Hello friends,

What an exciting time and moment we are in. Your BFFs have been busy and we want to update you on all that we have been up to and all that is to come. First, I want to say that stepping in as Birth Future Foundation’s first Executive Director is an honor. Trusting Black woman leadership is something we stand by and believe in, so we are walking our talk. I appreciate the belief in my abilities to steer us into the birth future we envision with an amazing team by my side. I could not have asked for a more perfect group to do this work with.

These past few months, we have been working hard to prepare for our first grant making cycle and developing our vision of participatory grant making. We have been doing lots of strategic planning and envisioning for the birth future that we want and we are excited to finally bring this work forward. So trust me things have been buzzing in the BFF world and there is so much more to come.

For Black History Month, we want to uplift midwifery and Black midwives past and present. Keep reading for some great articles and resources. We also want to highlight that NACPM is holding a webinar TODAY on the history of Black midwifery.

In solidarity,
Tanya Smith-Johnson, MS, CPM
Executive Director

Dear BFF Community,

We are excited to welcome the new folks who recently signed up for emails from Birth Future Foundation. Thank you for joining us in the work to achieve a liberated birth future with racially just and equitable access to midwifery care and the midwifery profession. (Learn more about BFF.)

At BFF, we are not replicating the conventional model of philanthropy. It has been a busy year as we build this new organization from scratch, leveraging our prior experience with midwifery funding while radically reimagining how every step of the process can be more equitable and racially just. In this newsletter, we are pleased to preview our grantmaking approach as we prepare to make our first grants. When it comes to fundraising, we are launching a traditional donor campaign as well as getting ready to pilot a BFF Giving Circle. We expect to continually iterate and improve BFF’s strategies and processes as we try new things, learn, and collect community input. Thank you for joining us for this journey.

A year ago, we formed the Birth Future Foundation, moved by a shared hope for liberation in birth and midwifery and belief that a new shift in grantmaking and philanthropy was necessary. We announced the birth of BFF in the midst of a pandemic and mass mobilization for racial justice across the country, and you were right there with us. Through the turmoil and trauma of the past year, we have found light and hope in our work at BFF. Our collaboration has been a treasured space of mutual joy, love, respect, and trust -- a rare thing in movements and organizations that seek to amplify birth and social justice.

It is time for midwifery and philanthropy to shift power and resources for sustainable, equitable progress. It’s time to shed old patterns of power hoarding and discrimination. We are part of a beautiful ecosystem of movement builders that *will* make the changes we need.

We are excited to share our vision and mission for BFF and update you on our work.

At BFF, we have been centering the theme of liberation since our founding less than a year ago, and recognize the resonance with this week’s theme “Claiming our Power, Resilience, and Liberation.” Liberation in birth is inextricably intertwined with liberation in all aspects of our society.

We love you.

We are already partway through February 2021, about a year into a pandemic, and a few months since launching the Birth Future Foundation. Whew! Through the ups and downs of this time, we draw inspiration and hope from our BFF community. Thank you for being with us on this journey as we make transformational change toward liberation and racial justice for birth and midwifery while reimagining the paradigm of philanthropy to shift power and build equitable partnerships.

Why is centering liberation our approach to improving maternity care? As co-founders, we came from a perspective of midwifery as an essential solution to our maternal health crisis, however, we also recognize that our birth future-- and midwifery itself-- must also be liberated. What does that mean? (View original email.)

The BFF founders made the joint decision to leave the board of an established midwifery foundation in order to form a new, liberated organization centered in equity and racial justice for midwifery and maternal health as well as philanthropy itself. We want to tell you a bit about our vision for BFF, which, while in its infancy, is building off the work we have been doing together for years.