Grantee: Native American Women’s Dialog on Infant Mortality (NAWDIM)
Timeframe: July 2024 – June 2027 | Amount: $215,000
- Year 1: July 2024 – June 2025 | Amount: $50,000
- Year 2: July 2025 – June 2026 | Amount: $75,000
- Year 3: July 2026 – June 2027 | Amount: $90,000
NAWDIM’s Indigenous Birth Equity initiative addresses persistent disparities in maternal and infant health among American Indian and Alaska Native (AI/AN) communities in King County. From 2017–2021, AI/AN infants experienced an infant mortality rate of 19.2 per 1,000 live births, compared with 4.0 countywide, while preterm births occurred at nearly twice the county average. AI/AN mothers were also more likely to receive late or no prenatal care, experience chronic stress, and face other health risks linked to structural inequities.
NAWDIM works to address these disparities by convening Indigenous leaders and partners to identify barriers to care, advance community-driven solutions, and strengthen advocacy for reproductive justice and birth equity. The initiative emphasizes relationship building, collective learning, and culturally grounded approaches while protecting community data and supporting Indigenous leadership in state and regional maternal health efforts.
NAWDIM participates in key coalitions and maintains partnerships with organizations including the American Indian Health Commission, Seattle Indian Health Board, the National Indian Health Board, and the Affiliated Tribes of Northwest Indians. Through these collaborations, the initiative advances coordinated advocacy, supports abortion access policy efforts, and strengthens alignment across Tribal, regional, and cross-community partners.
In Year 3, NAWDIM will expand its focus on abortion access and reproductive health by assessing available services for Indigenous and BIPOC communities, sharing Indigenous-led reproductive health resources, facilitating community dialogue on reproductive justice, and monitoring state and federal policy changes affecting reproductive rights and data sovereignty. The initiative will also continue convening partners, developing advocacy strategies, and elevating community priorities in regional and statewide policy discussions.
ABOUT OUR GRANTEE
Native American Women’s Dialog on Infant Mortality (NAWDIM)
“NAWDIM is a collective of Native care providers, community members, grandmas and our allies who provide advocacy, education and support for American Indian and Alaska Native infants, moms and families in Washington State.
Since 2001, NAWDIM has convened monthly. Our goal has been to educate ourselves and each other about the realities faced by our Native-child bearers, the data that reflects their journey to parenthood, and to be strategic in how we collaborate to improve practices, policies, and conditions for better birth outcomes.”
NAWDIM is fiscally sponsored by Alliance for a Just Society
