Dr. Twylla Dillion is an internationally recognized maternal health leader advancing birth equity across the U.S., Caribbean, and West Africa. As President and CEO of HealthConnect One, she leads community-based doula care models in 35 states and over 100 communities nationwide, centering Black, Brown, and Indigenous families and addressing the structural drivers of maternal and infant health disparities.

Her work bridges research, policy, and practice. Domestically, she champions the importance of organizing community-based birth workers into a unified national network and scales DoulaREADI®, a hospital accreditation program advancing Medicaid reimbursement. Internationally, she leads training programs across the U.S. and has expanded this work globally, supporting the Uzuri Birth doula training initiative in Ghana and building emerging partnerships across the Caribbean, including in Puerto Rico.

She also leads Doulas Are for Every Body™, a national awareness campaign lifting up the value of community-based doulas everywhere.

An Aspen Institute Fellow, Dr. Dillion is driven by a singular mission: to sustain community-based birth support and educate the public on why this work is vital to the long-term wellbeing of families, ensuring every mother and baby not only survives, but thrives.