Birth & Beyond Summit 2023: Advancing community-based approaches to birth equity!
CHICAGO, IL – HealthConnect one is pleased to host the inaugural Birth & Beyond Summit 2023! The summit will take place June 20-22, 2023, at the Hotel at the University of Maryland. The theme “Advancing community-based approaches to birth equity,” reflects HealthConnect One’s commitment to community-led initiatives, locally driven research and solutions, and movement building across the reproductive justice, birth equity, maternal and early childhood health spectrum.
HealthConnect One’s nearly four decade presence emphasizes the importance of centering on community-led initiatives to reinvest in underserved communities and increase local efforts to reduce health inequities and advance reproductive justice. Birth and Beyond 2023 recognizes the timely need to elevate community strengths in pursuing hope for Black, Brown, and Indigenous birthing families and their communities. The summit will meet the need for a space to convene, strategize, and share ideas led and created by Black, Brown, and Indigenous communities following the onset of a public health crisis and racial reckoning. According to Twylla Dillion, Ph.D. HealthConnect One Executive Director, “HealthConnect One’s Birth and Beyond Summit presents an opportunity to showcase organizations and researchers committed to supporting Black, Latinx, and Indigenous birthing families and birth workers. The summit will provide a platform for collaboration, sharing of best practices and research. We are thrilled to connect with partners from across the nation.”
The event will occur over the course of three (3) days and include presentations from community-led initiatives and researchers, panel discussions about HealthConnect One projects, skills-building workshops, networking events, and special events to promote wellness and rejuvenation. Presentations will span four tracks: Policy/Advocacy, Innovative Programming, Community Research Engagement and Special Topics. Zainab Sulaiman, VP of Impact and Advocacy, shared,”Community driven ideas, solutions and evidence are the key to addressing injustices faced by birthing families across the country. HealthConnect One’s Birth and Beyond Summit provides the perfect opportunity to learn from, strategize with, and build on community initiatives and ideas across the country that are transforming the narrative around childbirth and creating thriving communities in America.”
Birth and Beyond Planning Committee member Amber Pendergraph- Leak CD (DONA), CLC, CHW, CMA, Executive Director of BirthMatters stated, “As a long-time standing accredited partner, I am filled with so much enthusiasm about this year’s upcoming summit “Advancing community-based approaches to birth equity.” This has been long overdue and yet right on time. There isn’t a summit quite like HealthConnect One’s Birth and Beyond 2023, where it is primarily community based organizations leading the conversations around birth-work. I look forward to seeing my fellow doulas, future collaborators, and, most of all, gaining information and tools to aid in serving my community”. The target audience for this conference are stakeholders interested in cutting- edge community based maternal & child health programs, including community health workers, community-based doulas, breastfeeding peer counselors, MCH program practitioners and administrators, researchers, educators, policy makers and government.
We hope to see you at the 2023 Birth & Beyond Summit. If you are interested in attending, sponsoring, or have questions about the summit, please email conference@healthconnectone.org for inquires. For information about the conference, visit: https://healthconnectone.org/birthbeyondsummit/ .
HealthConnect One is a nationally recognized nonprofit training and technical assistance agency that uses innovative, community-centered approaches to support direct-service providers in promoting the health of mothers, infants, and birthing families. Operating with the awareness that birth equity is fundamental to racial equity, HealthConnect One collaborates with community-based organizations and advocates, to train community health workers, connect community-based initiatives, and mobilize diverse stakeholders to build policies and programs that improve birth equity. Learn more about our work here: https://healthconnectone.org/about-us/.
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