Queens Village

Our solution aims to solve infant mortality, specifically for Black families in Hamilton County, Ohio. The rate of infant mortality is an important marker of the overall health of a society. Unfortunately, not only does Hamilton County have one of the highest rates of Infant mortality, Black families are also 2–3 times more likely to suffer the tragedy of an infant loss than White families, regardless of income and education. In 2021, 6.4 babies died for every 1000 who were born in Hamilton County, putting it among the worst counties in the United States. In the aftermath of loss, Black families and communities are left grieving deaths that are avoidable. 

It is not possible to eliminate infant deaths without addressing the racial disparities and the systemic inequities that fuel them. While the leading causes of infant mortality are birth defects, preterm birth, and sleep related death, the underlying root cause of Black infant mortality stems from broader and more entrenched social and economic inequities rooted in racism. 

Through our human-centered design research, we identified that Black mothers in Hamilton County are experiencing chronic stress. Their stress occurs from feeling emotionally unsupported in managing the challenges of motherhood, struggling with housing and employment insecurity, and having trouble accessing quality and responsive medical care. They also struggle with finding the right tools, time, or space to practice self-care. While these remain true for mothers of all racial groups, Black women endure a far higher level of stressors due to the systemic inequities they face, which when unaddressed, cause adverse and direct health impacts on mothers' as well as babies' well-being. 

Given how demanding pregnancy can be, mothers require support to aid their well-being, increase their sense of security, confidence in their pregnancy. When women get pregnant they typically interact with their formal support system i.e., primary doctors, and other hospital staff. When available, some lean on their closest family and friends, while some seek community health navigators, midwives, or doulas. These added support systems have proven to be extremely helpful, however interactions with those systems are highly dependent on mothers' awareness, access or financial ability. When the only people responsible and capable of providing these forms of support are formal medical staff, it leaves mothers feeling stressed, overwhelmed and alone. It is essential to surround mothers with a larger ecosystem of individuals and organizations who are knowledgeable, readily accessible, regularly available, approachable, and who allow for more personable and informal interactions.

Our solution addresses the question – How might we build a system where Black women are able to leverage the power of the communities they reside in, build connections with other mothers, and support each other in their pregnancy journey and early infant's life?

Our solution, Queens Village, is an initiative of Cradle Cincinnati—a collaborative network between parents, caregivers, healthcare professionals, and community members, aimed at shifting racial disparities in birth outcomes and the conditions that drive inequity in maternal and infant health. 

Queens Village is a supportive community of powerful Black women who come together to support and be supported by their peers, to connect, relieve stress, process trauma and build a better world together. Queens Village is designed to address feelings of isolation and stress by connecting Black moms to resources, support, and programming to meet their immediate and long-term needs and eventually improving their mental and physical health. 

Queens Village currently utilizes Cradle Cincinnati’s network to connect Black mothers to other programs, enabling them to reach out and get the support they require from a centralized provider. While this has been widely successful in building meaningful relationships and peer support, there is a need for mothers to ask for and receive the support they need as quickly and as effectively as possible. In order to do that, Queens Village aims to build a digital platform that allows mothers to leverage the kindness and offered help from community members outside planned events. Online community groups exist within the social media space, but the needed evolution of Queens Village is in creating a platform that gives autonomy to mothers to request the specific kind of support they need, and allows community members to respond to those requests and offer help. 

Cradle Cincinnati and DC Design have been working with the community in Hamilton County to identify the needs and opportunities that exist in the system. During these engagements, we observed that the people of Hamilton County want to help each other. Mothers, aunties, matriarchs as well as fathers shared that they were willing to be there for pregnant mamas in whatever capacity they can - driving them to the doctor, buying groceries, or even watching their baby while they take a nap. This made it clear that the help exists. What doesn’t exist is a way for mothers to find and connect with these people. 

The Queens Village tool is a digital platform that connects Black women in various stages of pregnancy and motherhood in need of help with immediate community members who are offering formal and informal perinatal and postpartum support. 

