Mariela Quesada Centeno is a community-based researcher and cooperative developer advancing health equity, reproductive justice, and economic well-being for Latina and Indigenous communities. She holds an MPH and a PhD in Family Studies and Community Development, and her work focuses on empowerment-based education that strengthens the leadership and economic mobility of community health workers, promotoras de salud, and doulas within maternal and child health systems.

She is a lactation consultant and doula, and a founding leader of Roots4Change (R4C) Cooperative, Wisconsin’s first immigrant Latina and Indigenous women–led cooperative of community health worker doulas, where she leads cooperative development, workforce pipelines, and culturally grounded care models integrated into health systems.

Mariela brings extensive experience in program development, fundraising, and partnerships, having helped secure $2M+ in public and philanthropic funding across maternal and child health, workforce development, food security, and cooperative economic development, building community-led initiatives that bridge families, cooperatives, and institutions.