Eliminating Barriers to Wellness for Black Women and Girls

Linda Goler Blount, MPH President & CEO Black Women’s Health Imperative

Welcome from President & CEO

Dear Friends,

Over the past four decades, the Black Women’s Health Imperative has been the only national organization dedicated solely to improving health and wellness for our nation’s 21 million Black women and girls. This sobering realization has led me to consider an essential question: What if BWHI did not exist? What if we never pioneered essential research and programming? Who would have safeguarded critical health policies?

Our world would simply not be the same had BWHI not endured, and Black women would have borne the brunt of that reality. Many of the laws we take for granted today would not be in effect—ones that guarantee access to quality maternal healthcare, lifesaving health screenings, and abortion care, and laws that ensure participation in clinical research and access to treatments for rare diseases. Communities would have gone without critical investments in diabetes and tobacco prevention and access to HIV testing. Black women would not have had someone to turn to for help in translating the complicated and often confusing health information necessary to live a healthy, full life.

It is unfathomable to consider what we would have lost as a society and community without the work of BWHI over the past nearly 40 years. It is equally unacceptable to consider

what the next four decades would look like without achieving health equity. As an epidemiologist who has studied inequalities in health for more than 25 years, I know a socially just society is necessary for Black women and girls to enjoy optimal health and well-being. Without this, our children and grandchildren will not enjoy the long, healthy lifespans they deserve. And as a mother and Umi to my grandchildren, I know what is at stake if we are not successful.

As I write this letter, Ketanji Brown Jackson has been confirmed as the first Black woman to serve on the U.S. Supreme Court. It is a momentous occasion and significant milestone on the path toward equal justice under the law that we deserve. But I caution those who falsely believe that this lessens the urgency and critical need for continued advancement of Black women’s needs and rights. Now, more than ever, we must demand structural and political change.

Since I joined BWHI nearly a decade ago, we have evolved into a $20 million organization that combines science, advocacy, and action to eliminate barriers to wellness for Black women. At the center of everything we do is a focus on evidence-based decision-making aimed at transforming systems and policies so Black women can enjoy the same health

benefits as their counterparts. And while advocacy for health-promoting policies remains foundational to our mission, we are shifting our advocacy into action — an action that is informed by research-backed strategies intended to drive change in systems, policies, and healthcare behavior across society. We cannot continue to do the same thing and expect different results.

Achieving health equity would have a $250 billion net positive impact on the U.S. economy. Black women’s health is not—nor has it ever been—only a Black women’s issue. That is why our success and the health of every Black woman in America are predicated on holding the people and organizations accountable with their hands on the levers of power, and bringing together our stakeholders to help them see their role in solving the systemic issues impacting our community. We are reminding corporations with our BWHI Fair Work Initiative of their responsibility to act, sharing our researchbacked strategies that will help them drive actual change, and making clear consequences for those who continue to embrace the harmful status quo that brought us to this point.

This year, please consider joining us and supporting our calling to realize the promise of health equity and uplift Black women and girls. Our mission has never been more critical than now, as our community is facing new barriers to achieving health and well-being in the era of COVID-19. Together, we can successfully target the most pressing health issues impacting our community through investments in evidence-based strategies, bold programs, and new policies.

There are nearly 21 million Black women and girls counting on us. That’s 21 million reasons why we cannot fail. Join us on the path to equity and a healthier, brighter tomorrow.

Sincerely,

• 40 Years of Improving Health Outcomes for Black Women and Girls

• Revenue of $20M

• Q1 donations of $10M

• Recognized as Center of Excellence to provide Capacity-Building Training

• Achieving health equity would have a $250 billion net positive impact on the U.S. economy

Linda Goler Blount, MPH President & CEO Black Women’s Health Imperative

• 21 million Black women and girls counting on US

Kristin Salkil Chief Development Officer Black Women’s Health Imperative

Welcome from the Chief Development Officer

It’s About Time.

They say timing is everything. For Black women, it finally feels like our time.

The Black Women’s Health Imperative is fortunate to have partners who support our work to change the behaviors that will save Black women’s lives. Behaviors of healthcare systems and providers, of workplaces and employers, of researchers and policymakers. Because our partners know that when Black women are healthier, their families and communities are healthier, too.

None of our work would be possible without the philanthropic support of our donors— individuals, corporations, and foundations— and we are so grateful. Your gifts propel forward programs that save lives, create policy change, foster inclusive research, and open the door for critical conversations around Black women’s health.

Over the last three years, BWHI has experienced tremendous growth. We have a lot to celebrate, including our 40th anniversary in 2023.

Going forward, we are thinking a little differently. We will leverage our increased funding from the last few years for the most impact possible. To sustain our success, we are creating a multi-year revenue growth strategy, to ensure we have the resources necessary to continue to grow.

Thank you for everything you are doing to support this important work. We will continue to put your dollars to work improving the health of this country’s 21 million Black women and girls. There's just no time to waste.

Sincerely,

SPECIAL THANKS TO OUR MAJOR SUPPORTERS:

Hologic, Inc.

Mackenzie Scott

W.K. Kellogg Foundation

Deloitte

Gilead Sciences Inc.

Travere Therapeutics Inc.

Chan Zuckerberg Initiative

Kristin Salkil Chief Development Officer Black Women’s Health Imperative

Horizon

The Rockefeller Foundation

Novo Nordisk

Pfizer Foundation

Washington Commanders

Football Team

Myovant Sciences, Inc.

AARP

Boehringer Ingelheim International

Lululemon Athletica

QVC, Inc.

The Colgate-Palmolive Company

Achieving Results for Black Women

ACHIEVEMENT HIGHLIGHTS

1. Invested more than $15M in communities across the US in the last 8 years.

BWHI is the first and only national non-profit solely dedicated to achieving health equity for Black women in America. Founded in 1983 by Byllye Y. Avery as the National Black Women’s Health Project at a conference on the campus of Spelman College, BWHI has evolved into a nationally recognized organization leading health policy, education, research, knowledge and leadership development, and communications designed to improve the healthy outcomes of Black women.

Since it's inception, BWHI has invested over $50 million to preserve and advance the health and wellness of women and girls.

We partner with Black women on their “life-health” journey

Led for the past eight years by President and CEO Linda Goler Blount, MPH, BWHI continues to be dedicated to promoting the physical, mental and spiritual health and well-being of the nation’s 21 million African American women and girls. Elevating the concerns and inequities that impact Black women to the national stage.

BWHI’s Vision

All Black women will enjoy optimal health in a society that promotes health equity and social justice.

BWHI Mission

To lead the effort and achieve results that solve the most pressing health issues that affect Black women and girls in the United States. Through investments in evidencebased strategies, we deliver bold new programs and achieve health-promoting policies.

As the mission and need for BWHI programs, services, and policy leadership expands, the need to honor our strategic imperative commitments is also amplified. BWHI remains committed to assembling and engaging practitioners, professionals, and community members (nursing, public health, research, public admin, BLM, doulas, and wellness entrepreneurs), advancing work around Black women’s health while providing thought leadership within this space.

2. Touched over 20,000 Black women and families with chronic disease prevention programs.

3. Created an international diabetes prevention training unit.

4. Established a Rare Disease Diversity Council.

5. Led introduction of the Sickle Cell Disease Expansion Act – H.R. 7177.

6. Led national campaigns featuring Mary J. Blige, Ciara, NFL Players, and the WNBA.

7. Teamed up with organizations across the country to bring life-saving screenings along with diagnostic follow-up and treatment if needed to underserved women.

8. Spearheaded innovations and transformational research into workplace equity.

9. Announced the BWHI Change Agency— the first-of-its-kind culturally tailored capacity-building designated CDC training entity.

No national organization has been as impactful on Black women’s health or their lived experiences narrative as the Black Women’s Health Imperative.

Why Our Impact Matters More Than Ever

Racist experiences are degrading, toxic, and debilitating for Black women, and studies show our bodies’ response to them can be seen at the cellular level. Thirty years ago, public health researcher and professor at the University of Michigan’s Population Studies Center, Arline Geronimus, described what she called “weathering” and the “allostatic load” that Black women bear, causing them to age faster than white women. Although Geronimus’ research was largely ignored, she discovered that stress raises our risk for certain cancers, infant and maternal mortality; triggers our metabolic response (the way we metabolize food); and raises our risk for diabetes, hypertension, and obesity-related conditions—all of which put us at a higher risk of dying.

Black women report that their lives are increasingly stressful, both at home and at work.

Stress is compounded by chronic diseases that seem to prey upon the Black community. The number of Black Americans with diabetes is astounding—2.2 million according to the National Institutes of Health. But for Black women, Type 2 diabetes has reached epidemic levels, with 1 in 4 women age 55 years and older living with the disease. Additionally, from 1968 to today, the percentage of Black Americans diagnosed with diabetes has increased a staggering fourfold.

In March 2022, we released our National Diabetes Agenda. The Agenda outlines policy recommendations that could help prevent diabetes and reduce health inequities, including prediabetes screening programs and wider access to affordable care. It also highlights the Black Women’s Health Imperative’s Change Your Lifestyle. Change Your Life. program, a year-long, evidencebased program that helps participants at risk of developing diabetes make positive lifestyle changes. This lifestyle-change program is offered as a resource provided through the BWHI’s cooperative agreement with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).

There are encouraging signs that the medical community is finally waking up to racism’s destructive effects—but systemic change must move faster. We all know that systemic racism isn’t going anywhere on its own.

We are gratified that BWHI's work has raised general public awareness around these issues and that some in the healthcare system are finally listening to our demands. Because if we’re going to fix our broken healthcare system and require real behavior change and real equity, we must require behavior change at the provider level and produce more studies, more clinicians, more doctors, and more changes to make the U.S. healthcare system more inclusive to Black women. And we strongly suggest starting by building trust, improving outreach, and funding diversity for more effective drugs and more accurate

clinical results for better health outcomes in Black women.

Despite systemic racism and access barriers to optimal well-being, Black women are a vital force in moving our culture and communities forward. Historically, Black women have played an integral role in the desegregation of public schools, public transportation, and communities. Today, we remain fierce advocates for equality and one of the most active groups of voters in the country, but we face a barrage of challenges daily that impact our health.

Why Our Impact Matters More Than Ever

Today more than ever, we live the reality that Black women are worthy of quality care. The appointment of Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson is yet another benchmark of excellence attained. Judge Jackson will also serve as an inspiration to Black mothers and all working mothers.

As she espoused in her confirmation hearings, she "did not always get the balance right" when juggling her career and motherhood. "But if you do your best and you love your children … things will turn out OK."

To hear this from Judge Jackson, a woman at the top of her field and no stranger to breaking barriers, was reassuring for so many Black women and mothers who are constantly under pressure to be perfect. Judge Jackson revealed that imperfection is okay. As Black women in America, we see ourselves in Judge Jackson, and we have learned how important it is to prioritize self-care.

