Another semester at Give Light is done in the books, marking a year and a half now spent with the organization. At the end of 2024, I announced the exciting news that our film screened on Delta Air Lines and our then-two-person team successfully received a grant from the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation to support our upcoming broadcast of the documentary film on national TV. Since then, our team has expanded, and we have been able to work with a station wrangler to help secure a prime time viewing spot for the film. We also welcomed a professional grant writer onto our team, who has set a wonderful example for me as a budding grant writer. This summer, we will be gaining a social media and marketing intern to help raise awareness about the film and our mission to further birth justice and uplift midwifery as a career path for nursing students. Thanks to the Newcomb Institute, I was able to present my research strategy and grant achievement in April at the annual Conceiving Equity Research Symposium.
In other news, our team applied in early 2025 to an open call from Action for Women’s Health, a women’s health philanthropy initiative made possible by Pivotal Ventures and Lever for Change. We hope to secure funding to enable nationwide screening expansion, creating accessible pathways for new professionals to enter maternal healthcare. We are primarily focusing on underserved communities facing severe maternal care shortages. In March, we were notified we had advanced past the administrative review to the participatory review round, in which we learned about four other applicants and scored their proposals. This was a uniquely valuable experience for me to see what other organizations around the world are seeking funding for, and to examine their application strategies. Rather than feeling competitive, this round of reviewing and comparing allowed our team at Give Light to talk through other organizations’ needs and frameworks, inspiring new discussions about our own. In June, we will be notified if we made it to the next round, with the final round and awardees being announced in late 2025. The funding would transform Give Light beyond our wildest imaginations.
On a day-to-day basis, I have continued writing outreach email sequences to community partners and potential sponsors of the film. Birthmark Doula Collective, a New Orleans-based advocacy and care center, joined Give Light as an underwriter of our upcoming broadcast. Good Docs, an educational platform, is also a new partner who will soon be taking over the film’s educational distribution. This will help the film reach more classrooms, museums, and community events. In celebration of the National Day of the Midwife this May 5th, we
coordinated a week-long virtual screening of the film for audiences near and far to watch the film. I can’t wait to update on what’s to come next semester!
