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California Coalition for Black Birth Justice
Centering Black leadership, innovation, and collaboration.
California Coalition for Black Birth Justice
California Coalition for Black Birth Justice
About the California Coalition for Black Birth Justice
The first of its kind in California, the California Coalition for Black Birth Justice (the Coalition) convenes birth equity and reproductive justice experts to drive coordinated efforts to accelerate birth justice for Black families across the state. We are on a mission to unify and strengthen the Black birth justice movement in California.
The Coalition is committed to serving as a statewide connector and convener, supporting the care and capacity of the Black birth justice workforce, and scaling systems change improvement efforts with health care institutions.
Coming Soon!
The California Black Birth Justice Agenda will be released summer of 2023!
The California Coalition for Black Birth Justice developed the first Black birth justice agenda to uplift coordinated, strategic actions to advance birth equity and justice across the state.
We believe that combining our knowledge, capacity, lived experiences, power, and deep love for Black people through the activation of a Black women-led coalition has significant potential to drive the necessary systemic change.
We are unapologetically committed to:
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Caring for and centering Black women, mamas, birthing folks — and the people who advocate for them
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Championing systems-level change in policies and practice
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Unifying our collective birth equity efforts across the state to make justice and liberation a reality
People Powering the Movement
Coalition Co-Founders & Backbone Team
Alexis Cobbins, MSW (she/her)
Coalition Co-Founder
Executive Director
California Preterm Birth Initiative
University of California San Francisco
Dana Sherrod, MPH (she/her)
Coalition Co-Founder
Director, Birth Equity + Racial Justice Initiatives
Cherished Futures for Black Moms & Babies
Solaire Spellen, MPH (she/her)
Coalition Co-Founder
Associate Director
California Preterm Birth Initiative
University of California San Francisco
Esther Priscilla Ebuehi (she/her)
Coalition Co-Founder
Ph.D. Student
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Asaiah Harville, IBCLC (she/her)
Birth Equity Manager
Cherished Futures for Black Moms & Babies
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Areca Smit, MBA (she/her)
Director of Communications California Preterm Birth Initiative
University of California San Francisco
Candice Charles, MPH (she/her)
Birth Equity Analyst
Cherished Futures for Black Moms & Babies
Coalition Strategic Advisors/Founding Mothers
Brandi Desjolais, Ed.D
Co-Director
Black Maternal Health Center of Excellence
Charles R. Drew University of Medicine and Science
Brittany Chambers, Ph.D., MPH
Assistant Professor
Department of Human Ecology
University of California, Davis
Mashariki Kudumu, MPH
Public Health & Birth Justice Professional
Monica R. McLemore, Ph.D., MPH, RN, FAAN
Professor and Interim Director, Center for Anti-Racism in Nursing
University of Washington
Natalie Champion
Project Manager
California Black Women's Health Project
Nourbese Flint, MA
Senior Director of Black Leadership and Engagement
Planned Parenthood Federation of America
Pooja Mittal, DO
Chief Health Equity Officer
Health Net
Sayida Peprah-Wilson, PsyD
Founder/ Executive Director
Diversity Uplifts
Shantay Davies-Balch, MBA
Chief Executive Officer
BLACK Wellness and Prosperity Center
Zea Malawa, MD, MPH
Director
Expecting Justice
San Francisco Collective Impact for Healthy Births
San Francisco Department of Public Health
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