Team — Philly Birth Fund

Daniel Farmer (he/him) is a Philadelphia native who has lived around the world and worked in various industries. Throughout his experiences, it has always been his goal to bring positive change into people's lives, and ultimately the world. As an environmental educator in Mexico, a life coach in Taiwan, and an environmental activist in Philadelphia, he has always been dedicated to the good of people and the planet. As a part of the Philly Birth Fund, he is excited to use his experience to continue the work of improving access to maternal healthcare for the Black community.

Amadi Essoka-Lasenberry (she/her), is a birth and postpartum doula based in Philadelphia. She was drawn to this work as an ancestral practice and is the third generation in her family to be a birthworker. Amadi is extremely passionate about the liberation of Black women, with their own bodies and agency as a starting place. Currently, Amadi runs her own doula practice, Berry Blossom Doula Services, and is working towards her goal of becoming a home birth midwife. She is greatly inspired by the Philadelphia birth work community and loves making new connections with those who are enthusiastic about reproductive justice.
Amadi was born in Philadelphia and raised in North Jersey. She has a B.A. from the University of Pennsylvania where she studied Africana Studies and Health Policy/Law. In her free time she loves to garden, study astrology, enjoy reality TV, and travel all over the world. She lives in Brewerytown with her fiance, dog, and two cats.

D Mccrory (they/them) comes to Philly and the Philly Birth Fund from Cleveland, OH. As a Black transmasculine lesbian, D serves as a full spectrum doula for the Black queer and transgender community. D graduated from the University of Pennsylvania in 2022 with a degree in Africana Studies and African American Religious practices. As a first generation, low-income Black queer graduate, D not only values community building as a means of survival, but as a viable mode of learning. During their time at Penn, in addition to rigorous undergraduate and graduate coursework and research on the African diaspora, Black feminist theory, and religion in the Black community, D immersed themself in communities that share similar goals in creating tangible change. D has interned for the African American Museum in public programming as well as worked in scholarship programming for the Children’s Scholarship Fund Philadelphia. D plans to aid the Philly Birth Fund in their large undertaking of supporting Black birthing people in Philly and upholding the values of reproductive justice.