VANESSA LOVEJOY-GURON

Strong advocacy and culturally rooted care are at the heart of Vanessa Lovejoy-Guron’s work. Vanessa (Karayan/Kumintáng) serves as the BirthKeeper Department Director at Hummingbird Indigenous Family Services, where she leads and supports a team of perinatal health professionals providing compassionate, community-centered support to Native and Pacific Islander families. For nearly 10 years, she has served these communities as an Indigenous full-spectrum doula, lactation counselor, and perinatal health educator.

Vanessa approaches her work by creating space for non-judgmental, unbiased information-sharing, believing this openness helps families feel supported during some of their most vulnerable moments. She’s also passionate about data, using quantitative and qualitative evidence to make the case for policy change at the local and state level. Through this work, she has helped dismantle systemic barriers to more accessible, equitable maternal-child health care for Indigenous families.

Vanessa’s work is guided by a core belief: “Healthy communities begin and end with how we care for birthing people—by honoring body sovereignty and centering Indigenous wisdom.” For her, that care is inseparable from culture and connection. She shared, “Growing our babies, birthing our babies, nursing our babies and caring for our families in community is ceremony!”

Reflecting on her work, Vanessa told us, “I’m a doula and lactation counselor at heart, and coming from that direct service lens, I needed a lot more support than I was afforded at the time. What I enjoy most about my work is being able to provide our team of incredible Indigenous doulas and lactation counselors with support I wish I had.”

CHEER is proud to honor Vanessa as CHAMPion of the Week for her continued leadership, advocacy, and dedication to advancing Indigenous maternal and child health!