Is there something new that your team has been working on that you’d like folks in the community to know about?
At Surge Reproductive Justice we are intentional about our values being reflected in all aspects of our organization. This has led us through a process this past year to create a more shared leadership structure at Surge. After making the decision to move from a sole Executive Director model to a Co-Executive Director model, we underwent coaching sessions with Musse and Associates, to build a model focused on sustainability, shared leadership, and shared decision making. Through this work we were also able to shift to a peer led supervision model that is intended to support staff to work collaboratively and build a shared strategy that connects our work across issues.
Is there something new and exciting (in general) that you’d like for us to highlight?
On March 30th, 2022 ESHB 1881 was signed into law by the Governor. Our journey began in 2019 when Governor Inslee passed a budget proviso, allowing birth doulas to bill under Medicaid. The Doulas For All Coalition, with the support of Surge Reproductive Justice, has since been working with Queer, Trans, Black and Indigenous doulas to seek the most equitable pathway for seeking reimbursement as we prioritize addressing the Black and Indigenous perinatal health crisis our communities are facing. ESHB 1881 establishes birth doulas as a profession by creating a voluntary competency based state certification pathway. Once established, state certified doulas will be eligible for Medicaid reimbursement. With over half of births in Washington State being covered under Medicaid, we know this bill will have a huge impact on increasing accessibility to birth doula care and improving perinatal health outcomes for all!
Any big announcements? Transitions? Comms or Blogs you’d like us to repost?
- Learn more about the work of The Doulas For All coalition and the important role of doulas in our community here at the South Seattle Emerald.
- We are hiring for a full-time Operations Lead! Applications are due by 11:59 pm on May 1st.
- Do you love creating systems and processes that encourage ease, organization and collaboration?
- Are you gifted at keeping track of all kinds of tiny details?
- Do you want to be an essential member of a team centered on Black liberation, in deep relationship with queer and trans communities of color, rooted in anti-racist organizing principles, who also have a ton of fun together?
- If so, consider applying to be our Operations Lead!
- Join us on June 3rd for Just Speak: Parenting in the Movement (featuring Kayden Coleman @kaydenxofficial) is a storytelling event exploring what it means to practice intentional parenting through a social justice lens. During this event we will be exploring questions like:
- How are you disrupting generational trauma? What does it look like to cultivate generational joy?
- How are you creating family structures outside of the white, Western, nuclear model?
- What political analysis do you bring into your parenting? How does that analysis inform the conversations you are having within your family?
- Boundary setting with family and community members – do you have boundaries? If so, what do they look like? How do you honor those boundaries AND honor the relationships?
Is there a call to action that you’d like us to push?
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