ABOUT THE CONFERENCE
The 2026 Infant Mortality Virtual Conference: United for Maternal Mental Health, Fatherhood, and Community brings together healthcare professionals, public health practitioners, behavioral health providers, social workers, home visitors, community organizations, and other stakeholders across the state of Alabama who are committed to improving maternal mental health, supporting father-involvement, and positively impacting birth outcomes
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Thank you for participating in the 2026 Infant Mortality Conference. Your feedback will help Gift of Life Foundation evaluate the conference and improve future educational events. Please complete this evaluation HERE. Responses may be reported in aggregate form. Note: if you are purchased nursing CEUs, there is an additional evaluation that is required in order to receive credit. Those who purchased CEUs will receive an email with the Nursing Evaluation link.
Conference Agenda
Gift of Life Foundation’s 2026 Infant Mortality Conference: United for Maternal Mental Health, Fatherhood and Community
September 17, 2026 | 9 a.m.- 4 p.m. | Presented Virtually
Conference Moderator Dr. Regina Traylor, DHS, MSN, RN - Executive Director, Gift of Life Foundation
9:00 a.m. WELCOME & OPENING
9:10 a.m. Session 1- Maternal Mental Health: National Landscape Review & State Policy Opportunities Presenter: Joy Burkhard,MBA; Maternal Mental Health Policy Center
10:05 a.m. Session 2- Every Step Toward Better Care in Alabama: SBIRT, Perinatal Behavioral Health & C.A.R.E. Certification Presenter: Laura Beth Brown, LICSW, CFSW, PMH-C; VitAL Alabama
11:00 a.m. Session 3 - Finding an Oasis in Maternity Deserts Presenters: Dr. Candace C. Knight, PhD, RN, FAAN; UAB School of Nursing, NFP of Greater Alabama; Taishayla McKitt, PHD, MPH; and Elizabeth G. Nunoz, DNP,CNM, FACNM
NOON LUNCH BREAK
12:40 p.m. Session 4 - Impact of Home Visiting on Maternal Mental Health (Panel Discussion) Moderator: Dr. Regina Traylor Panelists: Bailey Wilson- Adair, Kathy Pounds, Lawanda May, Steven Garrett, Kwana Tarbert, and Angela Johnston
1:40 p.m. Session 5 - Fathers are Fundamental to Maternal Mental Health Presenter: Ra’Shawd E. Davis, Ra’Shawd E. Davis, MEd, LPCC, Wellness & Recovery
2:50 p.m. Session 6 - Management of Perinatal Mood & Anxiety Presenter: Dr. Karmie M. Johnson, DNP, RN, CRNP, PMHNP-BC, CNE, UAB School of Nursing
CONFERENCE SPEAKERS
Joy Burkhard, MBA is the CEO of the Policy Center for Maternal Mental Health - a policy and practice change nonprofit think tank, that has been named a field catalyst by the Bridgespan Group. The Policy Center has been instrumental in writing and passing critical bipartisan legislation at the federal and state levels. She also spent nearly 25 years working for a Fortune 15 health insurance company, where she gained insights and ideas about how to transform the American health system. Joy has received numerous awards, including The American Public Health Association’s Maternal Child Health Leadership and Advocacy Award and The Emerging Leader Award in Women’s Health from the federal Health and Human Services Agency, Office of Women’s Health.
Laura Beth Brown is a Licensed Clinical Social Worker (LICSW), Perinatal Mental Health Certified (PMH-C) provider, and Certified Financial Social Worker (CFSW) with extensive experience serving the perinatal and maternal health population across Alabama. Her work is rooted in clinical experience and systems-level program development, with a strong focus on identifying and addressing service gaps impacting birthing people and families. L.B.’s professional experience includes outpatient/medical social work, providing direct mental health services to the perinatal community, supporting individuals and families navigating maternal mental health disorders and barriers to care across the continuum of pregnancy and postpartum. Currently, L.B. serves as the Project Manager for the Every Step program at VitAL with The University of Alabama.
