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Equity from Birth: Why Community-Based Support is Crucial

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Equity at Birth | Giving Compass
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Every child is born into possibility, yet for too many the opportunity to reach that possibility is inequitable from the start. People of color and their children face stark disparities to survive, thrive, and learn. This is especially true for pregnant women of color and their babies. Fostering opportunity, and equity, must begin even before birth.

A recent New York Times Magazine article powerfully conveyed how black infants are more than two times as likely to die as white infants and how “this is intimately intertwined with another tragedy: a crisis of death and near death in black mothers themselves.”

The lived experience of a black person can reduce their chances of a healthy pregnancy and birth, as well as the survival of their infant. Living in poverty further lessens the chances for children to flourish.

About 19 percent of our nation’s children live in poverty, and the numbers are even more devastating for children of color: 34 percent for African Americans, 34 percent for American Indians, 28 percent for Latinos/ Hispanics, and 20 percent for mixed race children. The long-term consequences of ongoing poverty and adverse experiences are especially severe for the youngest children, making it less likely that they will graduate from high school, complete college, or be consistently employed as adults.

These inequities have been created over generations. As the enslavement of blacks was ending in the United States in the 1860s, Washington State was establishing the first boarding school on the Yakima Reservation. Though the Supreme Court decision on Brown v. Board of Education was rendered in 1954, the fight to desegregate schools continued into the 1970s. In 1965, Head Start became the first attempt to create equity nationally in early childhood education. A half century later the struggle for education equity still continues. A Yale Child Center study in 2016 found that even though African-American children make up 19 percent of the preschool population, they comprise 47 percent of preschoolers that are suspended.

Today we know more than ever about maternal health and the critical earliest months and years of a child’s life. We know that 90 percent of a child’s brain develops during the first three years of life—and that by the time children are eight years old and usually in third grade, much of what they need to succeed in life has already been established. That includes cognitive, social and emotional development, gross motor skills, and the foundations of executive functioning, including the ability to pay attention, manage emotions and solve problems.

We can be the generation to disrupt the cycle if we pair knowledge with action. Strategically investing in mothers and children with prevention and intervention at critical development points in their early years can not only prevent negative outcomes later in life but can set the trajectory for lifelong success.

Forty years of our collective experience in 50 communities and 20 states has shown us that high-quality, community-based support during pregnancy, birth, and early parenting saves lives. When we foster positive social and emotional development, we grow healthy brains and compassionate human beings who have better chances of reaching their full potential. The struggle for equity and the wellbeing of our children begins before birth. This is urgent and there is no time to waste.

What Can You Do?
  • Read The Perinatal Revolution to learn more about the critical role community-based doula programs can play in improving maternal and child health outcomes
  • Become an outspoken advocate for birth equity and early learning
  • Support organizations that advance community-driven solutions like HealthConnect One and Open Arms

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Original contribution by Brenda Blasingame, M.A., Executive Director at HealthConnect One and Dila K Perera, MSW MPH, Executive Director at  Open Arms Perinatal Services

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Interested in learning more about Race and Ethnicity? Other readers at Giving Compass found the following articles helpful for impact giving related to Race and Ethnicity.

  • This article is deemed a must-read by one or more of our expert collaborators.
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    Social Justice and a Relevant Philanthropic Sector: Advancing DEI

    In terms of people of color employed by foundations, little has changed over the years; if anything, it’s possibly worse. In 2014, ABFE reported that only 3 percent of the nation’s philanthropies have Black CEOs running the organization. This is in a country where foundation leaders have been talking, writing, and planning aggressively to implement DEI practices for at least two decades, and where African Americans make up 14.6 percent of the population. This truth completely belies the number of African-American senior executives I’ve known personally over the years who are more than CEO-ready but have yet to be offered the top job. It’s not just an issue with people of color as CEOs. In fact, the best way to advance DEI in foundations is to first ensure that DEI is an influential presence in the boardroom.   If this is prioritized properly, issues of DEI as they pertain to the CEO and staff will be addressed sooner rather than later. Unfortunately, there has been very little movement in this area beyond token representation on many boards. It was certainly this way in 2009, when I was part of a committee of foundation trustees discussing how to achieve DEI in foundation boardrooms. Another committee participant, Julia Guevara, spoke about her experiences as a Latina on a foundation board where the voices of white males and white females were more valued: Organizations like to say they have a diverse board, but behind the scenes is a ‘good old boy network,’ and when it hits, it hits hard. With one board member you can have a dialogue, but when you hit up against a network, communication is so much more difficult. It can be really discouraging to find the public face is not the same as the behind-the-scenes reality. I need to also acknowledge a positive example from past service on a foundation board. This board worked hard over the years to implement DEI throughout the organization, and then took the next step to establish policy that required grantees to conduct a DEI audit and report those findings to the foundation. The confirmation of those audit findings was then included among the factors that determined if nonprofits would receive a grant. The foundation did the same with its vendors as well, with the clear purpose of encouraging greater DEI within these organizations. Predictably, however, there was a substantial organization in the community that refused to conduct an audit and report its results. Despite the pressure by the community elite on the foundation, it held its ground and chose not to fund the organization. I was proud to sit on the board of this foundation that clearly saw advancing DEI as part of its mission and key to building a stronger, more equitable, and more effective nonprofit sector and community. Getting more people of color seated on foundation boards is only half the work — retention is the other.   As stated in a 2014 ABFE report called The Exit Interview, “Not only were Black philanthropic professionals not joining the field in large numbers, but many of those who had joined were leaving the field and heading elsewhere. This decline in overall representation by Black philanthropic professionals in the sector is disturbing.” Any real effort to retain people of color at foundations must be intentional and must begin with foundations asking themselves to what degree the foundation is a supportive and welcoming environment for people of color. Then they must make changes accordingly. Read the full article about advancing diversity, equity, and inclusion by Miles Wilson at The Center for Effective Philanthropy. 


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