Notably, Judge Jackson also took a hard stance on abortion rights during her confirmation hearings, stating that Roe v. Wade is "settled law."

Federally protected abortion rights are particularly important for Black women, as we face disproportionate barriers to accessing sexual and reproductive healthcare. But now those rights are in serious jeopardy and almost certain to be declared unconstitutional by the conservative majority of the U.S. Supreme Court.

Roe has given Black women the bodily autonomy we've historically been denied. In so doing, the landmark decision has contributed to the physical, emotional, and financial health of millions of Black women.

Overturning Roe v. Wade would mean that there would be a small patchwork of states that provide abortion services. This would significantly limit access to women who are financially challenged and can't

afford to travel across state lines to obtain reproductive health care. Such a decision will also negatively impact the lives of the most vulnerable of us—our young Black girls who are victims of incest, rape, and sex trafficking and are not yet ready for parenting.

This outcome would be particularly devastating for Black women, who already face massive hurdles to receiving abortion services and are more than three times as likely to die during childbirth as white women. We know that the single most cited reason Black women give for seeking abortion care is the inability to afford a child. If Roe is indeed overturned, they are and their children would likely be condemned to a lifetime of poverty and poor health outcomes.

No matter the court’s decision, BWHI will continue to fight to protect Black women's right to bodily autonomy and their physical and economic well-being.

Why We Focus On Wellness

Our work highlights health inequities, raises awareness, and influences medical systems and legislation centering on Black women's concerns and elevates them to the national stage. We are on a mission to transform the inequities of our current reality into systems that can support optimal health and well-being outcomes for Black women. The following key insights illustrate why our work remains critical.

THE FACTS

• Black women continue to experience excess mortality relative to other U.S. women, including—despite overall improvements among Black women—shorter life expectancies1 and higher rates of maternal mortality.

• Moreover, Black women are disproportionately burdened by chronic conditions, such as diabetes, anemia, cardiovascular disease (CVD), and obesity. Health outcomes do not occur independent of the social conditions in which they exist.

• The higher burden of these chronic conditions reflects the structural inequities within and outside the health system that Black women experience throughout their life course and contributes to the current crisis of maternal morbidity and mortality. The health inequities experienced by Black women are not merely a crosssection of time or the result of a singular incident.

• Black women experience intimate partner violence at higher rates than women overall. More than 40% of Black women experience physical violence by an intimate partner during their lifetimes (41.2%), compared with 31.5% of all women.

Our Financial Health Impacts our Overall Health:

Systemic issues affect educational opportunities and access to wages that support quality lifestyles. Census data confirms that the full-time work-life earnings of white women remain more than those of African American women regardless of their degrees. And in a majority of single-parent homes Black women are the breadwinners.

THE FACTS

• African American women held 8.58% of Bachelor’s degrees held by women in 2012, though they constituted 12.7% of the female population.

• Only 2% of African American women are represented in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics, or STEM, fields, while women make up 24% of the STEM workforce.

• 35% of Black business owners are women, and 58% of Black business owners said their business’s financial health was “at risk” or “distressed” during the COVID-19 pandemic.

• Black families depend on Black women’s earnings. Eight out of 10 (80.6%) Black mothers are breadwinners and either the sole earner or earn at least 40% of household income.

• Black women found just 4% of startups and businesses owned by Black women earn significantly less than businesses run by other women.

• The poverty rate for African American women is 28.6%.In comparison, the poverty rate of white, non-Hispanic women is 10.8%.

• The poverty rate of African American lesbian couples is 21.1% versus 4.3% for white lesbian couples.

2019 data sources: black-womens-health-insurance-coverage.pdf (nationalpartnership.org) and Fact Sheet: The State of African American Women in the United States - Center for American Progress Health Equity Among Black Women in the United States | Journal of Women’s Health (liebertpub.com)

• African American women are three times more likely than white women to be incarcerated. The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) asserted in 2011 that incarceration mainly affects Latinas and Black women, as they are often the primary caregivers for their children and are also disproportionately victimized.

COVID-19 YEAR 2

Impact on Black American Women

Impact on Black American Women

According to The National Library of Medicine, the COVID-19 pandemic has caused a spiraling impact on the African American (Black) community, particularly African American (Black) women. Epidemiological data show that Black communities are disproportionately affected by the COVID-19 virus, resulting in higher morbidity, mortality, and pair health outcome rates than other races and nationalities (Chandelier et al., 2021). Since the worldwide crisis was declared, Black women have also faced health and social determinant challenges during this unfamiliar time (Walter et al., 2021). These challenges have led African American women to experience adversity in their overall health and well-being.

The systemic racism and marginalization history of Black women has increased personal and family health concerns about contracting the virus. These unprecedented issues have further resulted in increased financial, physical, emotional, and mental challenges for Black women due to the coronavirus pandemic.

In 2020, we released our publication Surviving & Thriving COVID-19 Pandemic Survival Guide for Black Women and Their Families to share the science; lead the call to wear masks; and help equip Black women to protect themselves, their families, and their communities. Released before vaccines were widely available, our culturally tailored, science-based pandemic survival guide told the story of how the

COVID-19 pandemic is affecting us, Black women, and empowers us to take actions that keep us healthy, safe, and resilient. The guide described the scope of the health, economic, and social impacts; of the pandemic; provided practical tips and resources that Black women can use to mitigate the severity of those impacts, and called on policymakers to account with lists of concrete recommendations for addressing our needs and ending the disparities we experience. We knew what it meant to be Black women in this country, at that moment. And in the second year of the pandemic, despite vaccines and on-and-off mask mandates, we know the stakes are still high, and the consequences are literally life or death.

The COVID-19 and Black Women Year 2 Snapshot below provides concise findings on how the COVID-19 pandemic financially, physically, emotionally, and mentally impacted women of color, and how Black Women's Health Imperative can support Black women during these unprecedented times. The data collection focus that supports this snapshot is workplace inequity, maternal health, HIV, and chronic illnesses such as diabetes that have impacted women of color during the global pandemic.

COVID-19 Pandemic Affect on Black Women’s Mental Health 1

The World Health Organization (WHO) first declared the worldwide COVID-19 pandemic on March 11, 2020, impacting millions (Mayo Clinic, 2022). The Pandemic has taken an extreme toll on the mental health of individuals of every age, nationality, and race. According to Baylor University (2021), a prominent community whose mental health has been severely negatively impacted is African American women.

Research from Care’s Rapid Gender Analysis (2021) shows that the mortality risk of COVID-19 for men has been double the number for women—yet the pandemic has impacted women’s mental health more than men's. Chronic stress and worry has caused different mental health challenges and difficulties for Black women.

Being mandated to isolate causes torment for any person.

The mental health challenges of Black women have increased substantially during the COVID-19 pandemic. Additionally, 20% of people who require mental health issues do not have access to care (PubMed, 2020). It is imperative now more than ever for women to have the ability to prioritize self-care and have reliable access to mental healthcare.

What can be done?

Access to healthcare is essential in improving mental health challenges for Black women. Some Black women fall into a vulnerable population and may need support from local or non-profit programs such as BWHI to assist in finding access to healthcare plans and services.

At BWHI, we believe that Black women deserve and should have access to quality care. With a focus on helping the minority group access Affordable Healthcare-ACA, BWHI created the campaign #EnrollHer20, informing and assisting Black women in health insurance open enrollment.

Considering ESSENCE’s Impact of COVID-19 on Black Women study, African American women have been affected by this global disaster differently than other populations. The study found that Black women:

67% were more concerned of contracting COVID-19 themselves.

80% were more concerned about spreading the virus to their relatives.

24% knew someone who died from the virus.

44% personally knew individuals who had COVID-19.

64% stated the pandemic negatively impacted their emotional well-being and (63%) their mental health.

43% stated that the pandemic negatively affected their physical health. 34% of Black women declared that the pandemic has harmed family ties.

83% intend to mend a family relationship after the pandemic.

COVID-19 Pandemic Affect on Black Women Economic and Financial Security

populations. According to a Georgia Budget and Policy Institute study, Black women are two times more likely to live in poverty than Caucasian women. Research has also shown that Black women earn significantly fewer wages than Caucasian men.

Consider another study conducted by The Georgia Budget and Policy Institute: Unequal Recovery: How the Covid-19 Pandemic has Impacted Economic Security for Black and Latino Women, comparing Georgian Black women’s wages and economic disparities to those of white men in the state of Georgia during and post the global pandemic. According to the 2019 data collected, Georgian women of color who work full-time earn 63 cents less compared to every dollar paid to men.

other populations results in sometimes daily questioning and choosing priorities for those they love and care for.

ESSENCE’s Impact of COVID-19 on Black Women study, found that

55%

52%

of Black women foresee a negative financial impact due to the pandemic.

Black women shared that the pandemic has caused a decline and has negatively affected their overall work efforts.

The mental challenges that African American women have experienced and currently face during the pandemic created other barriers to the minority group’s overall health and well-being. Black women face significant obstacles in achieving success and experience more disparities in jobs and wages than other

In 2022, the gender wage gap has continued for African American women not just by state, but nationally. Data findings from the National Partnership for Women and Families (2022) show that the median yearly salary for a woman who works full time is $50,982, while the median yearly wage for a man who works full time is $61,417. The January 2022 data show that women in the United States earn 83 cents for every dollar paid to men, resulting in an annual gender wage gap of roughly $10,000. Women of color are typically the head of the household, so to continuously experience unequal financial earnings compared to

Additionally, women of color who owned a business saw a 70% financial decline from lack of supplies and products from delays and shortages due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Other factors in the continuous gender wage gaps and financial burdens African American women face during this precedent time occur from:

• The broken job markets

• Underrepresentation from employers

• A lack of unemployment access.

• Lack of sick leave and paid time off during the world disaster

• Unequal job offering compared to other populations

The pandemic spotlighted the lack of resources for Black women and how they suffered when impacted by underrepresentation, layoffs, and furloughs. The article “OnTheMargins: Economic Security for Women of Color Through the Coronavirus Pandemic and Beyond” found that Black women only had 60% of paid sick time through their employers during the pandemic. For other Black women who experienced furloughs or layoffs, do to ineligibility for unemployment insurance caused financial challenges for households. Khalfani (2021), found that Black women received 15% less in wages due to the Covid-19 pandemic. Further supporting research found that many Black women who worked in occupations including but not limited to hospitality and retail were impacted the most during the global disaster from a decline or loss in wages (Sims, 2021). During the current recovery stage of the pandemic, Black women are going back to work. Job opportunities are proiferating, but women of color are not landing quality employment compared to other populations (Sims, 2021). As a result, the lack of economic and financial sustainability has caused an upward spiral of disruption and slower recouping for Black women from the global disaster.

