2024 Board of Directors
Chair - Tanya Singleton
Tanya Singleton is a registered nurse with over 40 years of experience in Maternal-Child nursing. She spent more than half of that career as a Labor and Delivery nurse, certified in High-Risk Perinatal nursing. Tanya is also an IBCLC lactation consultant and Lamaze childbirth educator. She retired as United States Army Nurse Corp officer in 2003 and began working in private practice as a lactation consultant and childbirth educator. She has run several community non-profits in the Fredericksburg, Virginia area that dealt with issues related to women’s and children’s health promotion and illness prevention. She is immediate past Chair of the State of Virginia Breastfeeding Advisory Committee. Tanya is committed to quality education and lifelong learning, and has taught maternal-child and pediatric nursing to students in the Rappahannock Region of Virginia, sharing her various clinical anecdotes in classroom and in labs. She is an advocate for Perinatal Grief Support and early detection of postpartum depression. She is owner and proprietor of The Baby Whisperer, providing in-home support in childbirth education, breastfeeding and parenting. She is the mother of a blended family of five adult children and Nana to three.
Vice Chair - Marissa Newberry
Marissa is a project management coordinator and content creator living in Clifton, Virginia with her husband, two daughters and three cats. Marissa struggled with PTSD from the traumatic birth and NICU experience of her first child, postpartum depression and anxiety, and multiple pregnancy losses. She has personally experienced the positive and life-saving impact of Postpartum Support Virginia’s support groups and resources. Marissa is committed to helping other parents find the help and resources they need to overcome the difficult times that pregnancy, birth and parenthood can bring. Marissa has experience in project management, fundraising, event planning and content creation and plans to use these skills to further the mission of PSVa. When the weather is nice you’ll find Marissa and her family frequenting local vineyards and having a picnic with their daughters. Marissa enjoys traveling, dining, planning theme parties and interior design.
Honorary Chair - Dr. Natasha Sriraman
Dr. Sriraman, MD, MPH, FAAP, FABM, speaks around the country on various topics: breastfeeding, postpartum depression screening in pediatrics, narrative medicine/physician burnout, cultural competency/cultural differences in infant feeding and social determinants of health. She has specialized training in pediatric psychopharmacology. In addition to seeing patients, she is an associate professor of pediatrics at Eastern Virginia Medical School and teaches medical students and residents daily. She also holds a master's degree in public health from the University of Pittsburgh and has designed curriculum for public health training in pediatrics and breastfeeding training. She has also written various clinical protocols. Dr. Sriraman is frequently involved with legislative advocacy and has worked with the Governor's office on having May declared as Maternal Mental Health Month in Virginia. She has received numerous awards for her teaching and research. She has also received grants from Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA), the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) and jointly from Williams & Mary College/Eastern Virginia Medical School. She has served on the board of National AAP-Section of Breastfeeding, and VA-AAP Chapter, and Postpartum Support Virginia. She is currently on the BOD as Education Chair for the Academy of Breastfeeding Medicine, the Virginia-WIC Association and For Kids Homeless Shelter in Norfolk, VA.
Jamitta Covington
Jamitta is excited to have the opportunity to be a Board Member for Postpartum Support Virginia. With over 9 years in the mental health professional, Jamitta has worked in positions to service children, adults, families. She is currently employed as a military family life counselor living in Virginia Beach, Virginia with her husband and two year old son. Jamitta’s interest in maternal and perinatal health increased after Jamitta suffered a pregnancy loss in 2019 which led to her desire to support mothers and families throughout their pregnancy and postpartum journey. Jamitta has experience in community engagement, event planning, and fundraising with plans to use these skills to further the mission of PSVa. In Jamitta’s spare time she enjoys spending time with her family, traveling, dining, and reading.
Amy Fox
Amy Fox, Cost Benefit Analyst (24 years), Certified Birth Doula (25 years), RN/BSN (2 years) Amy experienced PPD in 2001 after the birth of her second child. She has since had two episodes of Major Depression. Very happy now, Amy wants to do what she can to help those suffering from PPD to get help and have hope that things will get better. Amy's skills includes spreadsheets, writing, program management, extensive knowledge of the birth process from working as a doula, Labor & Delivery nurse and birth center nurse. Amy has a good memory for faces and details about people. Personally, Amy has been married for 30 years and has 3 kids aged 26, 21 and 17. Amy has been running since she was 15 and has run two marathons but will never do another. Amy is a geography nerd, loves soccer (but no longer plays), traveling and skiing, wine and chocolate and her new stray cat, Mr. Marbles.
June Jennings
June Jennings retired from state government after 36 years serving most recently as Deputy Secretary of Finance for three Governors. June has a strong background in finance and has worked closely with elected and appointed officials in state government to implement financial and legislative priorities. June currently works part time as an enforcement investigator for the state and spends most of her spare time focusing her efforts on volunteer roles to help others. June became a volunteer for Postpartum Support Virginia in 2023 as a warmline volunteer and as an outreach coordinator. Her interest in PSVa came from her own experiences with postpartum depression and anxiety. On a personal note, June is married to her husband and has two adult sons. She also has two beagles who enjoy her spending more time at home with them. She has become an avid runner in retirement learning how valuable exercise is to ones own mental health. She completed her first marathon in 2022 and is still contemplating her next.
