Nickie & Juli co-founded Cornerstone in 2006 after both having practiced as doulas for 6 years. Together, they were submerged in the birth world - attending births together as a mother/daughter doula team, undergoing midwifery apprenticeships in tandem, working as support staff at an out of hospital birth center, and also teaching childbirth education courses to expecting parents. During this time, they identified huge gaps in available doula training programs, including the training that they received, which weren’t focusing on significant aspects of this work that are absolutely necessary for birthworkers to understand from the beginning: birth justice, community activism, inclusivity, advocacy skills, birth psychology, trauma informed care, harm reduction, mental health, community care, and sustainability. Nickie & Juli set out to create a truly comprehensive, community based, inclusive, accessible training program to fill these gaps - and through that vision, Cornerstone was born. Over the last 16 years, Cornerstone has expanded and flourished to meet the ever changing needs of the birth world, and has become the most comprehensive, accessible, and integrative training available.