Expanding Queens Village’s model to decentralize resources typically centralized by a provider's connections or network, creates a cohesive, constantly responsive community that serves its own needs. This solution fortifies the community’s ability to care for itself. As dollars that were pledged after George Floyd’s death begin to wane, it’s paramount that communities have the structures in place to continue the work in the absence of concentrated dollars. While centralized support is helpful and needed at times, the paradigm shift that this approach enables is for a community to continue supporting one another even if centralized institutions are facing distress.

The Queens Village platform is designed to serve Black mothers of Hamilton County, Ohio. More specifically it serves young adults, pregnant women and mothers including those who have experienced child loss. The program prioritizes those mothers who are disconnected from the benefits of the current services, whether through proximity or accessibility, as well as distressed or at-risk mothers who may not have the necessary support in proximity. 

Mothers unable to attend events and join programs like Queens Village due to not having a car, being occupied with multiple jobs, or being busy taking care of their child, would be able reach out to their local community and request support. This solution is also especially helpful for mothers who do not have an existing social support system where they live. For example, mothers who do not have a partner, those who live far away from or are estranged from their families, those who have lost family members etc. 

This form of interaction and independence with one’s own community provides mothers with the assistance and encouragement they need to recognize and manage their needs.

DC Design is a highly diverse Black-owned design consulting firm composed of social impact researchers, strategists, and designers that represent a broad array of lived experience across personal identity and professional backgrounds. We specialize in using human-centered design to empathize across multiple stakeholder segments and co-design solutions with those who are most impacted by a problem and those with power to influence its success. 

Our team at DC Design has been working with Cradle Cincinnati, founder of Queens Village, in forming their 5-year strategic plan to reduce infant mortality in Hamilton County. Over the past 10 months, we have built rapport and trust with the community members. Through our collaboration we have engaged with Black mothers who have experienced infant loss and those who have not, healthcare professionals, social service providers, prenatal and postpartum support as well as family members within the area. This gives us direct access to the communities we would be leaning on for necessary information, as well as inevitably serving.

Cradle Cincinnati sole goal and purpose is to eliminate infant mortality. Throughout their work, their approach is community-focused and community-led. They have been successful in spreading the Queens Village cohort model of centering Black women’s leadership to improve health birth outcomes for babies in thirteen cities, including Akron, Oh; Butler County, OH; Baltimore, MD;  Canton, Ohio, Columbus, Ohio; Cleveland, Ohio; Dayton, Ohio,  Fresno, California; Greensboro, North Carolina; Kansas City, MO, Tulsa, OK, Toledo, Ohio; and Mahoning Valley, Ohio.

Therefore, DC Design in collaboration with Cradle Cincinnati is a perfect combination to deliver this solution. 

Over the last 4 years, Queens Village has engaged over 2500 Black women locally and an additional 200 nationwide. By 2027 we will reach a total of 10,000 locally and 2000 nationwide.

Cradle Cincinnati has many directives that require focus, relationships, resources, and funds to complete. Picking and choosing how to utilize those assets is key to successfully reducing infant mortality. Queens Village has shown a lot of promise in its ability to increase Black mothers’ livelihood and reduce complications associated with infant death. DC Design is well positioned to expand on Queens Village's ability to serve Black mothers. We are applying to solve because not only do we need funds to grow Queens Village but also the network to expand its reach and functionality both within its own community and others. Establishing a strong national, if not global presence in the work being done here in Hamilton County helps all Black mothers in their battle for a happy and fulfilling life, free of the mental, emotional, and physical difficulties of pregnancy and caring for a child. All facets of support listed could and would benefit the growth, expansion, and evolution of this initiative.

Having a strong social support is not only an important component of a mother’s well-being, but it is one of the most crucial factors in achieving positive health outcomes for the baby. 

Our solution is innovative because 

• It expands the meaning of support - It strengthens a mother’s formal and informal support systems and enables her to have a community or village that helps her juggle the responsibility of caring for a child. Our solution reestablishes the adage “It takes a village to raise a child” by providing the necessary tools to break down barriers to building networks and establishing relationships with community members willing and capable to help with simple or complex tasks. This creates safety for mothers and children while also providing actionable steps for individuals to care for their community.

