California Preterm Birth Initiative (PTBi).
A five-year institutional partnership at UCSF's California Preterm Birth Initiative — coaching, capacity building, and the BMC Public Health (2023) co-authored publication.
The engagement.
What California Preterm Birth Initiative (PTBi) was facing.
PTBi's Executive Director reached out based on Dante King's reputation as a facilitator of organizational change in racial equity. The initial contract — a focused series of coaching sessions for women of color experiencing documented harms from white leadership — created a protected space to process experiences and develop strategies for navigating their environment. That work demonstrated enough impact to grow into a five-year institutional partnership.
The work.
Delivered across the engagement.
- 01 /
Two-day in-person capacity building training for the full team.
- 02 /
12-week deep-dive series on the history of white supremacy and anti-Blackness for the full team.
- 03 /
Ongoing individual and group coaching with white leadership focused on harm reduction, racial bias, and accountability practices.
- 04 /
Racial affinity group facilitation (BIPOC caucus and white privilege caucus) — monthly separate sessions and quarterly full-team convenings.
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Strategic and anti-racism action planning that directly shaped PTBi's organizational direction.
The outcomes.
Concrete, named, dated.
- 01 /
5-year institutional partnership — coaching, capacity building, strategic action planning, racial affinity group infrastructure.
- 02 /
12-week deep-dive curriculum on the history of white supremacy and anti-Blackness completed by the full team.
- 03 /
Co-authored peer-reviewed publication: "Addressing Anti-Black Racism in an Academic Preterm Birth Initiative" (BMC Public Health, 2023).
- 04 /
Strategic and anti-racism action planning that directly shaped PTBi's organizational direction.
“I had no idea what we were missing and what this work could be until meeting you… You have become an ally and friend to PTBi and have set our organization on a course for real change.”