PTBi honored the incredible work of our community advisory board (CAB) at our annual CAB retreat last month. Approximately 20 CAB members from San Francisco, Oakland and Fresno, along with PTBi staff, gathered at Preservation Park in Oakland to celebrate the many important ways in which the CAB guides our efforts to improve birth outcomes for communities of color.
The CAB continues to be at the heart of all that we do. It is comprised of mothers who have had preterm births, frontline community health and social service providers as well as representatives of community-based organizations. It is deeply engaged in research prioritization, grant proposal review and funding decisions. Some CAB members also advise on specific research projects.
The day's agenda started with a strategic planning session with Bay Area Equity, Diversity, Inclusion and Implicit Bias Specialist Dante King, who has been guiding PTBi staff through a year-long journey to steepen its understanding of structural, systemic and institutional white racism/privilege and anti-blackness.
Since PTBi's research shows that stress from lifelong exposure to racism is a key driver of adverse birth outcomes in women of color, the remainder of this year's retreat focused on making intentional space for our CAB to focus on healing and self-care.
CAB members and staff participated in a variety of activities that included:
- A body movement workshop and a separate foot bath course both led by PTBi consultant Yvette Robles (link to her site)
- A twerk class that focuses on female empowerment led by CAB member Breezy Powell (link)
- A motivational talk by world-renowned psychologist Dr. Brenda Wade (link) and a Reiki workshop led by Osunfemi
- A workshop for creating headbands and facial scrubs led by CAB member Loretty Scrugg-Leach
- A journal making session led by CAB member Aimee Mallett
Robles also closed the retreat with a powerful Moon Meditation using sacred sound. Many participants also attended the dinner following the retreat, held at Oakland's Kingston 11 restaurant.
Meet our CAB members and learn more about their work here.
