Elizabeth Brandeis is a registered midwife and the Senior Project Leader and Labour Relations Specialist at the Association of Ontario Midwives. She graduated from the Toronto Metropolitan University Midwifery Education Program in 2003 and received her masters in Community Health at University of Toronto in 2013. She was a practicing midwife for 19 years and worked as a sessional instructor in the Midwifery Education Programs at Toronto Metropolitan and McMaster Universities. She served as AOM president from 2016-2020. She has played a key role in the landmark victory for midwives from the Human Rights Tribunal of Ontario to remedy systemic gender discrimination on midwives’ compensation.
In her current role, she oversees the Midwifery Sustainability Project – the AOM’s response to unprecedented rates of burnout, mental health leaves and attrition in midwifery, as well as contract negotiations with the Ministry of Health and the ongoing implementation of the remedial orders from the Human Rights Tribunal decision.
Remi Ejiwunmi graduated of the first class of the MEP from McMaster University, · Past president of the AOM. · Practiced in the suburbs in the West End of the GTA for the past 28 years in a large suburban/rural practice. · Head midwife at Trillium Health Partners for 19 years, a hospital at which they have a supportive interdisciplinary team of care and where they have recently initiated a journey to becoming an Anti-racist organization with a particular focus on Anti-Black racism. · Member of the AOM’s Quality, Insurance and Risk Management Program · HIROC’s Board of Directors ·PCMCH Governing Council. BORN Midwifery Advisory Committee. Black Reproductive Health Working Group. Experienced leader with a strong demonstrated commitment to equity based care that is high quality, evidence based and reflective of community needs. Keen interest in building supportive environments for Black patients receiving care in our health care system and Black providers working within the system. · The building blocks of such environments include strong evidence, functional relationships, acknowledgement and education around Anti-Black racism, work to dismantle white supremacist systemic structures and practices and work to embed anti-racist practices · Masters in Quality Improvement and Patient Safety and aims to use her learning from her Masters, to support midwives to practice within a model that values active client participation, informed choice and satisfaction and reflective practice that supports midwives to explore the potential for improving quality of care and identifying risks without fear of blaming or shaming behaviours.
