My dear friend, Rachel Nicks, is a woman of many talents. She’s an incredible friend who seemingly does it all and still has time to chat with her girlfriends while also taking on the world (quite literally). She is a mother of 2 boys, a trainer for The Mirror, an actress, doula, childbirth educator, and founder of the nonprofit Birth Queen. Rachel is passionate about improving birth outcomes for Black birthing people and eradicating the health crisis that so deeply impacts far too many families.

For Black birthing people, the maternal mortality rate is 3-4x that of their white counterparts, and in NYC that number skyrockets to 12x.

Rachel gave an impassioned and informative speech at the Concordia Summit in NY this week. I was so deeply moved by her speech that I have to share it here with all of you.

Watch. Listen. Learn. Act.