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Jardines de Espacios
Picturing the Latino/e Perinatal Journey in Dane County
List of Events
12 September, 2026
OPEN TO THE PUBLIC
Jardines de Espacios Photovoice Exhibit
Opening Reception
Entering Spaces of Collective Knowledge and Experiences
Event Time: 1:00 pm - 5:00 pm
Welcoming Presentation from 2:00 pm to 3:00 pm
Location: ART House 360
Address: 401 W Verona Ave, Verona, WI 53593
Join us for Jardines de Espacios, a groundbreaking photovoice exhibit exploring perinatal experiences through the authentic voices of Latina and Indigenous women. Step into a space that shatters one-dimensional narratives and celebrates powerful stories of motherhood, cultural pride, and ancestral wisdom.
We are excited to offer this free event and include free childcare for families attending. Please fill out this form to register your children for childcare, we will have childcare provided for children ages between 1 and 13 years old.
Register for Childcare13 September, 2026
REGISTRATION REQUIRED
Art with You Workshop:
"Hands That Give Life" with Mónica Cliff
Event Time: 11:00 am - 1:00 pm
Arrive at 10:45 am
Location: ART House 360
Address: 401 W Verona Ave, Verona, WI 53593
Mónica Cliff Workshop - Inventiva Works LLC
Maximum 20 attendees
Who it's for: Mothers, CHWs, doulas, and allies of JDE / Roots4Change Ages 21+
Free event for participants / Donation based
Join us for an intimate art workshop honoring the hands that give life.Guided by artist Mónica Cliff, we will create an interpretation of the Tree of Life—one where the trunk emerges from a woman's body, and its roots and branches are formed by hands. Hands that hold, carry, heal, protect, and also let go.No artistic experience is necessary. We will use mixed media—combining painting and collage—to create a personal piece that speaks to themes of birth, community, and care.Each artwork will tell its own story. Some pieces may be selected for inclusion in an exhibition.A space to create, remember, and honor those who have held us and those whom we hold.
Facilitator: Mónica Cliff, MA – Inventiva Works LLC
Materials included.
16 September, 2026
REGISTRATION REQUIRED
Centering the Dyad:
Transforming Care Through Connection
Event Time: 5:30 pm - 8:00 pm
Location: ART House 360
Address: 401 W Verona Ave, Verona, WI 53593
Registration required for food and interpretation availability.
Jardines de Espacios is an invitation to confront the realities of care through the voices and experiences of Latinas and Indigenous women whose humanity has not always been centered in healthcare systems. It calls providers, researchers, and community leaders to reflect on the power they hold and our collective responsibility to transform clinical and community care.
We create space to challenge assumptions, to build trust, and advance maternal care rooted in dignity, belonging, and equity.
Systems do not change in isolation, they change when we are willing to see, listen, and act together.
17 September, 2026
OPEN TO THE PUBLIC
Systems accountability and the deconstruction of the "other"
Registration: 8:00 am - 8:30 am
Event Time: 8:30 am - 1:00 pm
Location: UW Madison | School of Medicine and Public Health
Address: 750 Highland Ave, Madison WI 53705
Health Sciences Learning Center
Rooms 1220 & 1222
Experience a community-led project through the eyes of immigrant, Latina, and Indigenous women, alongside mothers and providers, as they share their experiences within the confines of healthcare systems.
Witness a decolonizing, participatory research model that invites empathy, confronts personal and structural biases, and activates accountability through the deconstruction of the "Other."
See the presenters
Miliana Montañez
Miliana Montañez is a mother from Caguas, a midwifery apprentice, community organizer, educator, and perinatal support specialist with a focus on lactation. Her passion for birth support emerged with the arrival of her children between 2010 and 2014—an experience that led her to support families and communities through pregnancy, childbirth, parenting, death, and bereavement.A lifelong learner, she integrates the traditional knowledge of community midwives with training in trauma-informed care, psychological first aid, and violence advocacy. She facilitates workshops on infant feeding and childbirth, blending scientific evidence with ancestral wisdom through a popular education framework.Her work is grounded in an intersectional approach; she collaborates with organizations focused on gender equity, environmental protection, sexual and reproductive health, human rights, and decolonization, viewing the body as an extension of the community territory. She is an activist advocating for the humanization of childbirth and the reduction of disparities in access to a dignified life for Puerto Ricans.
