Nicolle L Arthun

WORK HISTORY

EDUCATION

ABOUT NICOLLE L ARTHUN

I’m an Indigenous Certified Nurse-Midwife, health strategist, and CEO with 18+ years building culturally grounded maternal, newborn, and child health (MNCH) systems across clinical, nonprofit, and policy settings. I design and implement community-led care models, birth centers and rural clinics, and capacity-strengthening initiatives (ECHO) that improve access, quality, and coverage—especially for Indigenous, rural, and communities of color.As CEO of Transcending Strategies LLC and a RWJF Health Policy Fellow in the U.S. Senate, I translate evidence into policy, program design, and operational SOPs. Previously, I founded Changing Woman Initiative—the first Native women-led maternal health nonprofit—raising $2.19M+ and running clinic operations (including an Easy Access model) while advancing policy and human-rights advocacy (UN, IACHR, ICCPR/UPR testimonies).What I bring: end-to-end program leadership (design → implementation → MEL)curriculum and training development, stakeholder convening, Indigenous data & knowledge sovereignty practices, and clear, actionable knowledge products (briefs, reports, decks). I collaborate with health systems, NGOs, funders, and tribal governments to deliver measurable MNCH results.Focus areas: maternal health equity, Indigenous midwifery and sovereignty, perinatal systems design, workforce development, Medicaid/reproductive policy, and community-centric implementation.