2025 Kunsche Award Recipient
MNPQC’s 2025 Kunsche Award Winner: Rhonda Fellows, CAB-CB, CBE, LCE
Congratulations to Rhonda Fellows, the recipient of MNPQC’s 2025 Kunsche Award. Rhonda exemplifies the spirit of this award through more than 20 years of leadership and dedication to community-centered perinatal care.
As the owner of Oily Doula and Co-Founder and CEO of the Community Aware Birthworker Continuing Education Organization, Rhonda has been instrumental in advancing the role of doulas and birthworkers in the Twin Cities community. Her work has helped build a stronger, more equitable foundation for perinatal care in communities statewide.
Rhonda has supported over 250 births as a Community Birthworker, providing education, advocacy, and culturally centered care to birthing families. In 2021, she co-developed a Community Aware Birthworker training program in the Twin Cities, offering comprehensive certification that addresses birth outcomes, implicit bias, and effective navigation of the healthcare system.
In addition to her direct service and training efforts, Rhonda has played a key role in legislative advocacy for the Minnesota Doula Registry. Her contributions include helping develop tools and resources that support doulas in enrolling to bill Minnesota Medical Assistance, expanding access to care for families across the state.
Rhonda has also collaborated with Liberty Homeplace, an African American-focused birth model through the Birth Justice Collaborative, further demonstrating her commitment to advancing birth equity.
Rhonda is a fierce advocate and a powerful example of what it means to ensure safe, respectful, and high-quality perinatal care for all Minnesota families.
Thank you, Rhonda, for your unwavering dedication and impact.
Learn more about the Oily Doula or the Community Aware Birthworking Training Program.
We are also proud to recognize MNPQC’s 2025 Kunsche Award Honorable Mentions – Kristen Bewley, Mallory Cummings, Linda Hsiung Dech, Dr. Sommerness, and Sharonne Dolechek – for their outstanding leadership in perinatal health.
Each of these incredible professionals has gone above and beyond in their commitment to supporting families across Minnesota. Their passion, innovation, and dedication to addressing the needs of Minnesota families have driven meaningful and lasting change. Thank you, Kristen, Mallory, Linda, Dr. Sommerness, and Sharonne, for your unwavering efforts to improve maternal and infant health. Your impact is felt far and wide, and we’re so grateful for your leadership.