Growing Best Babies Zones: The Development and Future Directions of a Multi-sector, Place Based Initiative

The Best Babies Zone Initiative (BBZ), a pilot project funded by the W.K. Kellogg Foundation, aims to improve birth outcomes and reduce infant mortality through a place-based, multi-sector approach. Led by a team at the U.C Berkeley School of Public Health, the BBZ Initiative works in three neighborhoods (zones) across the U.S. – Cincinnati, Ohio (Price Hill); Oakland, California (Castlemont); and New Orleans, Louisiana (Hollygrove). Each site collaborates with resident leaders and organizational partners from the economic development, early care and education, community systems and health services sectors to cultivate and build local leadership and social cohesion, and improve community conditions to create an environment where every child is born healthy into a community that enables them to thrive and reach their full potential. 

This session will describe the BBZ Initiative, including goals and vision and how the initiative’s work unfolded in the first three years of funding. Successes and challenges of conducting placed-based work with a multi-sector approach to achieve long-term improvements in birth outcomes will be discussed. We will share plans for the future as our zones continue their work and discuss the utility of this type of approach for work related to the CoIIN Initiative, Collective Impact, and MCH 3.0.