Hi, I’m cedar rivers (they/he)

I am a full-spectrum careworker, mediator, facilitator, and project manager with a passion for land stewardship, relationship, trauma-informed care, accessible educational practices, and the complexities of justice.

I am proudly Philly born and raised, have traveled to do care and farm work across Turtle Island, and currently live and am building still-new relationship with stolen land in Middle Tennessee. I am designated human companion to Weasel (a chihuahua mix), Pig (a pittie puppy), and a flock of fowl with pickle-themed names. My wife and I live rurally and spend much of our time caring for local elders. In my spare time, you can find me in the garden, quilting, or on horseback in the hills that surround our community.

Professionally, I worked for three years as the Program Director and Co-Lead Teacher at Birthing Advocacy Doula Trainings, and have been a guest lecturer and speaker in a number of professional and academic training programs and conferences. Most recently, I have been doing a variety of remote work for organizations whose values align with my own. 

I am a perinatal professional with over ten years of experience, as well as prior training and experience in somatics and trauma-informed care. I have absolutely loved providing support to people in transitional moments, especially those revolving around reproductive health, family building, and gender-and-identity-related experiences.

As a trans non-binary person, I am practiced in the art (and awkwardness) of transition, and have brought this knowing and compassion to all of my clients and students as they face a variety of thresholds and transformations – including conception, pregnancy, birth, and postpartum, as well as loss, termination, and surrender.

Though my work centers trans and gender non-conforming individuals (I jokingly say I’m “straight-friendly and cis-inclusive”), I believe that any work to dismantle gender-based oppression must be universally libratory. People of ALL experiences and identities deserve to have their unique needs met by careworkers and service providers. The main routes I have taken in order to contribute to a cultural shift towards person-centered care are: teaching gender-affirming practices to birth workers and other professionals, offering trans-first LGBTQIA+ competency consulting to individuals and organizations, and participating in conversations and movements that imagine and create an anti-oppressive trans- and queer- affirming world.

With acknowledgement of both the inherent value and worth of all humans, as well as the inequities and injustices of the education and academic systems navigated to gather much of this learning, below are some of the trainings, courses, and certifications I’ve participated in. My hope is that this list gives you a sense of where I’m coming from, as you consider working with me. While, at this point, I do not align with the actions or values of all learning experiences listed, they still played a part in how I arrived here . If you have curiosities about any of the learning listed below, please feel free to reach out.