We are deeply involved in local and statewide policy advocacy and systems-level change work. We are a visible advocate and voice for Black Women and families in our community and within the state on health equity and quality of life issues that directly impact our well-being. We support Black women individually and collectively by:
1. Helping them navigate systems, overcome challenges, and access resources and opportunities to achieve and sustain optimal health and family stability; and
2. Working to drive systems-level and policy changes that advance and protect the well-being of Black women, their babies and their families.
We are the community we serve. Our policy approach is informed by and for Black women. Following Black feminist and womanist pedagogies, our asset-based frameworks begin with listening to, believing, and centering the lived experiences of Black women. This approach humanizes and acknowledges the strength, resilience, and perseverance of Black Women despite the entrenched health disparities that plague our lives within Wisconsin.
The Foundation for Black Women’s Wellness research, policy, and advocacy agenda aim to build shared accountability, commitment, and collective investment in creating solutions that address and resolve the root causes that present obstacles to Black women’s health and well-being.
There are three main goals of our policy agenda:
Create a shared vision, strategy, and powerful tool to lead the transformation of our health and lives in Wisconsin.
Chart a clear course of action to guide and inform the tangible improvement of Black Women’s health and well-being in Wisconsin.
Hold policy makers and institutions responsible and accountable to a set of guiding priorities that, if achieved, will advance and secure the well-being of Black women and families in our state.
Black women are most qualified to shape and lead equity efforts that directly impact their lives and health.
Efforts informed by those most impacted and closest to the problem will be more effective and sustainable.
Black women and communities are equipped with knowledge, skills, information and access to networks of power will lead powerful change in our communities.
Effective health equity efforts with long-term impact must link Black women, systems, decision-makers and resources in order to bring the transformation we seek.
The Foundation for Black Women’s Wellness policy work is a culmination of more than three generations of Black Women’s lived experience, research, community engagement, and unearthing our own internal expertise, intuition and innovation. Black Women Deserve is informed by Black women across Wisconsin sharing their experiences and needs around health and wellness. These narratives offer a complex perspective on both the factors that contribute to wellness, and the factors that are barriers to wellness that we have captured through:
Nine years of listening to Black women and engaging them as thought leaders, co-creators, experts and partners in shaping the priorities, work, and broad agenda of our organization.
Listening sessions with hundreds of Black Women, Men and Young Adults as part of our Saving our Babies partnership with the Dane County Health Council to improve Black Maternal & Child Health;
Convening, recording and transcribing the voices of Black Women across Wisconsin sharing what they need to be a Well Black Woman through our partnership with the Local Voices Network (LVN);
Visioning and charting a new course for Black Women’s Health in Wisconsin annually during Black Women’s Wellness Day;
Engaging our Wellness Ambassadors in sharing what is happening in the communities in which they live, work, and play, and mobilizing them as change agents to drive individual and collective improvement and transformation.
Equipped with the voice, experience and expertise of Black Women, we work to inform and influence the policy landscape--and to shape the public narrative, accountability and investments in Black women’s health and well-being. Through advocacy, organizing, research, publications, and powerful partnerships, we aim to drive equity in Black women's health, birth, social, and economic outcomes.