our team
Marisa Callahan
Co-founder + Board Chair
Marisa Callahan began her career leading the Account Management team at Meta (then Facebook), where she developed a strong foundation in strategic planning and team leadership. Driven by a deep commitment to women’s health and equity, she shifted into philanthropy to address gaps in postpartum care. Marisa co-founded Mama2Mama to ensure that all mothers and birthing people have access to the support and resources they deserve.
In addition to her role with Mama2Mama, Marisa serves on the board of Planned Parenthood’s San Gabriel Valley affiliate, advocating for accessible healthcare and reproductive rights. She also stays actively involved in her children’s school and volunteers with various nonprofits across the San Gabriel Valley. Balancing these professional commitments with raising her four young children, Marisa is dedicated to building a supportive community for mothers, helping to provide the essential care, connection, and resources they need during postpartum.
Cayla Willingham
Co-founder + Program Manager
Cayla’s nonprofit experience began with a move to Iraq during the war. An early hire at a young organization, Cayla’s roles ranged from mission coordinator to internship manager to family advocate, where she supported Iraqi mothers as they cared for their children after life saving surgery. After returning to the United States in 2019, she started her own business and used that as a platform to support migrant and refugee mothers in a shelter in Tijuana, Mexico, where she co-created a ‘maker’s space’ that trained hundreds of women in livelihood skills in a safe communal environment. After seeing the challenges parents face during this journey, and the enormous hardship of being both displaced and pregnant, Cayla was thrilled to join Marisa in co-founding Mama2Mama to support mothers when they need it most. Originally from Escondido, Cayla is happy to be living back home in San Diego with her husband and three kids.
Rachel Scandling
Executive Director
Rachel brings 15+ years of experience in leadership across the public, academic, and nonprofit sectors of Los Angeles. Her career is marked by a deep commitment to social impact, arts and culture, and empowering women. Throughout her career, she has navigated diverse roles in fundraising, programming, and management for nonprofits ranging from small-scale initiatives to those with budgets exceeding $50 million.
Most recently, Rachel served on the faculty of California Institute of Arts, leading the graduate-level producing program and serving as Producing Director for CalArts Center for New Performance. A passionate advocate for equity, Rachel is a former advisory board member of Loud Community, a women’s civic organization. Through her graduate work at Wesleyan University, she focused on intersectional feminist practices in the arts. Rachel is a mother of two preschoolers, bringing her lived experience to her work advocating for families.
Program Facilitator
Isabel has turned her life experiences and passion for community service into impactful action. Originally from Chiapas, she moved to Tijuana in 2002 and, as a single mother of two, dedicated herself to volunteering, supporting various groups and distributing food. Her efforts led her into the nonprofit sector, initially working with mothers and children, and later with an organization aiding women and girls escaping human trafficking. Starting as a volunteer, she quickly became a training mentor, contributing for five years before helping to establish a livelihood development project at a migrant shelter. There, she now leads the Mamas at the Border program. Isa connects deeply and compassionately with those she serves, always eager to learn and grow alongside them.
Karen Jaimes
Director, Brand & Marketing
Karen is a seasoned visual storyteller and brand strategist with over 15 years of leadership experience in design and digital media. Her expertise in building creative teams and transforming complex narratives into compelling visual experiences has advanced initiatives for leading social impact organizations, nonprofits and Fortune 500 companies. Drawing from her experience as a mother of three and an immigrant from Colombia, she brings both professional leadership and deeply personal understanding to her work in maternal health advocacy and equity.
Programs and Operations Coordinator
Tiffany has nearly a decade of experience in community-based programs and initiatives throughout Los Angeles County and the Inland Empire. Her career, driven by her commitment to driving systems change through a social justice and racial equity lens, spans across the nonprofit, education, and healthcare sectors and the intersectional spaces between them. She has held diverse roles in nonprofit marketing and communications, development, and management for grassroots to mid-size organizations centered on both advocacy and direct services. She has extensive experience in strategic marketing and communications, program design, implementation, and evaluation, grant writing and management, event planning, public relations, and project management. She holds a Bachelor’s degree in Biochemistry from Pitzer College and a Master’s degree in Public Health with a concentration in Leadership & Management from Claremont Graduate University.
