The BJC Replication Toolkit
A Guide for Advancing Culturally-Based, Community-Led, Transformative Change
This Guide was born out of three years of deep relationship within the Birth Justice Collaborative (BJC). BJC is a coalition of six African American and American Indian led organizations - the Partners.
In August 2022 Hennepin County asked the Partners to collectively engage their communities to surface, design and implement strategies that advance maternal health and address alarmingly disparate rates of preventable maternal mortality and morbidity.
The Partners said yes.
What BJC has done.
In the past three years, BJC has created a community-led movement that has and is:
creating trusted cultural resources across the perinatal continuum;
increasing family access to needed cultural care that improves maternal wellbeing;
expanding community capacity to lovingly support birthing families;
achieving policy and systems changes that foster maternal wellbeing
How BJC did it.
BJC accomplished its work by doing what is rarely done:
Listening to, trusting and implementing community member wisdom.
BJC created this Guide to provide a path for others under-taking courageous work in their communities.
As BJC moved through its work, we moved through phases again and again. This toolkit guides you through the phases and detailed steps for each phase:
Gather and Ground
Listen and Love
Center and Converge
Risk and Refine
