Thirty years ago, Every Baby Guilford (formerly known as the Guilford County Coalition on Infant Mortality) was  formed with the mission to reduce infant death  through community education and involvement. In doing so, they hoped to increase public awareness of infant mortality, which measures the rate at which a child born alive dies before his/her first birthday.  

In 2019, Guilford County’s infant mortality rate remained one of the highest in the country – at 9.3 per 1,000 births, a 9% increase from 2018. Broken down by demographic groups, the infant mortality rate for Black babies was 14.6, 6.6 for White babies, and 2.3 for Hispanic babies. The main causes of infant mortality were prematurity, low birth weight, birth defects, and SIDS. Using a radically inclusive process in 2020, Root Cause led strategy convening sessions that brought stakeholders together to:

• Understand the problem and unique barriers in Guilford County
• Gain community input and support for EBG’s future, mission, vision, and activities
• Ensure broad-based community support for the success of future initiatives.  

This process resulted in a five-year strategic plan grounded in our Collective Action Framework and four strategic priority areas: Advancing Health Equity, Centering Community, Strengthening Continuum of Care, and Promoting Infant Wellness. Since then, we have continued to provide collective action implementation and capacity support to Every Baby Guilford, building a robust case for why their work is critical, essential, and urgent. Our work is organized across four workstreams:

1. