The Mama Glow Foundation & 4Kira4Moms founders to Lead Conversation on Maternal Health Equity at SXSW 2025
What: The Mama Glow Foundation Founder, Latham Thomas and 4Kira4Moms founder, Charles Johnson will present “First Foods Justice: A New Path to Health Equity” at SXSW 2025, a critical discussion on dismantling systemic barriers to breastfeeding and maternal health equity. This session will explore historical legacies, community-driven solutions, and the role of breastfeeding in addressing health disparities for women of color. Both will speak to their signature culture-shifting programs and the importance of investment from public and private partnerships in advancing Black maternal health outcomes and building an equitable future. Latham and Charles remind us that the solutions lie in the power of community.
Who:
- Latham Thomas, Founder, Mama Glow & The Mama Glow Foundation
- Charles Johnson, Founder, 4Kira4Moms
When: Saturday, March 8th from 10:00AM-11:00AM
Where: JW Marriott, 110 E 2nd Street, Level 4: Salon 8, Austin, TX 78701
Why: Despite the well-documented benefits of breastfeeding, mothers and birthing people from historically marginalized groups experience significantly lower rates of participation compared to their white counterparts. To improve health equity, it’s crucial to confront the systemic barriers that hinder breastfeeding success. This session delves into the historical legacies of harmful practices that have shaped maternal health outcomes for women of color, exploring the intricate dynamics of systemic inequality in maternal and infant care through the lens of breastfeeding.
Join us as we examine the scientific underpinnings of these disparities, share insights on community-driven solutions, and highlight pathways toward equitable care that can transform outcomes for marginalized communities.
For more information, visit the SXSW schedule.
About The Mama Glow Foundation: The Mama Glow Foundation is a 501c3 non-profit committed to advancing reproductive justice and birth equity through education, advocacy, and the arts as well as research and scholarship. The foundation strives to improve maternal health outcomes in 3 primary ways: Providing educational scholarships to aspiring doulas and midwives, engaging in robust workforce and professional development pathways for doulas to provide expanded doula care for vulnerable populations, working with educational partners and engaging in research and advocacy. We offer mentorship to university fellows and support doula collectives across five campuses. We are also committed to providing pro bono doula services nationwide, including being the largest provider of pro bono doula services in New York City through initiatives like the Citywide Doula Initiative.
About Latham Thomas: Latham Thomas is a distinguished women’s health expert, Black maternal health advocate, entrepreneur, Ivy League professor, speaker, and best-selling author. As the visionary founder of Mama Glow and the Mama Glow Foundation, she leads a global maternal health and education platform that supports the maternal journey from fertility through postpartum and, through her nonprofit arm, advances reproductive justice and birth equity through education, advocacy, and research, respectively.
Last year, Latham opened The Soft Space by Mama Glow, a 2,300-square-foot wellness oasis in Williamsburg, Brooklyn, designed to offer a sanctuary for self-care, mental health, and Mama Glow’s educational programming. She is also as a Visiting Professor at Brown University, where her Mama Glow Professional Doula Training course became the first of its kind at an Ivy League institution.
A Columbia University alumna, Latham is the author of two best-selling books; Own Your Glow: A Soulful Guide to Luminous Living And Crowning The Queen Within and Mama Glow: A Hip Guide to Your Fabulous Abundant Pregnancy. Additionally, she is a member of the Kate Spade New York Social Impact Council and the Community Advisory Board for the Maternal OutcoMes Program (MOMs) at Northwell Health. With over 20 years of experience in women’s health advocacy, Latham has been recognized as one of Oprah Winfrey’s Super Soul 100 and revered by the likes of The New York Times, Harper’s Bazaar, Forbes, Women’s Health, WWD, The Cut,Essence, and Cosmopolitan.
