Coffee & Conversation: Reflections on a Year of Nurturing Strong Beginnings
June 13, 2025
Friday, June 13, 2025, marked the final Coffee and Conversation of TBF’s fiscal year, convening leaders from the Boston Foundation and experts in the mental health, maternal health and early education and care fields. Speakers reflected on the year of progress and looked toward the future.
Orlando Watkins, Vice President and Chief Program Officer at the Boston Foundation, welcomed attendees, sharing the vision that "every child, and every family in Massachusetts, regardless of their ZIP Code, background, or income, deserves access to the resources and supports they need to thrive from the very beginning.” Watkins introduced the purpose of the gathering as "both a reflection on a powerful year of progress and an invitation to imagine what comes next.”
Danubia Camargos Silva, Senior Program Officer of Child Well-Being at the Boston Foundation, shared highlights of the progress the Child Well-Being pathway has made in the past year. She noted that in a year marked by uncertainty, the one constant has been learning "how to stay nimble, adapt quickly, and remain united by purpose.”
The Child Well-Being pathway at the Boston Foundation focuses on three interconnected areas: maternal health equity, early education and care, and mental and behavioral health integration. Camargos Silva said that fragmented systems lead to fragmented outcomes, but "when maternal health, early childhood infrastructures, and mental health systems are aligned... we unlock the full potential of children and their caring adults.”
Dr. Ndidiamaka Amutah-Onukagha, Director and Founder of the Center for Black Maternal Health and Reproductive Justice, shared the motivation behind her work: experiencing the preventable deaths of two friends during childbirth. “When you experience personal losses that you know are very preventable,” Amutah-Onukagha said, “It burns you to the point of action. It compels you to wonder why.” Through her Maternal Outcomes for Translational Health Research (MOTHER) Lab, a unit of the Center for Black Maternal Health and Reproductive Justice in the Tufts School of Medicine, she has used that motivation to contribute to policy, research, and training of the next generation of maternal health advocates. She reiterated: "It's more than a job. It's about courage, particularly in a moment like this.”
Amutah-Onukagha believes progress is driven by "cross-sector collaboration, innovation, boots on the ground." To create real change, she stressed the need to "center the lived experiences of people who are closest to both the problem and the solution."
Regarding federal rollbacks, Amutah-Onukagha said it's "important to remain collective. This is the way that we stay alive. This is the way that our work continues to be funded and relevant and have an impact.” And looking ahead, she stated that success requires a "very deliberate communal response" and necessitates "power sharing with our communities.”
When Dr. Lisa Powell thought about what motivates her work as Senior Health Policy Expert at ZERO TO THREE’s Healthy Steps program, she shared a story of a two-year-old boy she cared for as a pediatric primary care psychologist. Six years later, his mom emailed her, thanking her for supporting them through his autism diagnosis and inspiring them "to never give up or give in.” This experience reminded her that “we can literally change the trajectory of children's lives when we intervene early, and when we truly partner with families on their journey.”
Orlando Watkins, Vice President and Chief Program Officer at the Boston Foundation, welcomed attendees, sharing the vision that "every child, and every family in Massachusetts, regardless of their ZIP Code, background, or income, deserves access to the resources and supports they need to thrive from the very beginning.” Watkins introduced the purpose of the gathering as "both a reflection on a powerful year of progress and an invitation to imagine what comes next.”
Danubia Camargos Silva, Senior Program Officer of Child Well-Being at the Boston Foundation, shared highlights of the progress the Child Well-Being pathway has made in the past year. She noted that in a year marked by uncertainty, the one constant has been learning "how to stay nimble, adapt quickly, and remain united by purpose.”
The Child Well-Being pathway at the Boston Foundation focuses on three interconnected areas: maternal health equity, early education and care, and mental and behavioral health integration. Camargos Silva said that fragmented systems lead to fragmented outcomes, but "when maternal health, early childhood infrastructures, and mental health systems are aligned... we unlock the full potential of children and their caring adults.”
Dr. Ndidiamaka Amutah-Onukagha, Director and Founder of the Center for Black Maternal Health and Reproductive Justice, shared the motivation behind her work: experiencing the preventable deaths of two friends during childbirth. “When you experience personal losses that you know are very preventable,” Amutah-Onukagha said, “It burns you to the point of action. It compels you to wonder why.” Through her Maternal Outcomes for Translational Health Research (MOTHER) Lab, a unit of the Center for Black Maternal Health and Reproductive Justice in the Tufts School of Medicine, she has used that motivation to contribute to policy, research, and training of the next generation of maternal health advocates. She reiterated: "It's more than a job. It's about courage, particularly in a moment like this.”
