Board of Directors

Alli Gober, President

Alli is a founding member of Wisdom Within, Inc. and has served as President of the board since 2009.  Alli graduated in 1998 from the University of Texas with a B.S. in Child Development and Family Relationships.  After being invited to help at a friend’s homebirth, Alli initiated a career as a homebirth midwife and fertility awareness educator.  She currently works as a professional photographer for wedding, newborn and maternity photos while she is finishing her midwifery education.   Alli lives in Salida , Colorado and birthed her son at home unattended in 2008.

Candace Shriver, Vice President

Candace currently serves as a Director for Wisdom Within, Inc. after joining the Board in January of 2010.  Her passion for empowering women began in college when she and her life partner, Mark, were surprised to find out they were pregnant with their first child.  The experience of a natural pregnancy, pleasant and thorough midwifery care and an empowering and transformative waterbirth inspired Candace to educate girls and women about their choices surrounding body awareness and natural childbirth. Candace looks forward to one day providing childbirth education, breastfeeding support and midwifery care to women within her community and surrounding areas. She enjoys the beauty and outdoor recreation of her home in Salida, Colorado and remains grateful for her wonderful soul mate Mark, daughter Sage Estrella and dog, Bob. She is currently employed part-time at Salida Mountain Sports and runs ReCycle, a curbside pickup service on bicycle, with her husband.

Amber van Leuken,  Treasurer

Amber van Leuken has been the Secretary and Treasurer and a founding member of Wisdom Within, Inc. since 2009.  She is also the grant writer for Wisdom Within and for the Ark-Valley Humane Society, where she is currently employed.  During college, Amber conducted field research in Nepal looking at how cultural changes in the beliefs, methods and location of childbirth affected women's empowerment within their communities.  Amber is a 2004 graduate of Cornell University in Ithaca, New York with a degree cum laude in Anthropology.  In 2008, she gave birth at home assisted by a midwife.  She resides in Salida, Colorado with her husband, Anton, daughter, Ava Autumn, and their cats, dogs, goats and chickens.

Betsy Steinberg, Secretary

Betsy's passionate devotion to homebirth advocacy brought her to Wisdom Within, Inc. where she has served as a Director since 2009.  Betsy also is a member of the Longfellow Elementary School Parent's Association.  She and her husband, Ryan, caretake on a ranch in Salida, Colorado.  They have two children, Drake and Reed, both born naturally, one in the hospital and one at home.  Betsy grew up in Philadelphia and traveled the country before settling in Salida, a place that provides her family with a simple life and a strong sense of community.

Brandi Tauer, Director (in absentia)

Brandi has served as a Director of Wisdom Within, Inc. since 2009.  In 1998, Brandi graduated from the University of Colorado, Boulder with a B.A. in Sociology.  Prior to obtaining her nursing degree in 2008, Brandi worked as a certified nursing assistant for five years on a cancer unit and for hospice.  In 2009, she gave birth to a baby boy and subsequently decided to postpone her nursing career in favor of caring for her newborn at home.  She lives in Salida, Colorado with her husband Eric, son Rio, and house full of animals.

MacKenzie Christy, Director (in absentia)

MacKenzie is a founding member of Wisdom Within, Inc. and has served as a Director since 2009.  MacKenzie is a doula, midwifery student, and a certified nurse assistant for the elderly and end of life.  MacKenzie received training from the Association of Childbirth Educators and is training with Karlton Terry and team at the Consulate Healing Center for pre- and perinatal regression therapies for repatterning birth trauma.  MacKenzie is also studying the connections of the mind, body and spirit to healing with a Navajo medicine woman and social worker.  Her daughter Zella was born at home. MacKenzie lives with her husband and daughter in Salida, Colorado, with their dogs, chickens and plentiful gardens.