BWHI’s signature programs are implemented in select markets nationwide with the goal of addressing the most pressing health issues currently impacting Black women and girls.
Lifestyle Change
Prediabetes and Type 2 diabetes does NOT have to be your destiny!
Change Your Lifestyle. Change Your Life. (CYL2) a program powered by the Black Women’s Health Imperative has helped people not only shed pounds but also avoid prediabetes, type 2 diabetes, heart disease and many other chronic conditions. Let’s all spread the message about prediabetes and encourage your family and friends to take the Risk Test!
Reproductive Health
Reproductive Justice
We’re Advocating For Reproductive Health, Rights, And Justice Now. Will You Join Us?
For Black women, Reproductive health (Repro) advocacy ensures complete physical, mental, and social well-being, not merely the absence of disease in all matters relating to the reproductive system. Reproductive rights center on maintaining or protecting the legal right to contraception, abortion, fertility treatment, and reproductive health. While also ensuring access to information about one’s reproductive body. In general, reproductive rights secure people’s agency – their right to decide their capacities to reproduce or not.
HBCU Advisory
Empowering Women, Building Advocates, Graduating Leaders
My Sister’s Keeper (MSK) is our advocacy and leadership-building initiative for women on Historically Black College and University (HBCU) campuses.
There’s strength in the united voices of women across the HBCU campus network. MSK encourages every woman on campus to get involved, get informed and use her voice as her sister’s keeper and strongest advocate.
Through MSK, collegiate women will support each other in making healthy choices, protect one another from intimate partner violence and serve as advocacy leaders on campus and in the community.
Rare Diseases
Rare Disease Diversity Coalition
The Black Women’s Health Imperative launched the Rare Disease Diversity Coalition to address the extraordinary challenges faced by rare disease patients of color. The Coalition brings together rare disease experts, health, and diversity advocates, and industry leaders to identify and advocate for evidenced-based solutions to alleviate the disproportionate burden of rare diseases on communities of color.
Menstrual Equity
Positive Period!
Menstrual product insecurities among poor women and girls can lead to shame, humiliation and dire outcomes. Now more than ever, we must build our villages so women and girls can enjoy optimal health and wellness. This starts with building a culture of pride around our periods.
The Black Women’s Health Imperative has been working hard to build awareness about menstrual product insecurities through our Positive Period! Campaign. The campaign aims to address this challenge among marginalized women, women who are poor, homeless, detained, or incarcerated, as well as among low-income school girls, who are unable to buy menstrual supplies.
Maternal Health
NOURISH Program
N.O.U.R.I.S.H. stands for New Opportunity to Uncover our Resources, Intuition, Spirit and Healing. NOURISH is the Black Women Health Imperative’s doula training program that provides a 7-part intensive series with facilitators to gain knowledge and skills to support the needs of new birthing families, save lives, become community doula leaders, and facilitate self nurturing and healing.
For more information, please contact our program managers:
Ifeoma Udoh, iudoh@bwhi.org
HIV Awareness
On Our Own Terms
On Our Own Terms is an initiative of the Black Women’s Health Imperative (BWHI). OOOT is an informed network of organizations and experts who are focused on the prevention of HIV for, by and about Black cis and transgender women, as well as the care and treatment of women living with HIV.
Luna Unleashed
Luna Unleashed is a groundbreaking comic series that addresses urgent social issues with a captivating story of empowerment and resilience. In a world where Black women face medical racism, Black people are targeted by police violence, and the United States grapples with a healthcare and economic crisis due to a pandemic, a hero like Luna is needed more than ever.
Luna, a passionate parkour enthusiast and student nurse, suddenly finds herself endowed with extraordinary powers that enable her to protect and save those around her in unexpected ways. As she navigates this new reality, Luna realizes that there are greater forces at play. Alongside her sister and mother, she must harness their collective strength to confront these challenges and fight for justice.