What are we doing at BWHI to help ease this challenge?

Workplace equity is a significant challenge that has and continues to affect women of color around the nation. At Black Women’s Health Imperative, we developed the BWHI Fair Work Initiative, a national workplace equity and anti-racism initiative to better the health and wellness of Black women, particularly their experiences in the workplace.

COVID-19 Pandemic Black Women and Healthcare Challenges

Mental health and financial challenges are not the only health disparities African American women faced during the pandemic. There has been a decline in overall health outcomes for women of color. Specific health disparities that impact women of color are but are not limited to:

• Maternal and mortality deaths

• Chronic disease challenges such as diabetes

• A lack of support for Black women with HIV

Maternal and Mortality Deaths

A new report by Reuters found that the maternal death of Black women has increased during the time of the COVID-19 pandemic compared to previous years. The report found that Black women’s likelihood to die during or shortly after labor was triple that of white women in the first year of the global pandemic (Reuter, 2022).

A data report by the National Center for Health Statistics found that maternal deaths increased by 14% to 861 in 2020 from 754 in 2019 (Reuter, 2022).

Also included, The National Center for Health Statistics report found that the maternal death rate in 2020 among Black women was 2.9 times higher than white women, compared to a 2.5 increase in 2018-2019 (Reuter, 2022).

Further data findings showed that in 2020, one-third of pregnant and new mothers who passed away were women of color (Reuter,

2022). This number is astonishing because women of color only make up 13% of the U.S. population (Reuter, 2022).

Diabetes Affect on Black Women During the Pandemic

BWHI is committed to reducing the burden of type 2 diabetes (T2D) on the health and lives of Black women. This drove our recent release of our BWHI National Diabetes Agenda. Our policy agenda focuses primarily on T2D, which affects one in every four Black women ages 55 and older and one in 10 people in the US general population. Diabetes has become a silent plague for Black women, and the illness challenges have increased during the COVID-19 pandemic.

In January 2021, the University of Mississippi Medical Center conducted a study on the impact of COVID-19 on the African Americans community, including specific data of African American women. According to the lead researcher, Dr. Osagie Ebekozien, an assistant professor of population health at the John D. Bower School of Population Health, hospitalizations and deaths due to COVID-19 increased for Black women with Type 1 diabetes due to the worldwide pandemic.

The data collected found that Black communities had a four-time increased risk of developing diabetic ketoacidosis (DKA). DKA is a severe condition that raises blood sugar and insult levels for patients with Type 1 diabetes (Cummins, 2021). Research has found that viruses such as COVID-19 evoke DKA, which increases the chances of a coma or even death for Type 1 diabetic patients (Cummins, 2021).

The global pandemic has raised diabetes challenges for Black women. During the recovery stages, programs and national advocacy will be needed to help lower the barrier.

Everyone across the nation was mandated to quarantine and has been impacted due to the global pandemic: in other communities, the COVID-19 virus negatively impacted populations such as women of color with HIV. Lolly (2021) reported that the first HIV cases occurred more than four decades ago. Since the first reporting and declaring the global pandemic, over 1 million individuals with HIV in the United States have been experiencing progressive barriers in the lack of HIV/AIDS medication and overall health treatments (Lolly, 2021).

The COVID-19 pandemic has also increased the risk of death for women of color with HIV. Research findings in 2019 from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) state that there was a likelihood that Black

women were at 14.5 times a risk of dying from HIV than white women. A New York study in Jama Network found that more women with HIV were hospitalized and died of COVID-19 compared to women without HIV.

As a result, the lack of access to healthcare and social resources shows disparities in social determinants of health for all, especially women of color with HIV. According to “The social determinants of health: it’s time to consider the causes of the causes,” social determinants of health (SDoH) are the conditions where one is born, live, learn, work, play, worship, and age that affect a wide range of overall health, quality-of-life outcomes, and risk factors. When one’s social determinates are affected, it causes challenges to an individual’s overall health. The COVID-19 pandemic has restricted health and social access, requiring more advocacy and support to improve women’s health outcomes.

What are we doing at BWHI to help ease this challenge?

A significant challenge that has and continues to affect women of color around the nation is a decline in health outcomes and overall well-being. Health disparities have led to an increase in adverse health outcomes that have impacted African American women. At Black Women’s Health Imperative, we developed the All of Us Research Program to help understand why Black women get sick and ways to stay healthy. Black women’s data should be included in research to create medical treatments unique to Black women. At BWHI, we understand that research will be the future for improving health outcomes for all,

Black Women with HIV During the COVID-19 Pandemic

“No one is telling the story of HIV-positive- Black women.

In the pandemic, they need more support...”

– Jallicia Lolly, Washington Post

COVID-19 Pandemic Preventative Care

According to an article by Clinical Psychological Science, people of color experience higher life burdens and heath interference due to the COVID-19 pandemic than other populations. In the report, the research found that:

• 44% of African Americans vs. 38% of Caucasian Americans experienced financial loss due to the pandemic (Lopez et al., 2020).

• In February of 2021, a survey found that 64% of African Americans reported unintentional changes in weight and 76% reported undesired changes in sleep patterns (American Psychological Association, 2021).

• 54% of African Americans vs. 44% of Caucasian Americans reported not feeling comfortable going back to living normally before the pandemic.

• 57% of African Americans vs. 47% of Caucasian Americans reported feeling anxious about adjusting to inperson exchanges after the pandemic concludes (American Psychological Association, 2021)

• The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) reported that African Americans had higher anxiety or depressive symptoms rates of 39.8% from August 2021 to January 2021 vs. 35.4% of Caucasian Americans (Vahratian et al., 2021).

Although the African American community has faced significant stress and health challenges due to the pandemic, African American women have been incorporating preventative efforts in handling life stressors due to the world crisis.

Consider the study by Brown et al. (2021) for the National Library of Medicine that conducted an experiment on women of color to better understand the life experiences and burdens that arose due to the pandemic. The data collected is intended to be utilized for future interventions and provide coping strategies to reduce stress levels for African American women during current and future world crises.

There was a high theme of participants engaging in active coping (problem and

emotion-focused) by incorporating the following coping focuses:

• Health and wellbeing behaviors

• Virtual social support

• Religious practices

Black American women are proven resilient and will continue to valiantly cope with life and health stressors brought on by the COVID-19 Pandemic. And as Black women and our community face new barriers to reproductive justice and achieving well-being, our mission has never been more critical. BWHI will continue to advocate in the halls of Congress, use evidence-based strategies, and invest in bold programs to improve the health of Black women.

What are we doing at BWHI to help Back women with more preventative care efforts?

Preventative services are essential in maintaining overall health and well-being, especially for Black women. At Black Women’s Health Imperative, we developed campaigns such as Reclaim Your Wellness and P.O.W.E.R. of SURE to raise awareness for preventative services needed for Black women.

Black Women’s Health Imperative and HealthyWomen launched the Reclaim Your Wellness campaign to raise awareness of obesity as a national health crisis in a manner that is free of stigma, judgment, and bias. The

campaign’s focus is to provide education on living a healthier life.

The P.O.W.E.R. of SURE is a national campaign designed to raise awareness of Black women’s disparities faced for mammography screening. The program is in partnership with Hologic, Inc. (Nasdaq: H.O.L.X.), an innovative medical technology company primarily focused on improving women’s health, and RAD-AID, a nonprofit dedicated to ensuring equal access to radiology health services for medically underserved communities.

References

1. “On the margins: Economic Security for Women of Color Through The Coronavirus Crisis and Beyond”womenswealthgap.org. (n.d.). Retrieved April 4, 2022, from https://womenswealthgap.org/wp-content/ uploads/2021/08/OnTheMargins_DDerbigny.pdf

2. “Black Women and Covid-19: The Need for Targeted Mental ... (n.d.).” Retrieved April 4, 2022, from https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/ abs/10.1177/1473325020973349

3. Camardelle, A. (2021, March 18). “Women-Powered Prosperity.” Georgia Budget and Policy Institute Retrieved April 4, 2022, from https://gbpi.org/womenpowered-prosperity-report/

4. Chandler R; Guillaume D; Parker AG; Mack A; Hamilton J; Dorsey J; Hernandez ND; (n.d.). “The Impact of Covid-19 Among Black Women: Evaluating Perspectives and Sources of Information.” Ethnicity & Health Retrieved April 4, 2022, from https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm. nih.gov/33153287/

5. Chinn, J. J., Martin, I. K., & Redmond, N. (2021, February). “Health Equity Among Black Women in the United States.” Journal of Women’s Health (2002). Retrieved April 4, 2022, from https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih. gov/pmc/articles/PMC8020496/#B66.

6. “Covid-19 and the ‘Strong Black Woman.’” Gender Policy Report. (2020, October 19). Retrieved April 4, 2022, from https://genderpolicyreport.umn.edu/covid19-and-the-strong-black-woman/

7. “Covid-19 and Women’s Mental Health: The Impact on Well-being, Disparities, and fFuture Implications.” Community Connection Magazine | Baylor University. (2021, April 1). Retrieved April 4, 2022, from https:// www.baylor.edu/communityconnection/news. php?action=story&story=222809-.

8. “Covid-19 Stress and the Health of …” - journals. sagepub.com. (n.d.). Retrieved April 4, 2022, from https://journals.sagepub.com/ doi/10.1177/21677026211049379

9. Dforsythe. (2021, October 19). “Special Initiatives.” Black Women’s Health Imperative. Retrieved April 4, 2022, from https://bwhi.org/special-initiatives/

10. Essence. (2020, December 6). “Essence Releases ‘Impact of covid-19 on Black Women’ Study.” Essence. Retrieved April 4, 2022, from https://www.essence. com/health-and-wellness/essence-covid-19-blackwomen-study/

11. Foley, P., Levine, E., Askew, S., Puleo, E., Whiteley, J., Batch, B., Heil, D., Dix, Lett, V., Lanpher, M., Miller, J., Emmons, K., & Bennett, G. (2012, June 15). “Weight Gain Prevention Among Black Women in the Rural Community Health Center Setting: The Shape Program” - BMC Public Health. BioMed Central. Retrieved April 4, 2022, from D., https://bmcpublichealth.biomedcentral. com/articles/10.1186/1471-2458-12-305

12. McNabb W, Quinn M, Tobian J. “Diabetes in African American women: The Silent Epidemic.” Women’s Health. 1997 Fall-Winter; (Hillsdale, N.J.). Retrieved April 4, 2022, from https://pubmed. ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/9426497/#:~:text=Among%20 African%20American%20women%2C%20 diabetes,long%2Dterm%20complications%20of%20 diabetes.

