Jon Merwarth

An Untapped Community Resource Discussions about maternal health often focus on healthcare systems, hospitals, insurance coverage, provider shortages, and public health initiatives. Those conversations are important. But there is another question worth asking: Are communities fully utilizing the resources they already have? Across the country, pregnancy centers engage thousands of women each year during some of the earliest weeks of pregnancy. Many of these organizations have spent decades...

Pregnancy Centers? The Missing Link in Maternal Health? When conversations about maternal health take place, they often focus on outcomes. We talk about maternal mortality rates, preterm births, low birth weight babies, access to healthcare, and disparities in care. These conversations are important. Yet there is a critical link that often receives less attention than it deserves: how quickly women are able to connect with support during the earliest weeks of pregnancy. For many women,...

It's Stewardship of Mission Ask most board members what their primary responsibility is, and you'll likely hear words such as governance, oversight, accountability, compliance, or fiduciary responsibility. Those answers are not wrong. In fact, strong governance is essential to the health of any nonprofit organization. Boards are entrusted with significant responsibilities. They oversee finances, establish policies, hire and evaluate executive leadership, and ensure that the organization...