MEET THE STAFF

Sunny Chen

Sunny Chen

Executive Director

Sunny is an Army Nurse Corps veteran, graduate of the University of San Francisco and holds an MBA from the Paul Merage School of Business, UCI. She’s also a certified Lactation Consultant, and although over the years she has held a variety of different jobs in the field of nursing and business, she always kept a pulse on helping mothers, children and babies.   One interesting fact about Sunny is that at one point in her life, she was an aspiring professional golfer.  Today, she’s lucky if she gets out on the golf course once a year because the most important hat she wears today is being a mother to a creative daughter and two high-spirited boys.  She is also a military spouse and has a strong passion for helping those who serve.

Kari Wheeling

Kari Wheeling

Clinical Services Director

Kari is a mother to a very spirited and sociable son. Serving 10 years as HMHB’s Project Coordinator and 6 years as a Board Member has fueled Kari’s drive and determination to directly impact women and children in Hawaii. In her new role as Clinical Services Director, she will be helping to increase access to comprehensive perinatal health services for all women in Hawaii. Kari obtained her MSN and RN license, with a dual focus in family practice and nurse midwifery from Frontier Nursing University. Kari is also trained as a birth doula and breastfeeding counselor and has led many Piko Pals groups.

Tanya Smith-Johnson

Tanya Smith-Johnson

Policy Director & Community Based Doula Program Director

Tanya Smith-Johnson is a mother, homebirther, Navy hospital corpsman veteran, spouse to an active duty Civil Engineer Corp Officer, Certified Professional Midwife, and homeschooler for the past 15 years. Tanya holds a Bachelor of Science in Biology and Master’s of Science in Medical Science from Hampton University. She received her didactic midwifery education from the Midwives College of Utah. She received most of her training with midwives in California and Salt Lake City, Utah. Tanya is the loving mother of 6 children, all born with midwives. She has experienced 2 of her births in the hospital with a midwife/doctor team, one at a birth center, and 3 home births giving Tanya the ability to speak to and give voice to various sides of childbearing care. She is passionate about reproductive justice, birth equity, and the improvement of Birth outcomes for black, brown, and indigenous people. As a military spouse and veteran with over 25 years of affiliation and service, Tanya is passionate about military families and veterans, Tanya enjoys being a foodie, bibliophile, and world traveler.

Pennie Bumrungsiri

Pennie Bumrungsiri

Program Director

Pennie is a Certified Professional Midwife and a Licensed Midwife in the State of Hawaiʻi. She holds a Master of Science in Urban Management with emphasis on rural sustainability from Technische Universitaet Berlin and a Bachelor of Arts in International Relations and Linguistics from the Evergreen State College. Her extensive research in community health systems put her on the executive team of some of the leading development organizations in South and Southeast Asia. She served as project lead mobilizing over one million volunteer health workers in Thailand and successfully transferred models within regions of Asia and South Africa. She began her midwifery training in the townships of Cape Town then lived the village midwife life on a hilltop by the sea.

Jacquelyn Ingram

Jacquelyn Ingram

Program Director

Jacquelyn Ingram is a Hawai’i state-licensed certified professional midwife and international board-certified lactation consultant.  She is mother to twins Duke and Jolie, baby Jaia, and wife to Michael.  Jacquelyn grew up in rural Alaska, studied and lived on the mainland and abroad, and now is happy to call Hawaii home.  Jacquelyn holds a BA in History and Psychology from the University of Alaska – Anchorage, an MBA from Aspen University and is a graduate of the National Midwifery Institute. She is also an indigenous full-spectrum doula and an active part of the indigenous birth network. When not advocating for maternal child health, Jacquelyn loves to cook, spend time outdoors and travel.

Vivian Choy

Vivian Choy

Program Manager

Vivian is a graduate of the University of Hawaii at Manoa with a bachelor’s in Public Health and had the opportunity to intern at HMHB during her final semester. She is the program manager and a group leader for Piko Pals, a new parents support program. Vivian is also a board certified case manager. She has a strong passion for community service and enjoys being able to give back to where she grew up. Vivian loves music, video games, tennis, and is a big fan of the Golden State Warriors and Atlanta Falcons! She is also the proud cat mama of Yuki the Sagwa and Aki the Tora.

Princess Lei Ebbay

Princess Lei Ebbay

Program Manager

Princess interned with Healthy Mothers Healthy Babies before taking on the new role as Program Manager for the Hawaii Cribs For Kids Program. She is a graduate of the University of Hawaii at Manoa with her Bachelor’s Degree in Public Health. Princess gave birth to her daughter in 2016 and felt that she was not aware of all of the resources available for new moms and new families. She wants to ensure that other moms are not left in the dark and was eager to join an organization dedicated to helping mothers, babies, and their families. She has a passion for giving back to the community and helping those in need. On her spare time, Princess enjoys spending time with her family, hiking, traveling, and trying out new restaurants around town. She is a firm believer of “Life is Short. Eat Dessert First.”

Shelbi Nakano

Shelbi Nakano

Perinatal Support Staff

Shelbi has interned with Healthy Mothers Healthy Babies for the past year and is a recent graduate of the University of Washington in Seattle where she received her Bachelor’s Degree in Public Health-Global Health. She has always had a passion for helping others and wants to come back home so that she can give back to the community who raised her. She is also a prospective graduate student of the University of Hawaii’s Master of Public Health (MPH) program specializing in Social & Behavioral Health Sciences where she hopes to continue helping local families and improve maternal and child health here in Hawaii. While she is not interning at HMHB and preparing for graduate school, Shelbi enjoys baking, spending quality time with friends, and drinking coffee + boba. 

Michelle Gray

Michelle Gray

Bookkeeper

Michelle joined Healthy Mothers Healthy Babies in 2007 and has spent her career working in the non-profit sector, mainly overseeing the fiscal and accounting departments for various non-profit organizations. She started her own non-profit financial consulting business in 2007 and has never looked back. Her passion for social justice and community advocacy combined with her love of numbers makes for a fulfilling and rewarding career.