13. Khalfani, R. (2021, April 21). “State of Working Georgia: Pandemic Job Numbers are Improving, but Inequitably.” Georgia Budget and Policy Institute. Retrieved April 4, 2022, from https://gbpi.org/state-of-working-georgiapandemic-job-numbers-are-improving-but-inequitably/

14. L;, B. P. G. (n.d.). “The Social Determinants of Health: It’s Time to Consider the Causes of the Causes.” Public Health Reports (Washington, D.C., 1974). Retrieved April 4, 2022, from https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih. gov/24385661/

15. Mayo Foundation for Medical Education and Research. (2022, April 1). “Coronavirus Disease 2019 (Covid-19).” Mayo Clinic. Retrieved April 4, 2022, from https:// www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/coronavirus/ symptoms-causes/syc-20479963#:~:text=In%20 March%202020%2C%20the,19%20outbreak%20a%20 pandemic.

16. Millett, G. A. (2020, November). “New Pathogen, Same Disparities: Why Covid-19 and HIV Remain Prevalent in U.S. Communities of Colour and Implications for Ending the HIV Epidemic.” Journal of the International AIDS Society. Retrieved April 4, 2022, from https://www.ncbi. nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7645849/

17. Nora V. Becker, M. D. (2021, July 2). “Utilization of Women’s Preventive Health Services During the COVID-19 Pandemic.” JAMA Health Forum. Retrieved April 4, 2022, from https://jamanetwork.com/journals/ jama-health-forum/fullarticle/2781692

18 “Pandemic’s Toll on Young Black Women.” Human Rights Watch. (2020, November 3). Retrieved April 4, 2022, from https://edit.hrw.org/news/2020/11/03/ pandemics-toll-young-black-women

19. Pfender, E. (2020, August). “Mental Health and Covid-19: Implications for the Future of Telehealth.” Journal of Patient Experience. Retrieved April 4, 2022, from https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/ PMC7415938/

20. Ruth Cummins, ricummins@umc.edu. (1AD, January 1). “Study: Diabetes, Covid-19 Combo Riskier for Blacks, Hispanics.” University of Mississippi Medical Center Retrieved April 4, 2022, from https://www.umc.edu/ news/News_Articles/2021/01/COVID-Diabetes-Study. html

21. “Sex Disparities in Covid-19 Deaths Hide High Toll on Black Women.” News. (2021, April 9). Retrieved April 4, 2022, from https://www.hsph.harvard.edu/news/hsphin-the-news/sex-disparities-covid-black-women/.

22. Sims, D. D. (2021, November 19). “Unequal Recovery: How the COVID-19 Pandemic has Impacted Economic Security for Black Women and Latinas.” Georgia Budget and Policy Institute. Retrieved April 4, 2022, from https://gbpi.org/unequal-recovery-how-the-covid-19pandemic-has-impacted-economic-security-for-blackwomen-and-latinas/

23. Sweeney AM; Wilson DK; Zarrett N; Brown A; Quattlebaum M; Gorman B; Loncar H; (n.d.). “Evaluating Experiences of Stress and Coping Among African American Women During the COVID-19 Pandemic to Inform Future Interventions.” Health Education & Behavior: The Official Publication of the Society for Public Health Education. Retrieved April 4, 2022, from https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/34672834/

24 Thelilynews. (2021, September 29). “No One’s Telling .the Stories of HIV-positive Back Women. In the Pandemic, They Need More Support.” https://www. thelily.com. Retrieved April 4, 2022, from https://www. thelily.com/no-ones-telling-the-stories-of-hiv-positiveblack-women-in-the-pandemic-they-need-moresupport/

25. User, S. (n.d.). “In Practice Rapid Gender Analysis.” Rapid Gender Analysis. Retrieved April 4, 2022, from https://insights.careinternational.org.uk/in-practice/ rapid-gender-analysis

Source: SOBW_ExecutiveSummary_Digital-2.pdf (statusofwomendata.org)

Source: SOBW_ExecutiveSummary_Digital-2.pdf (statusofwomendata.org)

Introducing the BWHI Fair Work Initiative

Now is the time to address the ongoing health and financial equities in the workplace.

In 2021, the Black Women’s Health Imperative announced the BWHI Fair Work initiative to combat racism and gender discrimination in the workplace.

The Hewlett Foundation awarded $1M in initial funding to BWHI as part of its commitment to nonprofits fighting systemic racism.

The vision of President and CEO Linda Goler Blount, MPH, the Fair Work Initiative is led by Dr. Angelica Geter, Chief Strategy Officer.

The four-part initiative addresses workplace culture, policies, and practices through:

• Robust Data Design

• Tangible Activation

• Measurable Impact

• Black women experience racism in the workplace more than anywhere else.

• Chronic stress due to racism and discrimination is aging Black women by 7.5 years.

• Chronic stress is well documented as a precursor to heart disease, diabetes, obesity, and other illnesses.

• Wage gap for Black women is $0.63 for every $1.00 made by white men.

INITIATIVE DETAILS

FAIR WORK INDEX

FAIR WORK TRAINING

FAIR WORK RESEARCH

A.R.T. FOR WELLNESS

Open-Source Tool based on 350+ metrics, used to measure equity in policies, practices, and culture and model systems level transformation.

Evidence-Based Training guided by the historical context of racial and gender bias promotes systems level transformation.

Surveys and Interviews center the voices of 3,000 Black women and their experiences in the workplace.

Employee Guidance and Support to help Black women navigate and thrive in the workplace.

FOR MORE INFORMATION, CONTACT: Dr. Angelica Geter, Chief Strategy Officer And see more details at https://fairwork.bwhi.org/.

National Recognition:

• CNBC: How Companies Can Rebuild Workplaces to Support Black Women

• The Root: Nonprofit Wants to Make the Workplace Less Stressful for Black Women

• HR Dive: How One Collective Seeks to Protect Black Women at Work

2022 Q2 Initiative Priorities:

• Public launch of the initiative and marketing campaign

• Partner recruitment and engagement

• Fundraising through corporate engagement, sponsorship, and individual donations

Policy Advocacy & Action

Evolving Advocacy To Action:

We know that the people you elect as your state, local, and federal government officials have the power to pass policies, regulations and laws that can help—or harm—your health.

That’s why our expert policy and advocacy team both evaluates and creates national and state policies to hold elected officials accountable for addressing issues most critical to Black women’s health, especially regarding breast and cervical cancers, diabetes, HIV/AIDS, intimate partner violence and sexual assault, maternal health, and reproductive health.

Our fundamental policy priorities are:

• Access to quality, affordable, and innovative approaches to provide comprehensive healthcare for Black women and girls

• Equitable and adequate response for public health emergencies

• Sufficient diversity in clinical research

• Sustained financial support for HBCUs

• Environmental Justice

We champion and co-sponsor legislation to require access to quality maternal healthcare, lifesaving health screenings, and abortion care, as well as help push through laws that ensure participation in clinical research and access to treatments for rare diseases. We are also leading the effort to create the first National Health Policy Agenda for Black Women. When we wrote our open letter to

the Biden Administration, we were cautiously optimistic.

An Open Letter on Health Disparities to President Biden, Vice President Harris, and Members of Your National Health Care Team

We welcomed the Biden-Harris administration’s commitment to improving and expanding the Affordable Care Act and to protecting Medicaid so that all Americans, regardless of age or color, have access to quality, affordable healthcare with intervention and prevention programs to address conditions that disproportionately affect the Black community. But our optimism has decidedly waned.

Advocacy is Fundamental to Who We Are. An Organization that Requires and Drives Action is Now What We Are.

In 2021, as COVID-19 ravaged our people for a second year and the disproportionate burdens of type 2 diabetes continued to plague Black women, we took even greater measures to shift our advocacy into action— action that are informed by research-backed strategies intended to drive change in systems, policies, and healthcare behavior across society. And we achieved results. The following showcases highlights of our policy leadership and impact.

Policy Advocacy & Action

Policy Publication

2022 National Diabetes Agenda in Collaboration with BWHI Programs

The report highlighted the range of issues related to diabetes and factors contributing to inequities in risk factors, prevalence, complications, morbidity, and mortality. It also identified policy gaps and opportunities to close them through action and engagement. We aim to make a difference in Black women’s lives through initiatives that reduce the burden of disease, "improve healthcare access and self-care," encourage innovation; and most importantly, prevent type 2 diabetes.

BWHI led introduction of the Sickle Cell Disease Expansion Act – H.R. 7177

U.S. Representative Charlie Crist (D-St. Petersburg) and U.S. Representative Barbara Lee (D-California) introduced H.R. 7177, the Sickle Cell Care Expansion Act, legislation that will improve access to treatment, medical care, and quality of life for people suffering from Sickle Cell Disease (SCD). Specifically, the legislation expands the National Health Services Corps (NHSC) to include the study of benign hematology, the specialty under which SCD falls. NHSC provides scholarships and loan repayment assistance as an as an incentive to attract healthcare providers to specialties where shortages exist.

Policy Advocacy & Action

Policy-Centered Conversations

ANTI-TOBACCO

Let’s Clear the Air!

March 15, 2022

Anti-Tobacco HBCU - Listening Session

The purpose of the Let's Clear the Air listening session was to help BWHI understand what HBCU students think about flavored tobacco products, e-cigarettes, and vaping, and the culture that surrounds it. We discussed the generational rise and decline of habitual smoking, how isolation and stress during COVID-19 has contributed, consequential smoke-related health issues, and more. The information we collected will contribute to the data used to create a full report on the dangers of flavored tobacco and/or e-cigarettes.

Get Your Advocacy in Shape –A Cultural Conversation Series Webinar

February 8, 2022

This webinar aimed to engage and mobilize activists and all other stakeholders by highlighting the opportunities on the table in 2022 to fight against the tobacco industry and finally put an end to the tobacco industry’s targeting of people of color and other targeted communities. The panel discussed the FDA menthol ban, e-cigarettes, and the pending showdowns against Big Tobacco at the state and local levels.

ENVIRONMENT AND WOMEN’S HEALTH

Clearinghouse Presentation: “Combating Women’s Health and Wealth Inequities”

Women’s Clearing House asked us to speak on a panel centering around women’s health, and focusing on the inequities faced by women, particularly women of color. We covered the intersection between health and wealth, and highlighted the connections between financial inequity, lack of resources, and healthcare equity.

Policy Advocacy & Action

Abortion Access and Reproductive Justice

LIBERATE ABORTION CAMPAIGN

Federal Table, Co-Chairs - National Women’s Law Center and Black Women’s Health Imperative

Liberate Abortion Campaign Hill Briefing

January 21, 2022

The purpose of the briefing was to introduce the Liberate Abortion Campaign, provide litigation updates on abortion access cases, discuss state legislative attacks on abortion access, and next steps.

