BIPOC Student Midwife Fund

Location: San Francisco, CA
Region: Bay Area, CA
Founding: 2023
Founders/leadership: Mika Cade and Evaly Long, project directors

The BIPOC Student Midwives Fund is a groundbreaking initiative aimed at promoting diversity in the field of midwifery, particularly in the San Francisco Bay Area. This fund is designed to provide financial assistance and educational resources to BIPOC (Black, Indigenous, and People of Color) students who aspire to become midwives.

Research has consistently shown that midwifery care can significantly reduce health disparities that disproportionately affect BIPOC birthing people and families. However, despite the growing recognition of the importance of midwifery care, the number of BIPOC midwives remains insufficient to meet the needs of the community. The BIPOC Student Midwives Fund seeks to address this critical issue by providing support to BIPOC students who are currently studying midwifery or who are interested in pursuing a career in this field. The fund will provide financial assistance to cover tuition fees, textbooks, and other expenses associated with midwifery education. In addition, the fund will also provide access to training and mentorship programs that will equip students with the necessary skills to become competent and compassionate midwives.

The BIPOC Student Midwives Fund is a powerful and transformative initiative that has the potential to positively impact the lives of many BIPOC communities. By supporting aspiring BIPOC midwives in their journey towards becoming skilled and culturally competent practitioners, the fund is helping to ensure that all birthing people and families receive the care they deserve.


A black woman with red hair with Bay Rising holding a megaphone

Bay Rising (Past Project)

Location: Oakland, CA
Region: Bay Area
Founding: 2015
Founder/Leadership:  Kimi Lee

 

Bay Rising (BR) is a growing alliance between community-led organizations across the Bay Area. Their vision is of a healthier, more equitable society centered on grassroots organizing and social movements led by those most impacted — working-class people of color. Along with three local alliances that anchor Bay Rising — Oakland Rising, San Francisco Rising, and Silicon Valley Rising — and working in response to the mounting inequity and displacement occurring in the Bay Area, these organizations build political power that advances genuinely progressive policy solutions supporting healthy, equitable, and inclusive communities for all. 

Collectively, BR represents tens of thousands of grassroots leaders of color. As BR grows beyond the core counties of Alameda, San Francisco, and Santa Clara, they are supporting emerging and existing base-building groups that represent communities of color and working class people through a network of alignment and mutual support throughout the nine Bay Area counties.