• Co-Founder & Executive Director, Uzazi Village

Hakima Tafunzi Payne has a Bachelor’s of Nursing and a Master’s in Nursing Education. She is currently a student of Midwifery working toward the CPM credential. She is an Internationally Board Certified Lactation Consultant (IBCLC) and a Certified Nurse Educator (CNE).

Ms. Payne is currently enrolled at Walden University pursing a doctorate in Nursing Education. Ms. Payne is the Executive Director of Uzazi Village, a nonprofit dedicated to decreasing perinatal health disparities in communities of color. She is an editor for Clinical Lactation Journal, and sits on the board of the National Association for Professional and Peer Lactation Supporters of Color (NAPPLSC) Ms. Payne serves on her local Fetal Infant Mortality Review Board (FIMR).

She presents at professional meetings on these topics. Her career goals include increasing the number of midwives of color and improving lactation rates in the African American community through increasing the number of IBCLCs of color. Ms. Payne resides in Kansas City, MO.