The Board of Directors

Kris Avery
kris@openarmsps.org

Wendy Carrillo
wendy@openarmsps.org

Lisa Chin
lisa.chin@openarmsps.org

Tina DosSantos
tina@openarmsps.org

Mayet Dalila
mayet@openarmsps.org

Peggy Fitzgerald
peggy@openarmsps.org

Erica Nixon Mack
erica.nixonmack@openarmsps.org

Selena Shelley
Secretary
selena@openarmsps.org

Sara L. Thompson
President
sara@openarmsps.org

Bios

Kris Avery, BSN, LCCE, CD
Kris Avery discovered she had a passion for working with birthing women and their families when she became a nurse in 1974. She and her husband, Rob, have traveled extensively around the world and she has had the opportunity to work with women from many different cultures in a variety of settings. They have two children, a daughter and a son. Kris’ work experience includes hospital and public health nursing in both maternal/child and psychiatric venues; supporting women as a birth and postpartum doula as well as working as an assistant to a homebirth midwife in her practice; teaching childbirth classes and childbirth educator training seminars; operating a childcare business.

Kris has her BSN and is an LCCE after becoming certified as a Lamaze childbirth educator in 1996. She completed her doula certification through DONA and established her own birthing and lactation support practice. In 2002, she was invited to join Lamaze International as faculty (FACCE) and joined the “Passion for Birth” (PFB) team. “Passion for Birth” is a Lamaze certification pathway established by Teri Shilling for becoming a Lamaze childbirth educator. Kris assisted Teri in teaching the first PFB workshop in Santa Rosa, CA in July of 2002.

Kris and Rob make their home on Bainbridge Island, WA.

Wendy Carrillo
Look for bio coming soon.

Lisa Chin, Ph.D
Lisa Chin is the former Executive Director for Open Arms. Look for bio coming soon.

Mayet Dalila
Mayet Dalila is a co-founder and one of the partners of IAK (Intra-Afrikan Konnection.) She has over nineteen years of community organizing and training experience in areas such as HIV/AIDS, welfare and tenant rights, youth empowerment, coalition building, and leadership and organizational development.

Tina DosSantos, AS, CD
Tina is a birth and postpartum doula, wife, mother of three daughters, and mechanical designer. She also serves on the board of NAPS, the Northwest Association for Postpartum Support as their Continuing Education Coordinator, and the Postpartum Support International board as the coordinator of support groups.

Peggy Fitzgerald, M.Ed
Peggy has over fifteen years of work experience in the areas of education, communication, and project management in the medical and high-tech fields. In 1999, she left the corporate world to become a certified doula after seeing how women's birth memories, positive and negative, stay strong and have influence for a lifetime. She attended births until 2002, when she learned she was expecting triplets. After receiving the nurturing support of a doula first-hand during her own high risk pregnancy, birth, and postpartum, she soon realized how advocating for her daughters during the perinatal period became valuable lifelong skills for parenting. Peggy hopes that making doulas available to all women will empower more families to become strong and early advocates for their children. Peggy holds an M.Ed from the University of Washington and a BA from Wellesley College.

Selena Shelley, MA, CD
Selena is a certified doula and has an extensive background working with pregnant and parenting women. She has spent nearly a decade working in the non-profit world, with a focus on serving low-income women and families. Throughout most of her career, Selena has worked with pregnant and parenting teenagers, and most recently served as a Home Visitor with the Children's Home Society of Washington Next Generation program. Her passion for working with low-income women and families, and specifically her desire to ensure that every woman, regardless of their income, can feel supported and cared for during the pregnancy, labor, and birth of their baby, is what brought Selena to Open Arms. Selena now serves on the board of Open Arms and works as a doula with the Open Arms Birth Doula Services Program.

Selena has a Master's Degree in Applied Behavioral Science from the Leadership Institute of Seattle (LIOS). In 2004, she spent 4-months traveling in Central America, and admits that if she didn't have an amazing community in Seattle, she may not have come back! She lives in Seattle with her husband, Michael, and their labradane.

Erica Nixon Mack
Erica has a physical therapy background and is currently a program director with Passages Northwest. She comes from a strong natural birth background and birthed her daughter at home in 2006.

Sara L. Thompson
Sara has always been interested in pregnancy and childbirth support. After seeing many friends go through difficult births and her own experience with the birth of her son in 2003, she decided that women need better education and access to options in the child birthing process. She is committed to finding ways to facilitate more natural and healthy births through doula support.

Her professional time is spent as a project manager for Washington Mutual and volunteer work by providing management training to non-profit organizations through Social Venture Partners. Sara and her husband Aron are dedicated to many community philanthropic efforts.