Elizabeth Gilmore, Founder,  1947 –  2011

Elizabeth Gilmore founded the Northern NM Midwifery Center in 1978 with Tish Demmin and was the administrator and clinical and academic midwife until her retirement in 2001.  She supervised the births of thouands of Taos babies and taught over 40 students who became licensed and certified and went on to provide midwifery care not only in New Mexico, but all over the USA and in several foreign countries.

She got the birth center accredited nationally, founded the degree-granting National College of Midwifery over which she still presides as President, and co-founded the Midwifery Education Accreditation Council.   Focusing on the reduction of maternal and infant risk, Elizabeth’s work brought the center  many honors for safety and achievement. She is very proud that the Taos community continues to partner with the Center for this purpose!

Rebeca Romero Rainey

Rebeca Romero Rainey is a 1993 graduate of Taos High School.  She graduated from Wellesley College in Boston Massachusetts in 1997.    At that time she returned home to Taos to work at Centinel Bank.  In 1999 she was promoted to President and CEO of the bank.

At age 22 she became the youngest bank president in the nation.  Stories about her appeared in numerous publications to include Fortune magazine and the front page of the Wall Street Journal.

Rebeca serves on numerous local and state level boards.  She has received the Governor’s award for outstanding NM women.  In 2003 Hispanic business magazine named her one of the 80 most elite Hispanic women business leaders, and the US Banker magazine ranked her as one of the 50 most powerful women in banking.  Today Rebeca holds the title of Board Chair and CEO of the bank.  She and her husband John have two daughters, both born with the midwives of the Northern New Mexico Midwifery Center.

Jenny Sue Kostecki-Shaw

I am a new mama to Tulsi Lila (April 2009) and grateful (along with my best friend and husband Patrick) beyond words for the love and support of the midwives and the birth center. I am a stay-at-home mom, playing with my daughter in the sunlight, and painting solo in the moonlight. I received a BFA in illustration from the Kansas City Art Institute, designed greeting cards at Hallmark for 7 years, and have been freelancing since 2003. I am an author/illustrator of children’s books, My Travelin’ Eye (April 2008) and Same, Same, but Different (2011), both published by Henry Holt and Company. I am also a board member and advocate of Artseva.org in India, a gardener, mountain-wanderer, aspiring yogini, and a big kid.

Derek Hart

Derek Hart was educated at the University of Oxford, England, where he received a masters in Physiology and Psychology.  He was a professional ballet dancer for 10 years and danced with both the Stuttgart Ballet and London’s Ballet Rambert.  Later, he produced and directed films for 16 years and was also a film industry executive.  He developed and produced films for HBO, Showtime and NBC and won many industry awards including the Humanitas Prize and the Gold Award at the Houston International Film Festival.  In 1999 he co-founded infantelligence, a dotcom startup that disseminated neurophysiological and developmental information about babies from conception through two years of age.  He first came to New Mexico in 1993 and now lives in Taos full time.