Veronica Barcelona
Veronica Barcelona is a public health nurse, perinatal epidemiologist and Associate Professor at Columbia University School of Nursing. She earned degrees from the University of Michigan (BSN), Johns Hopkins University (MSN/MPH), and Tulane University School of Public Health and Tropical Medicine (PhD) and completed postdoctoral studies at Yale University School of Nursing. Dr. Barcelona’s NIH-funded research interrogates mechanisms and risk factors underlying adverse pregnancy outcomes, with the goal of achieving healthy and safe birth outcomes for all. She has given numerous presentations at the state and national levels, has published over 80 peer-reviewed articles, and is the recipient of multiple prestigious awards for excellence in research. In her free time, Dr. Barcelona enjoys salsa dancing, connecting with nature, and birdwatching.
Olivia Favela-Gary
Olivia Favela-Gary is a Certified Nurse-Midwife and the Executive Director of The Midwifery Collective (previously known as California Nurse-Midwives Foundation), where she works to build a maternity care system that serves every family, especially those too often left behind. With twelve years of practice spanning both hospital and out-of-hospital birth, Olivia brings deep clinical experience to her leadership. Proudly Blaxican (Black and Mexican) she brings her heritage and lived experience to this work, drawing strength from the communities she serves. Her path into this work is personal: she believes deeply that birth belongs to communities, and that the people best equipped to care for them should reflect them. Under her leadership, CNMF funds the next generation of midwives, seeds community birth programs, and advances policy that makes equitable care possible across California. A connector at heart, Olivia brings together midwives, advocates, and communities around a shared vision: returning birth to the people. Olivia holds a Doctor of Nursing Practice (DNP) with a focus in leadership from Georgetown University, where she was trained to be a changemaker — an educator and systems leader equipped to transform maternity care from within. Outside of her work, her deepest roots are at home. She is a wife and a mother, and the love she carries for her own family is the same love that fuels her belief that every family deserves to be cared for, seen, and supported.
Aura Cumes
Aura Cumes. Maya Kaqchikel from Guatemala. Independent researcher, educator, and activist. She holds a PhD in Anthropology from the Center for Research and Higher Studies in Social Anthropology (CIESAS) in Mexico City, a Master’s degree in Social Sciences from FLACSO Guatemala, and a degree in Social Work from Rafael Landívar University. Aura is a member of the Ixb’alamkyej Junajpu Wunaq’ Mayan Studies Community. She is a co-author of four books and multiple articles published nationally and internationally.
Maricela Martinez Munguía
Maricela Martinez Munguía is originally from San Pedro Benito Juárez, near Puebla, Mexico, and is a proud mother of six children—five living and one in spirit.
Maricela is a founding member of the Roots4Change Cooperative and owner of her own business, Apapachar Colectivo, established in 2018. Based in Dane County, she serves as a Community Health Worker (CHW), a DONA-certified birth doula and trainer, a mindfulness mentor (MBCP), and a community organizer. She also facilitates workshops focusing on trauma-informed mental health care and breastfeeding.
Dedicated to serving the Latinx and Indigenous communities, Maricela’s mission is to provide safe, educational spaces that foster physical and emotional well-being. Through mindfulness workshops, full-spectrum doula support, and resource connection, she works to break down stigmas surrounding mental health, postpartum depression, and maternal care.
In all her work, Maricela deeply respects and integrates each family's unique cultural and traditional practices.
"We are born only once, and I am convinced that if a new life is welcomed into the world in a different way, that life will unfold differently, too".
18 September, 2026
INVITE ONLY
Retreat
Nourishing our Hearts, Bodies, Minds, and Spirits in Community.