H.Con.Res.78

Support for the recognition of March 10, 2022, as “Abortion Provider Appreciation Day”

Congressman Andy Levin and Senator Mazie Hirono introduced a resolution to honor abortion Provider Appreciation Day.

Dear Biden Letter Protect Abortion Access

March 10, 2022

“An open letter from over 1,000 people (who have either had or provided an abortion) asked President Biden to take immediate action on abortion rights and be more vocal on this important issue. This letter was also featured in an article in the Huffington Post

Policy Advocacy & Action

COVID-19 Vaccine Virtual Conversations

“Steps to Surviving COVID-19 During the Age of Variants (Baltimore)”

February 3, 2022

The panel discussed the challenges and questions that school systems, businesses, parents, health practitioners, and government must address to keep the community safe from COVID-19, as new variants of the disease pose ever-changing risks and outcomes.

“COVID-19: Class is in Session” Webinar

February 9, 2022

The purpose of this webinar was to educate and inform viewers on how COVID-19 has impacted Texas Southern University and K-12 school districts in Texas and neighboring state, Mississippi. Our diverse group of panelists shared their views on how this evolving virus continues to impose challenges on the school system and institutions of higher learning. As COVID-19 continues to rise, it is imperative that educators and administrators are vocal about how this daunting task affects our students, educators, and administration.

“Steps to Surviving COVID-19 During The Age of Variants (Houston)”

February 17, 2022

Our goal is to increase the amount of vaccinated and boosted individuals in Newark by educating our audience and sharing resources. “Steps to Surviving COVID-19 During The Age of Variants” discussed the challenge and questions that school systems, businesses, parents, health practitioners, and government must address to keep the community safe from COVID-19 as new variants emerge.

Policy Advocacy & Action

Speaking Engagements and Workshops

SCOTUS Rally in Support of Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson

March 21, 2022

The National Women’s Law Center Action Fund, She Will Rise, and the Black Women’s Roundtable held a rally in celebration of Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson’s historic nomination to the Supreme Court.

OBESITY –RECLAIM YOUR WELLNESS: A Conversation on Obesity Workshop

March 5, 2022

As part of the 33rd Annual Delta Days in the Nation’s Capital, Delta Sigma, Inc. is convening this workshop in partnership with the Black Women’s Health Imperative. Over 600 women attended this virtual workshop to discuss obesity and other health issues important to Black women.

Kineta Sealey, Esq., Policy Counsel

Photo: Shannon Finney for NWLCAF Counsel

Policy Advocacy & Action

Black Women’s Health Imperative Launches a Rare Disease Diversity Coalition

The Rare Disease Diversity Coalition Aims to Raise Awareness about Rare Diseases

BWHI has officially launched the Rare Disease Diversity Coalition (RDDC) to focus on the extraordinary challenges faced by rare disease patients of color. The non-profit organization’s launch signifies a critical step of development for RDDC, as the coalition strives to bring about evidence-based solutions for rare diseases and alleviate the disproportionate burden on diverse communities and populations. In forming a first-of-its-kind coalition, the RDDC brings together rare disease experts, health and diversity advocates, and industry leaders. The RDDC recognizes the need to demand changes in a healthcare system that had left rare disease patients behind in a rapidly advancing scientific revolution and a strong sense of belief that this coalition can help society drive progress on the continuing struggles regarding health equity and rare diseases.

Leading RDDC as Executive Director is Tammy Boyd, JD, MPH who brings a wealth of professional experience, including over 25 years establishing and managing relationships with executive, legislative, administrative and regulatory branches of federal government to implement strategic plans. Most recently, Ms. Boyd served as Chief Policy Officer & Counsel at BWHI.

RDDC CELEBRATED RARE DISEASE DAY

How to Advocate for Your Health as a BIPOC Patient Webinars

February 28, 2022

In the first panel, we delved into the topic of sickle cell disease with brothers Larenz, Lahmaud, and Larron Tate. The Tate brothers educated our audience on the importance of knowing one’s family medical history and discussed their motivation to join the fight against rare diseases. In our second panel, key experts explored why symptoms of rare diseases are often dismissed by physicians and how patients of color can best advocate for themselves to access the benefits of an early diagnosis.

Congressmen G.K. Butterfield and Bobby Rush Supports Rare Disease Day - The Rare Disease Diversity Coalition

Raises Awareness about

Rare Diseases and Patients of Color

Congressman G.K. Butterfield (North Carolina 1st Congressional District), a Co-Chair of the Rare Disease Congressional Caucus and 24th Chair of the Congressional Black Caucus, introduced a resolution recognizing the extraordinary challenges faced by patients of color with rare diseases and the need to identify and promote evidenced-based solutions to alleviate the disproportionate burden of rare diseases on these communities, as well as supporting Rare Disease Day.

Signature Programs

Achievements

• Enrolled participants in lifestyle change program for Diabetes and Chronic Disease Prevention.

• Trained Lifestyle Coaches, building their capacity to support Black women in making important behavior changes.

• Increased awareness of reproductive and sexual health among women aged 18 to 30, through MSK.

• Increased awareness of the need for menstrual equity through Positive Period.

Improvements in upcoming Plans:

1. How to measure and state impact beyond the metrics required by CDC

2. Moving women from awareness to action

3. Knowing what works instead of not knowing Steps to be taken in the future:

1. Explore new and innovative approaches to getting women to move from awareness to action – enrollment

2. Engage new partners who also serve Black women

3. Engage Black women in evaluating our program for program improvement

PROGRAMS DETAILS OUTCOMES

Change Your Lifestyle. Change Your Life. (CYL2)™

CYL2 is a CDC-recognized lifestyle change program delivered to prevent type 2 diabetes and other chronic conditions among Black women and Latinas by increasing awareness, screening and enrollment coverage.

The Change Agency (CA) CA is a CDC-designated training entity for the National Diabetes Prevention Program. Training entities are responsible for training lifestyle coaches and master trainers affiliated with CDC-approved program providers to increase their capacity to support participants in reaching their program goals.

My Sister’s Keeper (MSK)

The MSK program empowers young Black women ages 18-30 to be powerful advocates and leaders through campus/community engagement, trainings, and chronic disease prevention programming.

Social Media Impressions: 1,399,168

Risks Tests Completed on BWHI website: 584

Enrolled: 484 participants and 838 during the public health emergency Classes Offered: 33

Trainings offered: 20

Coaches Trained: 129

720 hours of technical assistance to other program providers

SOCIAL MEDIA

Followers: 330

Impressions: 3232 impressions

Reach: 551 accounts reached MSK Academy: 241 women engaged MSK Chapter Engagement: 76 campus activities/ events across 7 active chapters

Positive Period™ The Positive Period™ program addresses period poverty by providing education around menstruation and stigma, distributing menstrual products, and advocating for policies that support menstrual equity.

Product Distribution: 30,000 products (pads, menstrual cups, and tampons)

PP Partners: Engaged 5 partners across 4 states (SC, AL, MD, PR) and D.C.

Putting the right programs in the right place, with the right tone, at the right time!

Signature Programs

Change Your Lifestyle. Change Your Life. (CYL2)™

As one of the CDC's original grant recipients when the National Diabetes Prevention Program was commissioned by Congress and launched in 2012, we are collaborating with the CDC to compare outcomes of Black women enrolled in our culturally tailored virtual program to Black women enrolled in virtual programs offered by other program providers, using the CDC’s general market curriculum. BWHI is inviting Black women eligible for the program to enroll, give feedback, and help us further develop and improve our curriculum, our coaching, and our BWHI app.

According to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Office of Minority Health, the risk for diagnosed diabetes is 80% higher among non-Hispanic Blacks than their white counterparts.

Senior Program Manager Lenee ReedusCarson leads our distance learning program, and Senior Program Manager, Michele Tedder, leads the planning and preparation for our program evaluation. Black women who enroll in our program receive incentives for providing ongoing feedback on our coaching, curriculum, and app. We will identify the following in our evaluation:

• Key elements and principles of the BWHI culturally tailored approaches to incorporate into interventions for increased enrollment and retention.

• How those approaches support improved health outcomes in Black women participating in the program.

• Best practices for diabetes prevention program delivery to Black women and the lessons learned from these practices.

Additionally, BWHI was selected along with three program affiliates (The Wellness Coalition, Whatley Health Services, Inc., and Outpatient Medical Center, Inc.) to participate in a CDC Case Study entitled Tailoring Program Delivery During the Public Health Emergency to Enroll and Retain Participants From Population of Focus. The CDC has granted permission for us to share this document with our staff, board, and partners.

• Grambling State University (GSU) was invited to join our program provider network and receive funding from BWHI for program delivery in their respective service area. The program coordinator, Cynthia Parker, works closely with GSU faculty to implement the program with GSU employees. MSK Director Zsanai Epps will be engaging GSU students to adapt the lifestyle change program curriculum to meet their needs and interests.

• Lifestyle Coaches integrate content into and from the BWHI social media accounts to help promote the CYL² lifestyle change program and raise program awareness.

The Men’s Room

The Men’s Room In recent years, research demonstrates that the life span of men has declined. According to Statistica (2021), In 2019, the life expectancy for men in the United States was 76 years of age. That research shows men pass on five years sooner than that of women due to chronic diseases (Statistica, 2021). Now is the time to help men improve their health

The Men’s Room is a new project funded by CDC through the National Association of Chronic Disease Directors that engages Black men to create a lifestyle change program curriculum for themselves. The Men’s Room will be implemented by our Detroit partner, Urban Health Resource (UHR). UHR participated in the CDC pilot to increase enrollment of Black men in the National DPP. The BWHI team is preparing for a public-facing launch by developing an Op-Ed Article published in April. Senior Program Manager William Rowe is leading this project.

Signature Programs

Training and Technical Assistance

Our BWHI Trained Lifestyle Coaches are central to the program and participant successful outcomes.

COACHES ARE TRAINED TO:

1. Allow each participant to tell her own story.

2. Consider participants’ reality, lived experience, and intersectionality.

3. Set the tone of the group by fostering a supportive and respectful culture.

4. Promote the “participant voice” as the most important in the room, encouraging them to express their values, opinions and beliefs so the diversity of the group is apparent and valued.

5. Work with participants to establish a personal plan for making positive behavior changes that are aligned with the participant’s motivation, interests, and realities (e.g., affordability, beliefs, access).

6. Support participants by helping them problem-solve barriers to making lifestyle changes.

7. Reinforce learning, helping participants “connect the dots” and establish accountability.

In 2015, BWHI became a CDC-designated training entity for training coaches and master trainers to deliver the National Diabetes Prevention Program. In this role, we offer/provide training to generate revenue by contracting with other program providers included in the CDC National DPP Registry (https://nccd.cdc.gov/DDT_DPRP/Registry.aspx). All program providers must engage a CDC training entity for both new and advanced skills training. The registered name for our training entity is the Change Agency™, approved by and filed in Fulton County, GA. To learn more about the training entities, visit: https://nationaldppcsc.cdc.gov/s/article/ Training-for-your-Lifestyle-Coach.