Amutah-Onukagha believes progress is driven by "cross-sector collaboration, innovation, boots on the ground." To create real change, she stressed the need to "center the lived experiences of people who are closest to both the problem and the solution."
Regarding federal rollbacks, Amutah-Onukagha said it's "important to remain collective. This is the way that we stay alive. This is the way that our work continues to be funded and relevant and have an impact.” And looking ahead, she stated that success requires a "very deliberate communal response" and necessitates "power sharing with our communities.”
When Dr. Lisa Powell thought about what motivates her work as Senior Health Policy Expert at ZERO TO THREE’s Healthy Steps program, she shared a story of a two-year-old boy she cared for as a pediatric primary care psychologist. Six years later, his mom emailed her, thanking her for supporting them through his autism diagnosis and inspiring them "to never give up or give in.” This experience reminded her that “we can literally change the trajectory of children's lives when we intervene early, and when we truly partner with families on their journey.”
Agenda
Welcome & Opening Remarks
Orlando Watkins, Vice President and Chief Program Officer, The Boston Foundation
Introduction
Danubia Camargos Silva, Senior Program Officer, The Boston Foundation
Panel Discussion and Audience Q&A
Dr. Ndidiamaka Amutah-Onukagha, Director and Founder, Center for Black Maternal Health and Reproductive Justice; Julia A. Okoro Professor of Black Maternal Health, Tufts University School of Medicine; Dean of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion, Public Health and Professional Degree Programs, Tufts University School of Medicine
Alanna Mallon, Executive Director, Commonwealth Corporation Foundation
Dr. Lisa Powell, Senior Health Policy Expert & Senior Clinical Subject Matter Expert, HealthySteps, ZERO TO THREE
Danubia Camargos Silva, Senior Program Officer, Child Well-Being, The Boston Foundation (Moderator)
Closing Remarks
Danubia Camargos Silva, Senior Program Officer, Child Well-Being, The Boston Foundation
Powell emphasized the need for continued policy and advocacy to "protect and defend the progress and advances that we've made.” She stressed the need to "protect the things that families desperately need to do, the work of parenting.” Her hope for the future is that every family—regardless of what kind of insurance, or where they live in the state— has people on their team. She hopes integrated care becomes a "standard of care," expected at every primary care visit.
Alanna Mallon, Executive Director of the Commonwealth Corporation Foundation highlighted Governor Healey's Executive Order 625, which called for a "whole government approach" to strengthen the early education and care sector, involving education, labor and workforce development, and economic development. Mallon emphasized that this "transformative process" could not have happened without the power of philanthropy. She reiterated the importance of "remaining collective" among advocacy, philanthropic, and business communities.
Looking ahead, Mallon emphasized the need to "find those partners who can help fund the work and work alongside state government to really make those recommendations... reality.” She underscored the importance of engaging philanthropic and business communities, as she believes state government can't solve this problem alone.
Danubia Camargos Silva closed the discussion by echoing the need for collaboration and the refrain that "this work is not done alone:" Partners “need to intertwine in order for us to lift up the ecosystems and the work that we do, so that way the outcomes are no longer fragmented.” She stressed that communities "have always held the knowledge, creativity, and strength to build what they need, and they continue to lead the way forward,” and that "families shouldn't have to just survive. They deserve to thrive; they deserve to dream, lead, and shape futures of their own making.”
Alanna Mallon, Executive Director of the Commonwealth Corporation Foundation highlighted Governor Healey's Executive Order 625, which called for a "whole government approach" to strengthen the early education and care sector, involving education, labor and workforce development, and economic development. Mallon emphasized that this "transformative process" could not have happened without the power of philanthropy. She reiterated the importance of "remaining collective" among advocacy, philanthropic, and business communities.
Looking ahead, Mallon emphasized the need to "find those partners who can help fund the work and work alongside state government to really make those recommendations... reality.” She underscored the importance of engaging philanthropic and business communities, as she believes state government can't solve this problem alone.
Danubia Camargos Silva closed the discussion by echoing the need for collaboration and the refrain that "this work is not done alone:" Partners “need to intertwine in order for us to lift up the ecosystems and the work that we do, so that way the outcomes are no longer fragmented.” She stressed that communities "have always held the knowledge, creativity, and strength to build what they need, and they continue to lead the way forward,” and that "families shouldn't have to just survive. They deserve to thrive; they deserve to dream, lead, and shape futures of their own making.”