• It truly represents being community-centered - It has the potential to revolutionize the way individuals and institutions approach providing support. Being in community means being around people where you feel belonged and taken care of, but it can only be created when individuals do their part. This solution creates the pathways for individuals to play their role in creating a healthy community. 

Black women of Hamilton County from high risk communities, in various stages of pregnancy and first year of motherhood, are able to identify their needs, have access to resources that help them meet those needs, and feel supported, confident and understood, ultimately leading to positive health outcomes for the mother and baby. 

In one year: We will launch the Queens Village platform that models and expands the features of the in-person support network and digital groups. We aim for this tool to be adopted by the existing Queens Village cohorts, as well as other populations outside of Cradle Cincinnati’s network. 

In five years: Our goal is that Black Mothers across the nation are networked into the ecosystem of healthcare. Their voices will have the weight necessary to change policy that directly influences marginalized communities’ access to resources. In so doing, they will reduce infant mortality rates within those communities most vulnerable to unfair or biased practices. Due to the function of the platform, a conglomerate of communities will have built an ecosystem of villages that can advocate for themselves and leverage their power to push for systems level change within their city, state, and nation.

Queens Village currently measures the following KPIS to track progress. 

• Combined followers on Queens Village social media channels (IG & FB & Newsletter & Text) 

• # of Followers who are Women of Childbearing Age (average) 

• The number of impressions (duplicated people who have seen a QV social media post) 

• The number of engagements/ interactions (clicked, comment, share) with a QV social media post 

• Video Views 

• New Unique Black women who attend an event in person or virtually

• Total combined attendance of  Black women or men attending an event in person or virtually 

• Returning Black women who attend an event in person or virtually

• # of monthly attendees who are new participants (average) 

• Total attendance of Black Men who attended an event in person or virtually (includes duplicates) 

• Total individual Black women participating in events virtually or personally

• Black woman or man who is referred to direct services with Cradle Connections 

• Black woman or man who is enrolled in direct services with Cradle Connections 

In addition, QV administers an annual survey to village participants assessing the impact of Queens Village on Black women's level of stress directly affecting their health outcomes. In addition, we work with an evaluator to administer the sense of community validated tool to assess the level of connectedness and social capital amongst the village. 

In 2023, the Queens Village Advisory Board formed an evaluation committee and completed training in CBRA to design and implement an overall evaluation of Queens Village. 

Activities - app development, marketing and outreach for higher adoption of Queens Village app, service delivery of programs and resources, organization of service providers,

Outputs - Black mothers use the platform, request support and receive help from local community members, have easy and quick access to resources available in the area. 

Short-term outcomes - Black mothers feel supported, feel connected, feel a sense of belonging and community, 

Long-term outcomes - Reduced feelings of stress and overwhelm, reduced rates of negative health outcomes for mother and baby, reduced rates of infant mortality.

Currently, Queens Village is supported by established social media platforms that provide the minimum set of tools for communities to communicate basic levels of information, often 1 to 1 or 1 to many, but not many to 1 or many to many. These platforms have proven to be effective in generating engagement for specific events Queens Village has planned and executed, but not in building lasting relationships, community, and villages.

The most important aspect to evolving and expanding this platform is to empower individuals to take ownership of supporting mothers in need within their communities. Doing so requires curated functionality that fulfills the goals of the organization in supporting those communities, culminating in an application specific to small communities.

The expansion in functionality would encompass GIS technology allowing individuals to respond to requests for support, in the worst case scenario, being an emergency.

With the support and guidance of Cradle Cincinnati, a nonprofit, DC Design, a for-profit consultant of Cradle, is applying to this program in a collaborative effort to expand Queens Village.

DC Design is a highly diverse organization. At an employee level, each member of our team identifies as a member of at least one historically marginalized group. At the company level, DC Design aims to create an America where all communities are fortified, self-determinant, and prosperous. We work exclusively to solve problems in what we call the Five Systems of Black Inequality: housing, education, economic prosperity, healthcare, and criminal justice.