Signature Programs

TRAINING AND TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE

through our partnership with the American College of Preventive Medicine and the American Medical Association, and 35 other program providers who are a part of the Learning Collaborative. All organizations focus on enrolling Black women and Latinas. Senior Program Manager Kimberly Lovelady leads our technical assistance work delivered through this partnership in its fifth year.

• Senior Program Manager Yoko Allen provided ongoing technical assistance to all program partners related to progress reporting to BWHI, data reporting to CDC, and compliance with the CDC Standards and Operating Procedures.

• New training contracts executed: MS Department of Health ($25,000); Michigan Public Health Institute ($9,500).

• High-Touch Coaching™: This model was created by BWHI in 2016 in collaboration with our program partners in response to improving outcomes for the Black women and Latinas enrolled in the program who did not meet their weight loss goals. While we are known for our High-Touch coaching™, we are now training out-of-network coaches to use our model. BWHI will introduce our coaching model by hosting a national Lifestyle Coach training during a virtual collection of presentations in April. Supporting this effort, in July, during our hybrid High-Touch conference, our team will model and simulate our coaching style for enhanced program delivery and increased adaptation by a broader audience. The hybrid conference offers an in-person option and occurs July 28–30 in Washington, DC.

• Our Healthy Eating Specialist, Erin Taylor (also known as the Dish Diva™), presented during the 2-part POBcast, It Ain’t Necessarily So, focused on dispelling healthy eating and nutrition myths. The audience for these sessions were the three organizations funded

• Chief Training Officer (CTO) Paula Green-Smith and Senior Program Manager Lenee Reedus-Carson both completed participation (as BWHI Master Trainers) in several months of the CDC-sponsored pilot of the National DPP Group Coaching Certificate Program. They are both equipped and certified to train other Lifestyle Coaches for CDC.

• Before I Let Go was an intervention strategy led by the training team. This POBCast discussion outlined coach strategies to encourage participants contemplating withdrawal from the program into completing it.

• CTO is working with our CEO on a plan for a $350,000 Gilead grant-funded center of excellence to provide capacity-building training and support for five smaller Black female-led nonprofit organizations focused on triple- negative breast cancer in Black women. BWHI will provide mentoring and serve as a back office for the functional areas of financial management, fundraising, and non-profit operations and management.

Signature Programs

My Sister’s Keeper (MSK)is a Black Women’s Health Imperative (BWHI) signature program created to empower young Black women ages 18-30 to be powerful advocates and leaders.

Core Components

• Understanding and applying the tenets of reproductive rights and reproductive justice;

• Sharing lived experiences through authentic storytelling;

• Training and engaging women in policy basics, advocacy, base-building and mobilization;

• Understanding and employing strategies for emotional wellness/self-care; and

• Creating anti-racism/sexism strategies to fight for reproductive justice.

MSK’s recent wins and recognitions:

1. Received $25,000 from grant makers for Girls of Color’s Black Girl Freedom Fund for an MSK Reproductive Justice Leadership Cohort.

2. Launched the MSK Young Women’s Heart Health Program in support of American Heart Health Month.

3. Received $100,000 funding from Nike to support the expansion of the MSK Heart Health Program.

4. Hosted the 2022 Spring National MSK meeting for all of our program members.

Focus Areas

• Sexual and reproductive health, rights, and justice

• Mental and emotional health

• Menstrual insecurity and stigma

• Gender discrimination and violence

• Anti-racism and allyship

• Anti-tobacco, smoking, and vaping

The program team is creating a plan for evolving leadership development beyond the MSK focus aligned areas of advocacy and organizing a capacity-building program that equips women for leadership roles related to their professional careers.

BWHI’s On Our Own Terms (OOOT) is an informed network of organizations and experts who are focused on the prevention, care, and treatment of HIV for and by Black cis and transgender women through research, policy development, and programming.

Launched in 2017, the program has published 15 digital articles, and hosted 12 webinars and other events.

In 2021, OOOT hosted its first National HIV Testing Day campaign, with 1,074 complimentary, at-home testing kits made available to Black women across the country.

As their employee volunteer initiative, Saks, Inc., prepared feminine hygiene kits for Positive Period™ in honor of International Women’s Day. The Positive Period™ kits included a two-month supply of organic pads or tampons, feminine wipes, over-the-counter pain medicine (Tylenol, Advil, and Pamprin), and Nature Valley granola bars. Each of our eight active MSK chapters received 50 Positive Period™ kits for distribution on campus and in the community. Zsanai Epps joined virtually for the Saks kick-off and spoke about BWHI and Positive Period™

Signature Programs

Zsanai Epps was an invited speaker for the opening program of the Radcliffe Institute for Advanced Study at the Harvard University exhibition, Out for Blood: Feminine Hygiene to Menstrual Equity, on Monday, April 11, 2022. She attended with our founder, Byllye Avery, and in addition to speaking during the opening program, Zsanai and Byllye visited the Schlesinger Library’s exhibition. The exhibit featured texts, documents, and objects from the library collections that tell the story of selling “feminine hygiene” and menstrual products to women over the 20th century. The exhibit’s final section focused on the menstrual equity movement and organizations, including BWHI and our Positive Period™ program.

Positive Period™

Research demonstrates that about 40% of girls and women have extremely painful PMS and menstrual cycles. Up to 8% of girls and women with PMS and menstrual issues have mental and psychological problems that affect their everyday tasks (NIH, 2021). Girls and women need support in coping and improving their health for healthier menstrual cycles. Our Positive Period™ program continues to deliver solutions to those facing menstrual insecurity. The program also raises awareness and lessens stigma through public education around menstrual health, product distribution through community partners, and offers support for policies that lead to menstrual equity. Since the program’s launch, over 30,000 women and girls have been able to access an array of menstrual products. The program expanded. Our partners include high schools, colleges/universities, and five community partners that provide services to the most vulnerable in South Carolina, Alabama, Puerto Rico, Maryland, and Washington, DC. We are expanding our Positive Period reach via corporate and international partners and developing a curriculum that includes culturally sensitive toolkits to empower those we work with as they continue conversations in their communities on menstrual equity.

Signature Programs

BWHI is now a leading voice in maternal mental health, postpartum care, community doula training, and preconception health.

Kellogg Three-Year Planning Grant

BWHI secured $1,050,000 in WKKF funding to develop three new comprehensive strategies to address health inequities for Black maternal health from preconception through the postpartum period. The three-year planning grant will create sustainable contributions in maternal health for Black mothers and families through programming, research, policy, and communication.

Additional funding secured $66,000 from Knix for HBCU Doula program.

The WKKF funding will help BWHI accomplish the following results:

1. Develop an innovative workforce pipeline with Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs) by training up to 35 Black Doulas and developing preconception health and emotional health and wellness curriculum.

2. Advocate for the Jackson-Hogue stress scale for Black pregnant women in partnership with FQHC (Federally Qualified Health Centers) in the rural South, where Black maternal health disparities vary considerably.

3. Develop practical guidance to support clinics, hospitals, and nursing staff to advance health equity and anti-racist strategies for dismantling racism within the healthcare system.

NOURISH - New Opportunity to Uncover our Resources, Intuition, Spirit, and Healing— partnered with Knix to provide a 12-month intensive postpartum doula training program with master facilitators to support the needs of new birthing families, save lives, and empower community doula leaders, while facilitating self-nurturing and healing. Doulas, midwives, and healthcare professionals specializing in lactation, nutrition, midwifery, holistic care, mental health, infant care, and African models of postpartum care taught the NOURISH cohort skills with practical tools to serve families throughout their respective childbearing years.

NOURISH is now expanding in collaboration with MSK to HBCU campuses. We will launch our first pilot NOURISH cohort on the Morgan State campus in October of 2022.

Our Impact

• Trained 35 doulas

• Assisted 80 families with postpartum doula care

• Created a postpartum community doula curriculum

• Created a virtual learning and engagement space for doulas to deepen their knowledge and practice

Special Initiatives

Through Special Initiatives, we deliver timely programs to address the unique needs of our community.

An 80% incidence of any medical condition is alarming and should be a major public health priority. This staggering statistic fueled the Black Women’s Health Imperative (BWHI) to partner with Hologic to host a multidisciplinary group of celebrities, media personalities, policymakers, doctors, faith leaders and community stakeholders for a closed roundtable discussion to understand and address the barriers that stand in the way of improved outcomes for Black women living with uterine fibroids today and in the future.

CERVing Confidence is an impactful partnership between BWHI; Hologic’s Project Health Equality; and Grammy nominated, platinum artist Ciara. Leveraging Ciara’s 31.3+ socially engaged fans, we deployed an instagram video that featured content between her and her best friend discussing self-care. Ciara appeared on the Ellen Show to extend the messaging and support the full scope of the initiative raising awareness of the importance of cervical health during Cervical Health Month in January. Due to the success of this program, CERVing Confidence was extend for a second year.

Taking action toward your wellness is always the behavior of a champion. BWHI encourages Black women to commit to getting the life-saving screenings essential to optimal health during football season. The 1 Million, 1 Season campaign and microsite remind Black women and those who love them to ensure that they have recently undergone screenings, such as a:

• Well Woman Exam

• Mammogram

• Gynecological Exam

Early screenings increase treatment options and in some cases give the patient an optimal recovery prognosis.

BWHI and HealthyWomen launched the Reclaim Your Wellness campaign to raise awareness of obesity as a national health crisis in a manner that is free of stigma, judgment, and bias. The multifaceted campaign is focusing on educating women about healthy eating and staying active, ensuring women have access to science-based comprehensive care, bringing leaders together from across industry to make policy changes to help reinforce active and healthy living, and striving to reverse our nation’s costliest and most prevalent diseases.

Some women have trouble making time for ourselves because of family, community, and career commitments. We can alw,ays think of tons of reasons to skip important annual exams, like mammograms. From busy schedules to a fear of the results, important exams are delayed. However, the reasons for scheduling your annual mammogram are clear! Early detection of breast cancer results in an almost 100% 5-year survival rate.

See Us promotes the injustice of the tobacco industry towards Black women’s health. They see us as a commodity. But we see ourselves as much more! With the help of a $1 million dollar grant from the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, we’re raising awareness that the #1 cause of death in the black community is smoke-related illness, surpassing all other causes of death, including AIDS, diabetes, cancer, and heart disease.

