All of The Nurturing Place courses were designed and are presented by Kristi Ridd-Young, ICCE, CD(DONA), and DONA-approved Birth Doula Trainer. She was recently introduced as a speaker like this:

"Kristi Ridd-Young has been the president of Midwives College of Utah for the past 16 years. MCU is the largest MEAC-accredited, distance education midwifery school offering a bachelor's or master’s degree in midwifery. Kristi has served on the Midwifery Education Accreditation Council for the last 16 years where she is currently the Vice-President of Outreach. As the founder of the Utah Doula Association, which is one of the oldest and largest doula groups, she continues to influence the education of and networking opportunities for doulas and childbirth educators. Kristi has been practicing as a doula for 35 years, a birth doula trainer for 29 years, and has trained over 2250 doulas. She has been involved in the development of doula and midwifery education in Kuwait, Egypt, and Saudi Arabia.

Though she has been mentored by many amazing leaders in maternal and child health, Kristi credits her six children, seven step-children, and 15 grandchildren for the real-life lessons that influence her philosophies as an educator and a doula. Yoga was her thing before it became the thing to do. A voracious reader, Kristi’s parents used to catch her reading with a flashlight under the covers, and after her husband has fallen asleep, she can sometimes be found sneaking in a few pages by the light of her cell phone. (Shhh don't tell!) Kristi and her husband David usually average 3000 miles a year on Harley adventures and love traveling even if it is not on the back of the bike."