Shalese Clay didn’t set out to become a leader in maternal health. The Kansas City native was working as a pharmacy technician when a community health worker class introduced her to a world that would change her life.
That path led her to Uzazi Village and its co-founder, Hakima Payne. The organization, whose name means “birth” in Swahili, opened Clay’s eyes to her own maternal health trauma.
“I was 24 when I had my daughter. I had preeclampsia and got extremely sick in the hospital,” Clay says. Her daughter was rushed to the NICU, a fact Clay didn’t learn until much later.
Despite having a Black physician, Clay felt excluded from her care decisions. This experience mirrors the problems Uzazi Village was created to address when Payne and three co-founders established it in 2012 – providing free culturally appropriate perinatal care services to Black and Brown families, and creating what Clay describes as “a safe place” for expectant mothers.
Now, after serving as board chair, Clay officially stepped into the CEO role in November 2024, taking over from Payne, who departed to pursue other interests including completing her dissertation, traveling and taking a well-deserved break.
“Mama Hakima,” as she was often fondly called, was a fixture in the community and a visionary leader in Black Maternal Health, not just in Kansas City, but across the nation. She will be missed and leaves giant shoes for Clay to fill.
Clay Steps Up
Before Uzazi, Clay worked at Samuel Rogers Center, Cradle KC, and founded her own nonprofit — Elevating My Community — with initiatives including Black Dads KC and Queens Village, focused on Black maternal health. This background in community organizing informs her leadership approach.
“As a leader, I want to bring up other people behind me that can take the organization even higher than I can,” says Clay. “I don’t want to be a dictator. I want to be a manager who will give you the things you need so that you can go and be successful.”
Clay brings her own leadership style to an organization that has become central to Black maternal health in Kansas City over the past decade.
“Hakima always kinda kept the lid on the jar,” Clay explains. “For me, I’m the opposite. People don’t know about the work that Uzazi has done over the past 12 years: I want to change that and take it to the next level.”
This higher visibility approach marks one of several shifts Clay plans to implement while preserving the organization’s core mission. Since its founding, Uzazi Village has provided free culturally appropriate perinatal care services to Black and Brown families.
Graduates of Uzazi Village’s doula training program celebrate their certification.
Perinatal services cover the period encompassing pregnancy, labor, delivery, and the first few weeks or months after birth. It’s a critical time for both the mother and the baby, and can encompass a wide range of health and developmental considerations.
The organization currently offers doula training and support, midwifery services, lactation consulting, a clothing boutique for mothers and their children, diaper distribution, and breastfeeding support groups – all at no cost to families regardless of income.
Unlike traditional healthcare settings where appointments might last 10-15 minutes, Uzazi offers sessions where clients receive comprehensive education and resources.
“Uzazi Village is uniquely designed to make sure we are loving on you and protecting you and making sure that you know that you have people behind you,” Clay says.
Looking Ahead
For Clay, whose maternal health work began with her own difficult birth experience, leading Uzazi Village represents an opportunity to create what she calls “a Black ecosystem” – healthcare designed for and utilized by the community.
Her three-year plan includes expanding doula education, particularly for the Spanish-speaking community, and broadening clinical services through a low-cost subscription model.
“We want to expand on women’s health in the community,” Clay says. “Why not be able to do a smaller scale [medical clinic] within this community, where people feel comfortable and know us the most?”
She envisions offering well-women exams, STI testing, and lab work at affordable rates. This would create revenue streams for Uzazi Village that don’t rely on increasingly uncertain government funding or philanthropy.
Clay’s long-term vision extends beyond maternal care to include paternal health.
“We need our fathers here,” Clay says, suggesting blood pressure checks and other services for men who accompany mothers to appointments.
By Year Three of her leadership, Clay hopes to establish satellite locations and eventually add a pharmacy.
“I would love to be able to put things back in our community that have been stripped from us,” says Clay.
Her ultimate goal remains eliminating the stark disparities that make Black women three times more likely to die from pregnancy-related causes and Black infants die at more than twice the rate of White babies.
Funding & Donations
Like many Black-focused nonprofits, Uzazi is concerned about the future of their funding.
“We have had some funders and foundations, who have recently said, ‘Hey, we are not going to be able to fund anymore,'” says Clay.
The organization has (remarkably) operated for 12 years without federal dollars, despite doula care now being covered by Medicaid.
“In 12 years, [we have] never had a federal dollar,” says Clay. “Which speaks volumes about our partners, our funders, who know that we are out here doing the work.”
But sustainability concerns drive her vision for the future.
“If we rely on trying to get Medicaid reimbursements, we might have to shut our doors down, and that’s not okay with me,” says Clay. “So we have to figure out a way that works for us and the community.”
While she explores additional funding sources like adding more low-cost wrap-around health services or even a subscription-care model, Clay is proud of the work being done at Uzazi Village and encourages the community to stop by.
“Come see why you should donate,” she says, “and I will show you why and where your dollars are going to – because it directly goes to our family, so they can get these services for free.”
About Uzazi Village
Uzazi Village supports Black and Brown families with free-to-low-cost services focused on pregnancy, childbirth, and early parenting. Its Ida Mae Patterson Center offers group prenatal care through the “Village Circle Approach,” where small cohorts of pregnant people receive checkups, education, and support in a culturally centered setting. Uzazi also provides lactation help, free breastfeeding clinics, and a parent-led playgroup.
Families can pick up free diapers through the Diaper Depot, run in partnership with Happy Bottoms. Their boutique offers free maternity and children’s clothes (up to size 6). While doula support is part of their model, training to become a doula costs $1,500, but scholarships are available. The organization also hosts Chocolate Milk Café, a support group for Black breastfeeding parents.