Project TEACH (Trained Empowered Advocates for Community Health) empowering Black women through education and outreach to participate in and effectively engage with researchers and clinicians to increase participation of Black women in cancer-focused clinical trials.

Creating the right health approaches and care for the right person is called precision medicine. Getting the right information to make that happen is the goal of the All of Us Research Program from the National Institutes of Health (NIH). To get there, we want to create the largest health database ever. By understanding people’s health, neighborhood, family, and lifestyle, researchers will have information to better understand health and disease. This information is essential to creating a healthier future for generations to come.

Marketing & Communications

Brand Engagement Growth Correlates To Impact Growth

BWHI’s Marketing and Communications Department supports our organization's mission in evolving ways. As the mission and need for BWHI program, services, and policy leadership grows, so does our role and function. Our multifaceted and integrated approach touches all verticals, programs, and departments.

From building brand awareness and reliance, to designing strategic campaigns for our major programs and policies, to driving national media and pressed attention to our team’s greatwork, to supporting senior executives through writing and collaborating on articles and op-eds, to supporting director-level and program staff on in-field activations and communications, curating assets, and creating voice-aligned copy to audience building, initiating and stewarding critical conversations, our public and internal messaging is essential to enhancing the health of Black women working arm-in-arm with our Development Team to drive donations and promote the BWHI value proposition, the Marketing and Communications Team works tirelessly to make sure this nation’s 21 million Black women and girls know that in BWHI they have a partner throughout their life-health journeys.

When we share relevant and culturally sensitive tool kits, partner with aligned influencers, and offer reflective cultural resources, we aid Black women in their lifehealth journey at every life stage. As the only national nonprofit solely dedicated to improving the health and wellness of the nation’s Black women and girls, we firmly believe that, if not for our work, the needs of Black women would not be addressed or elevated to the national stage. We invest in communications to deepen our ability to connect with Black women, build trust within our community, and amplify research that considers our needs in its collection. We remain a supportive and safe space for Black women to center on their own needs.

The Marketing & Communications Team’s core goals for 2021 were the following:

Marketing & Communications

 Increase constituent engagement

 Reinforce organizational values with our online audiences

 Amplify program points of distinction and public engagement opportunities

 Ignite an array of social health conversations that track back to our impact or our resources

 Affirm affiliated and BWHI’s SMEs as critical thought leaders online and in virtual environment

Our Brand Impact goals are set to motivate us to drive constituent trust and brand reliance. Strategy included:

 Becoming an “original content” leader in the social health space, sparking dialog and increased awareness of critical issues

 Deploying a robust array of culturally sensitive educational resources that is used by high-reach partners

 Developing a data-focused social tool kit with branded infographics sought by high-reach partners that illustrate the issues faced by Black women and thereby why our work is critical

Strategy Resulted in:  Life Saving Campaigns, e.g., Cerving Confidence, 1 Million, 1 Season, and the Annual Super Bowl Gospel Celebration

 Signature Programs, e.g., Follow the High-Touch Road and Coaching Method

 Segment Awareness Videos, e.g., the Sickle Cell, Diabetes Alert, and Take the Shot for the Win awareness campaigns

 Virtual Events, e.g., Black HIV/Aids Awareness Day, Sisters with Super Powers, Workforce Equity Initiative

Notably, BWHI has Elevated What Matters for our audience and increased engagement among Black women and girls with:

• Precisely timed pitches focused on breaking news, such as the Supreme Court nomination/confirmation hearings, the COVID-19 anniversary, and angles that amplified the new data on the Black maternal health crisis elevated mind share and garnered additional interview requests.

• Pitches surrounding maternal and reproductive health drove highest percentage of increased interview requests.

• Pitches expanding on Black women’s experiences in the workplace were popular with top-tier, business-minded outlets such as Fortune and CNBC.

• Our senior leaders were also solicited to author thoughtful bylines or opeds for various publications, including Ms. magazine, Success magazine, and Business Insider.

Furthermore, the Marketing and Communications initiatives have increased the breadth and type of engagement and time on the page where screenings or downloads are present.

Marketing & Communications

The total audience reached exceeds 182 million across 13 states and Washington, D.C.

Media relations enables BWHI to amplify our agenda.

Communications efforts on behalf of the BWHI have resulted in a 33% increase in unique media hits and an 18% increase in interviews with print, online, and broadcast outlets. We also have a 4% lift in affinity sector media hits, three bylines/op-ed placements, and one interview pending. The total audience reached exceeds 182 million across 13 states and Washington, D.C.

• Notable placements include on CNBC, which was syndicated by 12 NBC stations in major cities across the country as well as MSN and reached more than 100 million unique readers. The article also inspired further coverage in The Root, Yahoo, and Black Enterprise Magazine.

• Other notable placements include Essence, USA Today, and Barron’s.

• Our subject matter experts responded to interview requests with tight turnarounds, which led to several top-tier placements, including in Essence, Barron’s, and Modern Healthcare, as well as interviews with TIME magazine, Roll Call, and the Miami Herald. Point of view thought leadership on the state of fairness for Black women at work accelerated additional earned media coverage. This was particularly apparent with the CNBC which inspired two further articles in The Root and Black Enterprise Magazine. The CNBC article made it easy for other reporters to gather information and generate their own coverage.

COVID-19

Marketing & Communications

Health Topic Interviews

BWHI leaders have engaged with our community on a wide range of current, health, and advocacy events. These interviews and outlets have amplified program points of distinction and public engagement opportunities.

Maternal Health

The Washington Post (3/22/2022)

• Unique visitors per Month: 79,000,000

• DMA: National

• Status: Kanika Harris was interviewed by The Washington Post as an expert on the Black maternal health crisis. Her comments will be included in an upcoming story, publication date TBD.

Supreme Court

Nomination/Confirmation

TIME (3/18/2022)

• Unique visitors per Month: 27,100,000

• DMA: National

• Status: Tammy Boyd was interviewed by TIME magazine. Keybridge is following up regarding publication.

Roll Call (4/6/2022)

• Unique visitors per Month: 1,200,000

• DMA: Washington, DC.

• Status: Kineta Sealey was interviewed by Roll Call. Keybridge is following up regarding publication.

Miami Herald (4/6/2022)

• Unique visitors per Month: 2,417,996

• DMA: Miami, FL

• Status: Linda Goler Blount was interviewed by the Miami Herald Keybridge is following up regarding publication.

Health Issues Facing Black Women/Diabetes

Politico (4/13/2022)

• Unique visitors per Month: 7,683,193

• DMA: National

• Status: Dr. Angela Ford was interviewed by Politico regarding BWHI’s 2022 National Diabetes Agenda.

Psych Central (3/23/2022)

• Unique visitors per Month: 1,622,012

• DMA: National

• Status: Kanika Harris was interviewed by Psych Central. Her comments will be included in an upcoming story in May 2022.

The Spilling Chai Podcast with Anushay Hossain (4/5/2022)

• DMA: National

• Status: Kanika Harris was interviewed by Anushay Hossain for The Spilling Chai podcast. The episode will air by 4/22/2022.

ELIMINATING BARRIERS TO WELLNESS

Online/Print Hits by Topic

Marketing & Communications

Culturally Tailored Videos

BWHI produced a series of videos centered on storytelling to increase brand engagement.

• 54% of audiences consistently engage with educational and value-sharing content from brands they trust.

• 43% state that mission-aligned content that addresses a pain point from a trusted brand will be shared. To address this, our digital team has produced the following:

A video focused on Sickle Cell Awareness. This video featured Larenz Tate and his brothers. Nischelle Turner, the Co-Host of Entertainment Tonight, was the host as this BWHI effort raised awareness on Rare Disease Diversity Day. This global observance takes place on the last day of February each year.

A video to raise awareness on Diabetes Alert Day, observed annually on the fourth Tuesday in March by the American Diabetes Association. Our video was titled “You Can Prevent Type 2 Diabetes”, and it featured one of BWHI’s CYL2 coaches and three senior women’s health and wellness success stories.

• A recap to highlight our policy work. This recap focused on the “Take the Shot for the Win” campaign and amplified COVID-19 awareness efforts

• Highlighted Dr. Angela Ford for Women’s history month to honor her impact

• Various marketing videos to support programs and external efforts

A video in partnership with celebrity Chef G. Garvin. This effort garnered over 70,000 views on Facebook (Meta) and was sponsored by All Of Us, RDDC, and CYL2.

Marketing & Communications

Social Media Performance Metrics

Our strategy is data-driven. Understanding who we are speaking to helps us tailor messages and tone while discerning what pain points they face and what solution our resources offer. Meet our social audience:

Key Instagram Insights

• 95.3% female

• Our highest performance is in female age groups 25-44

Key Meta (Facebook) Insights

• 86.7% female

• Our highest performance is in female age groups 35-44

*The content for the posts displayed were driven by data and delivered engagement reach.

Thank you to our Supporters

ORGANIZATIONS

3BL Media, LLC

AARG

AARP

AbbVie, Inc.

Agile Therapeutics

Alnylam Pharmaceuticals Inc.

Amag Pharmaceuticals, Inc

AmazonSmile

American Institutes for Research

Association For Accessible Medicines

Association of Women's Health, Obstetric and Neonatal Nurses

Aurinia

Baxter Pharmaceuticals

Bayer

Berkshire Taconic Community

Foundation

Boehringer Ingelheim International

Briskin Martin Charitable Fund

Campaign For Tobacco-Free Kids

Capital Group

Cardinal Dental Specialists

Challah Back Girls

Chan Zuckerberg Initiative

Chic Relief

CINK Fundraising

CIVCO

Climate Action Campaign (CAC)

Clorox

Comcast Corporation

Community Catalyst

Dean Foundation, Inc.

Debbie and Kevin Warren Foundation

Deloitte

Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Inc. -

Federal City Alumnae Chapter

Drexel University

Elder and Brenda W. Granger Family Fund

First Missionary Baptist Church

First Unitarian Universalist Society of SF

Ghost Card

Gilead Sciences Inc

Goldman, Sachs & Co.

Grantmakers for Girls of Color

Greater Cincinnati Foundation

Greater Kansas City Community Foundation

Gwinett County

Handa Giving Fund

Harnisch Family Foundation, Inc.

Health Research, Inc.

HeForShe at Ohio State Household

Hologic, Inc.

Horizon

Income Research + Management (IR+M)

Ironwood Pharmaceuticals

Jack and Jill of America, Atlanta Chapter

Just Democracy

Knix

L'Occitane

Legendairy Milk

Lewis-Peacock Charitable Fund

Lululemon Athletica

Lyon Foundation Inc.

Mackenzie Scott

Mama.film, Inc.

ME Designs LLC

MMM Touring, Inc.

MOMS Club of Brentwood, CA

Myovant Sciences, Inc.

