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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
Help us create a Black birth justice agenda for California!
Over the last year, we the California Coalition for Black Birth Justice, developed the first California Black Birth Justice Agenda, with a set of prioritized actions meant to advance birth justice for Black families across the state.
Please take this 5-minute survey to weigh in on the draft agenda!
Invest in Black women
Black people account for just 6% of births in California, yet we continue to shoulder disproportionate harms before, during, and after pregnancy. The legacy of enslavement and the loss of reproductive autonomy, coupled with the ongoing impacts of racism are at the root of these birth injustices. Therefore, Black women, birthing people, and our families must be prioritized.
Black birth justice advocates are driving change through several transformative initiatives throughout California. However, there is currently no mechanism nor adequate investment for organized collaboration to bring these efforts together for statewide impact. Instead, we imagine a California that invests in Black women’s leadership, innovation, and collaboration in order to move the needle on racial birth inequities.
About the California Black Birth Justice Coalition
With seed funding from Health Net, the California Coalition for Black Birth Justice, the first of its kind in California, convenes birth equity and reproductive justice experts to drive coordinated efforts to accelerate birth justice for Black families 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.
People Powering the Movement
California Black Birth Justice 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
Current Ph.D. Student
Former Birth Equity Impact Analyst
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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
Joia Crear-Perry, MD, FACOG
Founder & President
National Birth Equity Collaborative
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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