Collective impact model. Cradle Cincinnati is the backbone, aka the convener.

Collective Impact

• Common Agenda

  • Stakeholders share a vision with a common understanding of the problem and an approach to developing and implementing solutions

• Shared Measurement

  • Evaluation metrics are agreed upon, measured and reported to define learnings and improvements

• Mutually Reinforcing Activities

  • Each stakeholder brings a set of skills that bring value to the agreed upon plan which, while different, are leveraged to mutually reinforce steps taken to reach the agreed upon goals

• Continuous Communication

  • Trust, assured mutual objectives, and common motivation are developed through frequent and structured communication within safe spaces

• Backbone Support

  • A neutral party, independent of the stakeholder group maintains a funded and dedicated staff to provide support by focusing on the vision and strategy of the initiative, support engagements, hold metrics, engage the public, advance policy, and actualize resources

Backbone Support

Cradle Cincinnati provides a funded and dedicated staff to support the collective impact of Cincinnati’s goal in reducing infant mortality. They do this through the following 6 areas:

• Guide Vision and Strategy:

  • Establish consensus of the problem area so all stakeholders agenda are aligned

  • Develop an agenda shared across stakeholders, provide valuable input as thought leaders, and promote the initiative fully as one of their directives

• Support Aligned Activities:

  • Focus efforts on developing the right engagements for stakeholders to maintain growing relationships and networks

    • Facilitate communication among stakeholders and promote collaboration

    • Catalyze or incubate new initiatives or collaborations

    • Assist in building management and administrative capacity 

    • Continue to recruit or develop the pathways for stakeholders to participate in the initiative or collaborative

    • Define opportunities that align with the initiative and develop those opportunities for further alignment

• Establish Shared Measurement Practices:

  • Collect, analyze, interpret, and report data

  • Develop shared metrics

  • Build partners’ data capacity

• Build Public Will:

  • Build public will, consensus and commitment:

    • Create a sense of urgency and articulate a call to action

    • Support community member engagement activities

    • Produce and manage communications (e.g., news releases, reports)

• Advance Policy:

  • Advocate for an aligned policy agenda

• Mobilize Resources:

  • Mobilize and align public and private resources to support initiative’s goals

Cradle Cincinnati does not set the agenda for the group, does not drive all the solutions, does not receive all the funding, cannot be self-appointed rather than selected by the community, and is not “business as usual” in terms of staffing, time, and resources. They are a facilitative support team who can plan, manage, and support the initiative through ongoing facilitation, technology and communications support, data collection and reporting, and handling the myriad logistical and administrative details needed for the initiative to function smoothly.

Cradle Cincinnati is supported through a diverse range of key stakeholders – federal and state government, private and corporate foundations, hospitals, corporate sponsors, managed care plans and individual donors. This diversity ensures a healthy fiduciary balance when funding may shift. Over the next few years, our goal is to secure larger funding opportunities from national funders as well as national sponsorships. 

Continued support from all the financial stakeholders. Currently, our local foundations are supporting relationship building with national funders as our work is expanding nationally. Our work aligns with the work of VP Harris, and we have had the opportunity to visit the OVP in the White House bringing increased visibility and validation to our work

Infant mortality has been historically easy to fund. By its nature, funding from the government has been consistent and reliable across party lines for decades, not only being renewed but increased over the years. While this one source shows consistency, it is being utilized across many programs within the purview of Cradle Cincinnati.

For Queens Village specifically, empowering small local communities to access and utilize decentralized resources requires upkeep to maintain the platforms that house the resources and ability for individuals to access each other. The entities that are either providing those resources or supporting those communities would need to be connected as service providers to these small groups and could provide a “buy-in” as funders meeting the larger goal of supporting the community's ability to support themselves.

There should also be a consideration to the more efficient use of resources as needed and the reduction of unnecessary sourcing from outside the community.

Effectively, service providers would be funding the maintenance of the platform and offsetting the cost with the savings for more efficient use of resources.