National Financial Services LLC

National Wildlife Federation

Newell Brands Charitable Foundation

NextEra Energy, Inc.

Nitorum Capital LP

Novo Nordisk

Oaktree Capital Management, L.P.

One Hope Foundation

P&G (Proctor & Gamble)

Penguin Random House LLC

Performance Space New York Household

Pfizer Foundation

Philip S. Harper Foundation

PhRMA

Prestige Consumer Healthcare & Subsidiaries

Progyny, Inc

Pyxis Partners LLC

QVC, Inc.

Ralph Shuster Family Fund

Relias LLC

Renaissance Charitable Foundation

San Diego Foundation

Sanofi Genzyme

Schusterman Family Corporate

Scolamieri/Colwell Family Fund

Six Dimensions, LLC

Spring Dell Foundation

StayDown Day Fitness

SurveyMonkey

Tab For a Cause

The Bitter Southerner Inc.

The Christensen Fund

The Colgate-Palmolive Company

The Denver Foundation

The Hill Family Trust

The Prescot Group, LLC

The Rockefeller Foundation

Thrive Causemetics Inc.

Travere Therapeutics Inc.

UMG Taskforce for Meaningful Change (TFMC)

United Jewish Foundation

United Nations Foundation, Inc. (UNF)

University Anesthesiologists

Vera Yoga

Vintner's Daughter

W.K. Kellogg Foundation

Washington Commanders Football Team

West 14th Street Church Of Christ

West Linn High School

Wisconsin Physicians Service Ins.

WNBA

Woman's Foundation, Inc.

Women Make Movies (WMM)

Writers & Books, Inc.

IN-KIND GIFTS

FHI 360 (Family Health International)

P&G (Proctor & Gamble)

Bernard Taylor, Esq of Alston & Bird

AVERY SOCIETY

Named for our founder Byllye Avery

Amy Peck Abraham

Martha Ackelsberg

Deepak and Madhu Ahuja

Carole Allers

Margaret Aumann

Byllye Avery and Ngina Lythcott

Francine Bard

Julie Baron

Kathleen Beck-Coon

Thank you to our Supporters

Michael Bensi

Sophie Blake

Linda Goler Blount

Micah Botkin-Levy

Victoria Bresnahan

Kaitlyn Bristowe

Barbara Brown

Neysa Brown

Jay Bugg

Glenda Burnett

Brittany Carbone

Katrien Carbonez

Lily Carruthers

Lawrence Carter

Alonzo Cole Jr.

Laurie Cox

Creative Edge website + design

Marcia Cross

Gabriella Dalkin

Jennifer DiBrienza and Jesse

Dorogusker

Deneen Donnley

Caroline B. Dudunakis

Charlie Dunmire

Sonya Echols

Fancy LLC

Maura Fertich

Keela Fett

Arielle Fodor

Max Friedman

Maren Fuller

Vedette Gavin

Lakisha Gayden

Maggie Gentry

Emily Giese

Linda Gill Anderson

Krystal Glass

Linda Glass

Sandra Gordon

Bruce Gottschall

Carolyn D. Griggs

Virginia I. Guenette

Bruce Haims

Suzanna Hall

Joanne Halpern

Taylor Hamilton

Katherine Hannafin

Dana Hansen

Matthew Harray

Cheryl Harrison

Harry and Sylvia Livingston

Sharon Hawks

Greg Hill

Dustin Hillard

Linsay Hiller

Kevin Holt

Anthony Howard

Laurna Hutchinson

Kate Huyett

Lauren Isom

Judy Jackson

Brian Johnson

Coco Jones

Frantz Joseph

Mom Kaden

Kellie Molin Kenol and Joseph Kenol

Deneisha Kerr-Waller

Christina Kim-Dill

Shelley Klop

D'vorah Kost

Lisa Krannichfeld

Erica Krieger

Mitzi Krockover

Sylvette La Touche-Howard

Jodi Langsfeld

Nancy Lee

Carolyn LeJuste

Allendra Letsome

Mike Lewis

Elizabeth Lowrey

Alison Wortman Lunardon

Julie Lythcott-Haims

Angela Marshall

Lauren Martin

Milo Matthieu

Martin McDonald

Darin McKeever

Melissa McKinney

Christian Menefee

Ned Menninger

Jamie Merriman

Breanne Millette

Alan Mills

Cindy Miro-Quesada

H. Moncrieffe

Terri Moore

Iman K Morris

Karen Morsch

Kaela Natale

Robey NeJame

Lee Newman

Dr. Sandra Nichols

Joan Nguyen

Dr. Vanessa Northington

Gamble

Princess Nwokeabia

Robert O'Loughlin

Tom Odegaarden

Erik Oksala

Cheryl Overton

Kathy Palokoff

Immanuel Payne

Jonathan Pham

Kolbe Rose Pollock

Rhiannan Price

Josh Puritt

Lisa Rafferty

Kavya Raman

Christopher Reece

Deborah Reid

Ketta Rhem

Jordan Richardson

Steven Roberts

Rachel Ruddock

Alexandra Ruffini

Sade and Udoetuk

Maia Sakradse

Sarah and Cruser

Laurie Schecter

Emily Scoot

MacKenzie Scott

Matthew Seppi

Niral Shah

Sejal Shah

Shah Family

Sabrina Shannon

Stephanie Sharkey

Kirstyn Shaw

Mallory Shelter

Ciemone Sheppard

Andrew Shih

Deepak Singh

Janay Smith

Stephen Spitz

Stephanie Standish

Amy Steinbicker

Angelo Stennis

Patricia Stephenson

Murphy Stevens

Tenae Stewart

Joanna Swain

Michelle Swittenberg

Sherry Tangtam

Bernard Taylor

Nia Technique

Sharon Thompson

Lindsey Trout

Nickolas Vajda

Lynna Van Merkey

Jannine Versi and Daniel Weisberg

Catherine Wakelyn

Mordecai Walfish

Deborah McKeever Watson

Donna Welch

Laura Whitefield

Rachel K. Wiggins

Michael Wilk

Bethany Willis

Wanda Willis

Cassandra Wilson

Evelyn Wilson

Lauren Wilson

Mark Wilson

Mike Wolfe

Caira Woods

Clinton Woods

Terri Wright

Laura & Olivia Wrightwood

Jessica Yergin

Clayton Young

Thank you to our Board of Directors

BOARD OF DIRECTORS

Angela M. Marshall, MD, FACP (Chair)

President and CEO

Comprehensive Women’s Health Primary Care Center

Terri D. Wright, PhD, MPH

Byllye Y. Avery

Ex-officio & Founder

Linda Goler Blount, MPH Ex-officio President and CEO

Black Women’s Health Imperative

Kellie Molin-Kenol

Global Head of Diversity Equity & Inclusion Endo Pharmaceuticals

Deborah Reid, JD

Senior Health Policy Attorney Legal Action Center

Nancy C. Lee, MD

Vedette Gavin, MPH, MPA Director of Research and Partnership Conservation Law Foundation

Linda Gill Anderson

Membership Director National Parking Association

DeJa Love-Hardnett, MPH, PMP, ACSM-CPT

CEO and Founder

The Black Women’s Wellness Agency

Maria Bailey Benson Inductive Strategies Innovator

Kiara St. James Executive Director NY Transgender Advocacy Group

Sharon Hawks, MS, RDN, CDE, LDN Director

Nutrition and Diabetes Education Center

Erica Reaves, DRPH, MPP Consultant

Barbara J. Brown, PhD

Psychologist/Founder/Owner

CapitolHill Consortium for Counseling & Consultation, LLC (CCCC)

Dr. Regina Davis Moss

Associate Executive Director – Health Policy Practice

Mike Ellison

Actor/Artist/Activist

Mitzi Krockover, M.D. CEO, Woman Centered, LLC Managing Director, Golden Seeds

Julie Lythcott-Haims Author

Nkem Okeke, M.D., MBA CEO/President Medicalincs

Sharon Thompson, MD CEO

Central Phoenix Obstetrics and Gynecology

Lauren Wilson Chief of Staff Chime Solutions

Caira Woods, Ph.D.

Deputy Director – U.S. Program

Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation

Support Black Women’s Health Imperative

Thanks to the generosity of supporters like you, Black Women’s Health Imperative (BWHI) has been able to continue the necessary and hard work of achieving results for Black women and girls. Like many organizations, BWHI significantly relies on donations and investments to perform our critical work. If not for BWHI’s decades of advocating, demanding, achieving, and persisting, an indifferent and systemically racist healthcare system would have rendered this nation’s 21 million Black women and girls vulnerable and unsupported.

It is through the dedication of our donors and our partners that BWHI’s results are possible.

We need your support to continue leading the charge for the health and wellness of Black women and girls nationwide. Please join the hundreds who donate to BWHI each year and make our lifesaving and systemchanging work possible. Your gifts will ensure the powerful mission and achievements of BWHI can continue for many years to come.

Help us secure a healthy future for BWHI and the Black women and girls we serve. To donate, please visit us at www.bwhi.org/donate or call 202-787-5937.

39 YEARS OF IMPROVING THE HEALTH AND WELLNESS OF BLACK WOMEN AND GIRLS

100 - THE NUMBER OF FAMILIES that will receive postpartum care and mental health assessments.

35 - POSTPARTUM DOULAS currently receiving training

11 - BWHI’S MY SISTER’S KEEPER CHAPTERS

HBCU

10 YEARS of PARTNERING with the CDC

as one of their top-performing grantee delivering our signature evidence-based lifestyle change program CYL2 - which helps prevent type 2 diabetes and other chronic conditions such as heart disease, high blood pressure, and high cholesterol.

95,000FACEBOOK VIEWS

led by young Black women at historically black colleges and majority universities across the country.

30,000 - WOMEN AND GIRLS around the world who have received menstrual product donations from BWHI

6 ISSUES OF “LUNA UNLEASHED”

152 PAGES in both editions of Black Women Vote: National Health Policy Agenda created to address the critical health policy issues impacting the health and well-being of Black women.

of

1 -

OPENING

BWHI’s comic book following the adventures of LUNA, a super shero sex educator, as she works throughout her family and diverse community to prevent the transmission of HIV, encourage safer sex practices, and create healthy relationships.

3 GROUND-BREAKING WORKPLACE EQUITY INITIATIVES

launched to research, document and improve the experiences of Black women in the workplace:

1. corporate equity index

2. corporate fairness training

3. an anti-racism toolkit (ART) for wellness

BWHI’s UnMuting Fibroids live video stream.

RINGING of the NASDAQ

BELL for Breast Cancer Awareness month with Hologic and Mary J. Blige, Grammy award-winning artist and P.O.W.E.R. of Sure spokesperson.

RDDC - Rare Disease Diversity Coalition founded and led by BWHI with 179 MEMBERS.