Siara Maldonado is the Director of Programs at the Perinatal Health Equity Initiative (PHEI), New Jersey's first maternal health center of its kind, where she oversees a multi-program portfolio spanning community doula services, lactation support, and culturally-rooted maternal health education. Grounded in birth justice and reproductive justice frameworks, Siara's work centers community-based participatory approaches that redesign reproductive care so that mamas, birthing people, and their communities can thrive.

Siara holds a Master of Public Health from the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, with a concentration in Women's and Reproductive Health, and a Master of Social Work from the University of Maryland School of Social Work. Siara holds a Master of Public Health from the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, with a concentration in Women's and Reproductive Health, and a Master of Social Work from the University of Maryland School of Social Work. At PHEI, she leads a portfolio including Mamas in Bloom, the Community Doula Program, Sistahs Who Breastfeed, and Cuff It — initiatives designed to meet mamas and birthing people where they are.

Prior to PHEI, Siara served as Health Equity Program Manager at Mount Sinai Health System and held consulting roles focused on diversity, equity, and inclusion. Bilingual in English and Spanish, she brings a community-centered lens to her work, ensuring that programming reflects the lived realities and cultural strengths of the families she serves.