Kara Keefe
Kara Keefe, MD, is a board-certified family physician working in Richmond, Virginia. While she works with patients from birth until end-of-life, she has a particular love for women’s and mental health, particularly in the perinatal period. After experiencing PMADs with the birth of her first child in 2016, her passion for maternal mental health deepened. She is dedicated to raising awareness about perinatal mental health disorders amongst healthcare providers and to educating healthcare providers on how to connect women in need to these resources. She has given presentations on PMADs to numerous medical practices as well as to emergency room clinicians in an effort to raise awareness of the signs and symptoms of PMADs while educating healthcare providers on available resources for patients experiencing PMADs. As a PMAD survivor and physician, she brings a unique perspective to conversations regarding screening and referrals for women and men experiencing mental health challenges. She lives with her husband, four children and their pup in Richmond, Virginia where she loves to spend time outside and enjoying all that the great state of Virginia has to offer.
Sarah Nealy
Sarah Nealy, LPC, NCC, CCMHC, MA, MA is a full-time therapist, fiction writer/novelist, and non-binary queer mother living in Arlington, Virginia with her spouse and two young daughters. Sarah entered the field of supporting birthing people with perinatal mental health conditions after her oldest daughter was born with significant medical issues and Sarah fought her own battle with postpartum PTSD and anxiety as she spent a year navigating the pediatric healthcare system during the early days of the pandemic. Sarah now serves mostly queer clients, couples, and birthing persons in the Northern Virginia area to best address the intersectionality of perinatal mental health struggles within the queer community.
Charity Robinson
Charity Robinson is a mother, a wife, a veteran and full-time student. She is the mother to two beautiful and amazing children. She was diagnosed with postpartum depression and anxiety after pregnancy complications led to two traumatic births that resulted in c-sections and experienced an early loss in February 2022. She was referred to Postpartum Support Virginia after experiencing a crisis and started regularly attending support group sessions. Those sessions along with the continuing help of a therapist and lots of self-care brought her to where she is today. Charity draws her desire for helping others from her military experience. She is passionate about educating and providing resources to other birthing people, their partners and providers in understanding the full scope of Perinatal Mood and Anxiety Disorders (PMAD). She lives in Chesapeake and enjoys painting with acrylics, sketching, and creating new and exciting dishes in the kitchen. Above all, she enjoys spending quality time with her family.
Anna Whetsel Rucker
Anna is a mother of 3 sons and Nana to 11 amazing grandchildren. She’s lived in the New River Valley for over 30 years. Starting in the birth world in 1991, she began as a birth coach for family and friends. She continued supporting births as a birth coach until she entered a Doula/Birth Assistant program in 2013, with Breathe of Life Midwifery. Anna is an experienced Doula and has attended Advanced Birth Assistant, Birth Positioning trainings. She then became a Certified HypnoBirthing®️ Childbirth Educator, the Marie Mongan Method. She is currently the VA Chapter leader for the HypnoBirthing®️ Institute. Anna has also completed Birth Trauma I & II professional support with Krista Dancy, Perinatal Therapist. She advocates with various birth groups to promote safer births and cesarean reductions. She attributes her success to her love of birth, learning and her ever growing Spirituality. Anna loves reading, swimming, horseback riding and traveling for fun.
Miriam Turner
Miriam is excited for the opportunity to serve on the Board of Directors for Postpartum Support Virginia. Miriam looks forward to bringing her experience as small businesswoman, a mental health therapist specializing in pregnancy loss and post-partum issues, as well as past career experience in fundraising (Grants Manager and then Director of Development at national nonprofits organizations). For the past 20 years, Miriam has enjoyed working with clients at The Women’s Center in Vienna, and the last 15 years in private practice located Falls Church, VA. Miriam feels passionately about the need to help and ensure moms and families have the support and resources needed to overcome their struggles post-partum. Miriam enjoyed helping hundreds of moms when she facilitated first-time mom and baby workshops at a local organization, P.A.C.E., for 6 years. In addition to her professional experience, her personal experience with two high risk pregnancies and own postpartum struggle has contributed to her passion for supporting moms. Miriam lives in Falls Church, VA with her two teenage children and 2 rescue dogs. In her free time, you can often find her at an exercise class (orangetheory and most recently kickboxing), cooking (a passion), walking her dogs, and enjoying time with friends and her kids.
Amanda Wheeler
Amanda is the owner and sole practitioner for Healthy Mind PLLC located in Williamsburg, Virginia. As a Licensed Clinical Social Worker, Amanda has a strong background in working with young children and families through home visiting, providing both education in early child development as well as family therapy. Amanda obtained a Bachelor’s degree in Psychology from Spelman College in 2002 and a Master’s in Social Work from Washington University in St. Louis, in 2004. Following her graduate work, she had the opportunity to provide in-home therapy for families who experienced challenges that might eventually lead to out of home placement for their child(ren) and/or adolescent(s). As a licensed clinical social worker, Amanda partners with individuals to promote overall wellness using a variety of strategies, including cognitive behavioral therapy and solution focused approaches. Amanda has over 15 years’ experience working with families with young children. More recently, her work has been primarily with prenatal and postpartum mothers who experience depression, anxiety, and social isolation. As key elements of a holistic approach to treatment, Amanda supports natural remedies such as optimal nutrition, exercise, building support systems, and meditation in addition to talk therapy and medication management. As Program Director for Parents as Teachers of Greater Williamsburg, Amanda supports home visitors as they work with families facing a variety of challenges such as economic hardships, language and/or cultural barriers, and typical parenting hurdles. Amanda is also a committed member of Child Development Resources’ Responsive Motherhood program which provides a comprehensive approach to working with prenatal and postpartum mothers, including responsiveness to mood and mental health challenges. Within the Motherhood program, Amanda specifically works with new and veteran mothers, using the Mothers and Babies curriculum, as they navigate the mental and emotional stressors that often accompany this critical perinatal period. As a survivor of postpartum anxiety and OCD, Amanda is happy to share her experiences with young families as they navigate the many challenges of parenthood. This is done in her practice with Healthy Mind PLLC and while advocating for systematic change through her collaborative role with Postpartum Support Virginia.