Event Time: 10:00 am - 3:00 pm
Location: Holy Wisdom Monastery
Address: 4200 County Highway M. Middleton, WI 53562
Cost: $20 Fee
RSVP by 2 September, 2026.
This event is for Latina/e health, mental and community workers.
Coming together in community is one of the most healing things we can do. We know that caring for others requires spaces where we can also care for ourselves.
This retreat is an invitation to pause, breathe, reconnect, and be nourished alongside others who share this calling. It is a day to honor the beauty and weight of this work, strengthen the bonds that sustain us, and nurture our hearts, bodies, minds, and spirits through collective care.
Because those who care for others deserve to be cared for too.
See the guest facilitators
Miliana Montañez
Miliana Montañez is a mother from Caguas, a midwifery apprentice, community organizer, educator, and perinatal support specialist with a focus on lactation. Her passion for birth support emerged with the arrival of her children between 2010 and 2014—an experience that led her to support families and communities through pregnancy, childbirth, parenting, death, and bereavement.A lifelong learner, she integrates the traditional knowledge of community midwives with training in trauma-informed care, psychological first aid, and violence advocacy. She facilitates workshops on infant feeding and childbirth, blending scientific evidence with ancestral wisdom through a popular education framework.Her work is grounded in an intersectional approach; she collaborates with organizations focused on gender equity, environmental protection, sexual and reproductive health, human rights, and decolonization, viewing the body as an extension of the community territory. She is an activist advocating for the humanization of childbirth and the reduction of disparities in access to a dignified life for Puerto Ricans.
Mirna Edith Amaya Valladares
Mirna Edith Amaya Valladares is a traditional midwife and medicine practitioner with over 27 years of experience advocating for community and maternal health. As the founder and president of the Latin American Alliance of Midwives (ALAPAR) and director of the School of Ancestral Medicine and Midwifery, she has dedicated her career to bridging the gap between traditional ancestral practices and modern medical science. Her impactful community work includes defending traditional midwives in Mexico, helping integrate Afro-Colombian midwives into the public health system—an initiative recognized by UNESCO—and serving as an honorary Human Rights member in the field of midwifery.A trained medical emergency technician, Mirna is also a prolific educator who has trained doctors, nurses, and community health workers globally. She has traveled to over 14 countries to deliver courses and has successfully graduated nearly 400 midwives in her specialized "Amaya Birth Techniques," which focus on safe, humanized, and respected childbirth. A published author and former university professor, she actively advises international public health programs and recently received a formal recognition from the Autonomous University of the State of Morelos for her 17 years of teaching excellence in midwifery.
19 September, 2026
OPEN TO THE PUBLIC
Jardines de Espacios Photovoice Exhibit
Closing Exhibit
Enacting our Power to Transform the Care We Deserve
Event Time: 12:00 pm - 4:00 pm
Welcome Presentation from 1:00 pm to 2:00 pm
Location: ART House 360
Address: 401 W Verona Ave, Verona, WI 53593
We are excited to offer this free event and free childcare!
To ensure we have enough space, please fill out this form to register any children between 1 and 13 years old.
Jardines de Espacios
Nearly three years ago, with funding from the Wisconsin Partnership Program, we partnered with Public Health Madison & Dane County and the School of Human Ecology to launch Jardines de Espacios, a community-based participatory research project using photovoice to make visible the realities of immigrant and Latino families. This September, we will share our findings through a public art exhibit and a week of community, provider, and student events.
At its core, Jardines de Espacios brings together research, art, lived experience, and community wisdom to deepen public understanding of maternal and child health inequities. Through exhibitions, provider dialogues, student engagement, and community-centered learning spaces, we aim to challenge dominant narratives, elevate community voices, and inspire more equitable systems of care.
Our analysis has uncovered powerful insights into what it means to navigate healthcare as immigrant and Latina women—and as providers and researchers working within these systems. As part of our dissemination efforts, we hope to create spaces for honest dialogue and collective reflection with providers, community members, researchers, and institutional leaders whose decisions shape care.