Candace Knight, PhD, RN, FAAN is an associate professor at the University of Alabama at Birmingham School of Nursing, where she is the Executive Director of the Nurse Family Partnership of Greater Alabama (NFPGA) and teaches maternal child health nursing in the undergraduate and accelerated master’s program. She has over 29 years of experience in maternal child health nursing. Dr. Knight’s areas of expertise and research include perinatal stress and its impact on pregnancy and birth outcomes and social determinants of health. Her current work relates to maternal child health and academic-community partnerships. She is the principal investigator for the HRSA Integrated Maternal Health Services grant to demonstrate the effectiveness of nurse visitation in the community as well as certified nurse-midwifery for underserved populations in the Deep South. In her role as Executive Director of Nurse Family Partnership of Greater Alabama, she has overseen the initial implementation and expansion of the NFP program in Jefferson County and has grown the program to the current 25 counties serving over 1,600 clients in 8 years. The outcomes generated by the team at NFPGA positively impact the mental and physical health of families, improving preterm birth, breastfeeding, and employment rates even among women experiencing social and economic adversity.
Veteran maternal child health administrator Dr. Regina Traylor, DHS, MSN, RN, is the executive director for the Gift of Life Foundation (GOL), a leading provider of maternal-child health services in six Central Alabama counties. Under her leadership, GOL was awarded nearly $5 million by the U.S. Health Resources & Services Administration; expanded its services to include infant and early childhood mental health consulting; added a licensed clinical provider and furthered the foundation’s impact by increasing outreach, cultivating new referral sources, and broadening community partnerships. Dr. Traylor has more than two decades of leadership in public health nursing, maternal child health program management, quality improvement, program evaluation, and nursing education programs.
Ra’Shawd E. Davis is a native of Youngstown, OH, and currently resides in Columbus, OH. He holds a master's degree in Clinical Mental Health Counseling and a bachelor's degree in Criminal Justice from Youngstown State University. Ra’Shawd is a Licensed Professional Clinical Counselor (LPCC) certified through the State of Ohio Counselor, Social Worker, Marriage and Family Therapist Board. He has over 16 years of direct care experience working with adults, adolescents, small children, family units, and couples. Ra'Shawd is the owner and sole practitioner of Ra'Shawd E. Davis Wellness & Recovery, LLC, and currently serves Columbus, OH, as an EAP counselor. Together with his other 3 colleagues, they serve all 10,000 City of Columbus employees and their dependents. Prior to his role as an EAP counselor, Ra’Shawd served as Associate Director for a local charter school, Counselor Supervisor in residential treatment for adjudicated youth, Program Manager for maternal-child health fatherhood initiatives, and provided individual and intensive family therapy for a number of years. In his work, he emphasizes the importance of being trauma-informed and understanding multicultural competence in clinical service
Karmie M. Johnson, DNP, RN, PMHNP-BC, CNE, is an assistant professor at the University of Alabama at Birmingham (UAB) School of Nursing (SON) specializing in mental health nursing. Dr. Johnson completed a Bachelor of Science and a Bachelor of Arts from UAB in 2000 and her accelerated Bachelor of Science in Nursing from the University of South Alabama in 2005. In 2011, she earned a Master of Science in Nursing and her Doctorate of Nursing Practice in 2016, both from UAB. Dr. Johnson was the inaugural and lead psychiatric-mental health nurse practitioner for the Nurse-Family Partnership of Greater Alabama as well as several nurse-led clinics serving under-resourced adults with chronic disease. She is the author or co-author of 16 publications and has presented internationally, nationally and locally on topics such as psychiatric nursing and prelicensure mental health nursing education over 40 times. She is a frequent collaborator on interdisciplinary education and in 2020 won the President’s Excellence in Teaching award for the UAB SON. In recognition of her work with the Student Nurses Association and the Filipino Student Organization, she was named UAB’s 2025 Student Organization Advisor of the Year.