Staff Members
Peg Kriz, THW Doula
Co-Director
Peg has been a part of the Community Doula Program since it began. As one of the first doulas trained in the program, she is committed to serving birthing families through doula care. Peg has run her massage business since 2008 and her doula business since 2018. She is excited to help lead the Community Doula Program now as an Interim Co-Director. “Supporting families and being present at such a major life transition is a huge honor. All families deserve that support, regardless of income.” In her spare time, you can find Peg hiking with friends and her dogs or being active with her family.
Katie Irvine Minich
Director for Provider Relations and Client Services
Katie Irvine Minich, MS is a Traditional Health Worker Doula and Biocultural Applied Anthropologist based in Oregon. She has been practicing as a doula since 2016 and also serves as the Program Director for Doula Training Center, an Oregon Health Authority approved doula training program. She has been mentoring, teaching and researching doulas since 2020 and currently serves as a Co-director for the Community Doula Program. Katie has authored two peer-reviewed articles on the doula workforce in Oregon, known as the Listening to Doulas in Oregon studies, as well as a co-author of an upcoming chapter in the Routledge Handbook of the Anthropology of Doulas (2026). Katie partnered with the Uplift Lab (OSU) and the Oregon Doula Association (of which she has been a member since 2018 and served on the board from 2021-3) as lead researcher on the 2025 Oregon Doula Survey. She holds a BS degree from Southern Oregon University in Sociology and Anthropology and a MS from Oregon State University in Applied Anthropology with an Integrated Studies minor (focused on rural and indigenous studies) and a certificate in College and University Teaching. Katie has been involved in advocacy and policy work through many avenues in recent years, such as being a panelist and presenter for numerous conferences and summits and participating in testimony and listening sessions on the MOMNIBUS legislation. Outside of her work, she volunteers in projects centered on reproductive justice, food apartheid and poverty abolition. Katie is also a wife and mother of three wonderful children. She enjoys hikes and foraging in nature, creating art, and reading/writing in her free time.
Ellen Tappon, CD (DONA), THW Doula
Interim Co-Director
Part of the Community Doula Program since its very first cohort, Ellen Tappon has been a Birth Doula with Community Doula program and in private practice since 2018. She is an Oregon THW Birth Doula and SBD doula as well as a Certified Breastfeeding Specialist.
Ellen’s work centers birth justice, and she is passionate about supporting LGBTQA+, neurodivergent, plus-size, and VBAC parents, as well as supporting people around fertility, pregnancy and infant loss and advanced maternal age. She brings valuable skills in people management, team building, and process development to the CDP, built during a career with Hewlett-Packard. Her extensive volunteer and nonprofit experience includes roles in mental health, housing insecurity, and community organizing.
In Ellen’s words: “I am dedicated to supporting birth diversity, life-long learning, giving back and supporting others, and community building. I appreciate honest feedback; every person I work with can teach me something and deserves the opportunity to be heard.”
Delia Flores
Billing and THW Credentialing Liaison
I’ve been a Birth Doula for 11 years. I have 3 children of my own. I am Latina, Native Spanish speaker. I’m also a Somatic Trauma Resolution Practitioner and can bring this into our work together. I enjoy working with families, preparing and supporting them through their choices and the vision of their birth. For fun, I enjoy dancing salsa and bachata, and when I’m needing some quiet time, drinking coffee and crocheting.
Jaya Conser Lapham, MPH, LMT, BA, THW doula, THW PWS, CBS
Doula Mentor
In the service I provide as a doula, I have continued to add special knowledge as THW Peer Wellness Specialist, Certified Breastfeeding Specialist, Yoga Teacher Training, and Infant Massage Instructor for Parents. I studied to become a doula in 2017, Postpartum Doula Training with CAPPA, and the CDP hosted DONA training for THW certification, having three practice births completed by the end of 2018. I had pivoted to this work after supporting local foster certification and foster parent education between 2014-2017. My joy is in knowing that as a Licensed Massage Therapist for 30 years here in Oregon, I have been able to provide hands on learning about the value and joy of self reflection, willingness to expand reliance, and adopting attitude of positive welcome for life events that impact our physical and mental health and well-being. I love to host collaborative group celebrations and discussions, and this has included Festival Latino with the Hispanic Advisory Committee of Linn and Benton Counties in 2019, and an international scholar gathering at University of Washington; Nuclear Politics of North Korea in 2009. Underlying both of these is the willingness to stretch the capacity and learn how hunger can be understood and resources can be extended to populations under complex and often long endured stress. The capacity to hear from those providers who have success in meeting their needs is cause for celebration and deep reflection and gratitude. As a doula, I carry my experience, my curiosity and willingness to speak up and step up in challenging environments. I am excited to mentor and connect new and experienced doulas with each other, for the purposes of extending and expanding opportunity for safer and more fully resourced births in our region.
Yesenia Sequera
Spanish Referrals and Community Liaison
Hi, my name is Yesenia and I love being a doula. I dream of a day when I can work full time as a doula serving families in Linn, Benton, Lincoln, Lane, Marion, and Polk counties. I am in the process of becoming a qualified medical interpreter so that I can expand the services that I offer to the Spanish speaking families that I serve. I love being present when a baby is born and helping families communicate with medical staff. My clients have shared that they feel well supported and pampered by having me as their doula.
Candace Tawiah
Administrative Support Specialist and Referral Coordinator