About Us
Training, Mobilizing, and Connecting
communities in service of birth equity since 1986.
HealthConnect One is the national leader in advancing equitable, community-based, peer-to-peer support for pregnancy, birth, breastfeeding, and early parenting.
Our vision is to see every baby, mother, and family thrive in a healthy community. We work to achieve this vision through an equity-focused approach supporting the first 1000 days for birthing families.
Our Priorities
We're focused on training, mobilizing, and connecting to one day see every mother & child thrive.
Training
We're training birth equity advocates and community health workers nationwide to continuously grow our network of experts.
Mobilizing
We're mobilizing workers by training organizations in 20+ states and supporting them with supplies needed for babies and families.
Connecting
We connect community members to one another by connecting them to community doulas, breastfeeding counselors, and community health workers.
Our why
- To see every mother and child thrive.
- Because we are committed to providing an equitable start for babies and their families.
- To create a thriving ecosystem for Black, Brown, and Indigenous communities.
- To re-invest in communities that have been unfairly marginalized and refused equal health care.
- Because improving birth equity is fundamental to improving racial equity.
- Because every baby is our baby.
Our Story
HealthConnect One has a deep history of birth equity activism. Since 1986, we have worked with maternal and child health organizations, social services providers, hospitals, birth workers, grassroots organizers, and FQHCs.
1986
Originally named Chicago Health Connection, the organization started as a volunteer effort to develop better ways of promoting breastfeeding with a particular focus on communities of color, as founder Rachel Abramson recalled for a news article in 2018.
1990s
After collaborating with groups like the Ounce of Prevention Fund (now Start Early), to create the Chicago Doula Project in the late 1990s, the work expanded nationally.
2008
The organization was renamed HealthConnect One.
TODAY
We've partnered across more than 50 communities in 20 states...
to design peer-to-peer support programs that increase breastfeeding rates, strengthen parent-child bonding, expand support for mothers and families, reduce C-section rates, and achieve better birth outcomes and economies.
Photos: Jeretha McKinley leading an early breastfeeding class; participants in the Chicago Doula Project, from 1999 or 2000; founding director Rachel Abramson, U.S. Rep. Danny Davis, and McKinley at an event
Our Impact
150+
community-based doulas and breastfeeding advocates trained to foster thriving and sustainable communities in 2021
500+
birthworker trainees to be served through our new learning management system through funding from the Illinois Healthcare Foundation
75%
of Black mothers served by our trained community-based doulas were still breastfeeding at six weeks
Our Credentials
Selected by WHO/UNICEF to participate on an Expert Panel developing international standards for breastfeeding training
Served on the Wisdom Council of the World Breastfeeding Trends Initiative as an Expert Panel Member for the United States
Learn More About This Work
Consulted the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention as part of the Communities Putting Prevention to Work/Baby-Friendly Hospital Initiative
Learn More About This Work
Worked closely with Illinois Department of Public Health staff helped to publish the Illinois Breastfeeding Peer Counselor Curriculum
Learn More About This Work
Collaborated with Cook County Health and Hospital Services Stroger Hospital on a Breastfeeding Peer Counselor Program for more than two decades
OUR LEADERSHIP TEAM & Board of Directors
The HealthConnect One Leadership Team and Board of Directors ensure successful outcomes for not only the organization, but also for Black, Brown, and Indigenous babies and families.
Our Leadership Team
Our Board
Marlee Hendricks
Board Chair
Lisa Bohmer
Vice Board Chair / Secretary
Mairita Smiltars
Past Board Chair
Cassandre Charles
Diana Derige
Alina Henderson
Linda Yeh
Twyla Perin
Lisa Bohmer
Kisa McCormick
Rachelle Pierre-Lott
Wendy Whittington
Awara Mendy-Adeagbo
Maggie Waldron
Our Partners
