from the University of Florida’s English Department. She is also a certified Guardian ad Litem volunteer who advocates for children in the State of Florida’s Dependency Court. When she isn’t parenting or bookkeeping for the restaurant she joint owns with her husband and partners, she can be found picking mandolin in her all-women country band, naturalizing her gardens, or attempting to clean her house.
Susan Nelson, ENP, CPM
Susan is a Regional Account Manager for Cassidian Communications, a global firm specializing in public safety IT systems. Prior to that she held the position of Alachua County, Florida, Communications Bureau Chief and E-911 Coordinator for over ten years, and served as the manager of marketing and programs for an international environmental nonprofit before that. Susan has a Bachelors degree in organizational communication from the University of Colorado and is a Florida State University Certified Public Manager. Susan has three daughers, all born into the hands of midwives, and as a result, has been an advocate of and activist for midwifery, the midwives model of care, and breastfeeding promotion in the North Florida area for almost three decades. She is married and lives in Gainesville.
Linda Nichols
Linda has a B.S. in Zoology and an M.S. in Medical Physiology from the University of Florida. She worked for Santa Fe Community College for over 35 years as an educator and department char in health sciences. Linda retired from Sante Fe and is now working with Shadow Health, a small start-up educational software company, that delivers browser-based digital standardized patients. She has three adult children and three grandchildren and is dedicated to midwifery education.
Sylvia Paluzzi
Sylvia is the founder and Director of Morning Meadow Preschool and Kindergarten, a Waldorf based early childhood program. Ms. Paluzzi has been working with children for 25 years and has been educated at the University of Florida as well as receiving her degree as a Waldorf educator in Early Childhood from SunBridge College in New York. Ms. Paluzzi was the founding member of the Friends of Midwives Gainesville chapter and servied as president for ten years. FOM is a grass roots organization dedicated to informing families on all birth options available. She has 3 sons, all brought into the world by the loving care of a licensed midwive.
Heart Phoenix
Heart served as Executive Director of FSTM for the past five years. She recently retired and co-founded the River Phoenix Center for Peacebuilding, and serves as the Board President of RPCP. Inspired by the life of her son River, RPCP is dedicated to raising awareness and teaching skills that empower individuals and groups in the transformation of behavior from violent to peaceful. Heart considers one of her greates contributions to be that of birthing her five beautiful children naturally. She believes that educating, empowering and caring for women before, during and after the birthing process bring an essential ingredient to the health of families. This is the care that is give by midwives!
Daniela Shillington
Daniela is a FSTM graduate and former licensed midwife. After practicing midwifery for two years, she is pursuing her degree in nursing at Santa Fe College. She is a childbirth educator and an advocate for the midwifery model of care. Daniela was drawn to the Board of Directors because of her commitment to the profession and belief that every community deserves excellent midwives. She is proud to live in Gainesville where women have exceptional choices in midwifery and obstetric care.