Shifting the Narrative of Maternal & Child Health with WKKF

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The Maternal & Child Health Communication Collective launches to counter misinformation and increase strategic communication capacity of key stakeholders.  

The Mocha Manual Company, Inc., a leading boutique content development and strategic communications advisory firm, announced today that it has launched an 18-month project to improve mainstream messaging of maternal and child health issues and strengthen the overall strategic communication capacity of W.K. Kellogg Foundation (WKKF) grantees and related stakeholders. The project is being funded by a $125,000 grant from the Kellogg Foundation. 

The project will create the Maternal and Child Health Communication Collective, a consortium of WKKF grantees and multi-disciplinary stakeholders committed to countering misinformation and shifting the narrative of maternal health, breastfeeding and infant nutrition, particularly among African American communities. The work will include creating multi-media content, organizing coordinated communication campaigns, developing webinars and trainings, and otherwise providing technical assistance and communication advisement in order to accelerate systemic change and improve health outcomes in vulnerable communities. 

The Collective will be led by Mocha Manual president Kimberly Seals Allers, an award-winning journalist and internationally recognized maternal and infant health advocate who brings decades of media experience and health communication consulting expertise to the project.

“Lack of access to credible information is a form of oppression and the need for fact-based health communication is greater than ever before. For years, the MCH field has been primarily focused on direct service to affected communities and has been limited in their skills and capacity to shape narratives and counter negative messaging and misinformation,” says Seals Allers, who was recently named one of “21 Leaders for the 21st Century” for 2018 by Women’s eNews for her media advocacy and community work. 

“The Collective creates greater access to strategic messaging and impactful communication assistance to complement the field’s existing activities, and will catalyze systemic change and help improve health outcomes in vulnerable communities. This is great news for black and brown mothers and babies,” adds Seals Allers.

“As families, particularly those in marginalized communities, turn to alternative media sources for health information and more trusted news outlets increase the cost of access to their content, it is critically important to counter these barriers to evidence-based health information with a multi-pronged communication strategy that fosters behavioral change,” notes Seals Allers who recently founded the non-profit, Narrative Nation, which co-creates culturally relevant, narrative-centered, multi-media health communication, by people of color, for people of color. 

“The MCH Collective will reduce barriers to credible information, build capacity and centralize communication efforts among the network of WKKF maternal and child health grantees and other key stakeholders,” she said. 

To learn more about the Maternal and Child Health Communication Collective please email WeShiftMCH@Gmail.com 

About The Mocha Manual Company, Inc. 

The Mocha Manual Company (TMMC) is an umbrella brand and strategic communications company that provides editorial services, content development and strategic messaging consulting, specializing in communities of color. TMMC was founded in 2006 by Kimberly Seals Allers, an award-winning journalist, author of five books and a nationally recognized media commentator, consultant and advocate for women and infant health. A popular speaker and frequent contributor to The New York Times, Washington Post, Slate and HuffPost, last year, her online commentaries on the social, structural and racial complexities of maternal and child health issues have received over 10 million page views. Kimberly’s fifth book, The Big Let Down— How Medicine, Big Business and Feminism Undermine Breastfeeding was published by St. Martin’s Press in January 2017. The TMMC clients include 1000 Days, Urban Strategies, Choices in Childbirth, WKKF and others. Learn more at www.MochaManual.com and www.KimberlySealsAllers.com 

About the W.K. Kellogg Foundation

The W.K. Kellogg Foundation (WKKF), founded in 1930 as an independent, private foundation by breakfast cereal pioneer, Will Keith Kellogg, is among the largest philanthropic foundations in the United States. Guided by the belief that all children should have an equal opportunity to thrive, WKKF works with communities to create conditions for vulnerable children so they can realize their full potential in school, work and life. 

 The Kellogg Foundation is based in Battle Creek, Michigan, and works throughout the United States and internationally, as well as with sovereign tribes. Special emphasis is paid to priority places where there are high concentrations of poverty and where children face significant barriers to success. WKKF priority places in the U.S. are in Michigan, Mississippi, New Mexico and New Orleans; and internationally, are in Mexico and Haiti. For more information, visit www.wkkf.org.