Kristina Cheek
Kristina Cheek is the Founder and Executive Director of Sista Girl Birth Initiative, a community-based organization focused on Black maternal health in Valdosta, Georgia. A mother of four, advocate, connector, and leader, Kristina is passionate about improving the birth, breastfeeding, and parenting experiences of Black birthing and parenting families in Valdosta and rural South Georgia.
Her four empowering birth experiences inspired her calling into birth work. Over the past 16 years, she has trained as a doula with CAPPA and DONA International, earned her Certified Lactation Counselor credential, and pursued the Perinatal Mental Health Counselor credential after extensive training with the Policy Center for Maternal Mental Health. Her expertise includes community partnerships, workshop facilitation, curriculum development, political organizing, healthcare policy consulting, breastfeeding education, reproductive justice, childbirth education, and fatherhood programming.
Kristina previously served as the South Health District WIC Breastfeeding Coordinator, where she received a USDA Loving Support Gold Award, and later worked with the South Health District Healthy Start program before founding Sista Girl Birth Initiative to specifically serve Black birthing families in her community. She is active in the Southwest Georgia Breastfeeding Coalition, Healthy Mothers Healthy Babies Doula Access Working Group, Southern Georgia Black Chambers of Commerce, and SisterSong Birth Justice Care Fund. She has also been recognized as a Hometown Hero by the Southeast Georgia Community Health Worker Association.
She is a Black Mothers Breastfeeding Association Birth and Leadership Institute cohort selectee, a neo-doula mentor for the inaugural Georgia Black Doula Network cohort, a graduate of Morehouse School of Medicine’s Perinatal Patient Navigator Program, and a member of the South Georgia Women’s Leadership Initiative and the Amicae Auxiliary Chapter of Zeta Sigma Zeta.
Outside of maternal and child health, Kristina loves jazz, vinyl records, cooking, quarter horses, beautiful dresses, historical fiction, and spending time with her four children and dog, Zora. Her favorite mantra is “make your own magic,” which reflects the spirit she brings to her life and work.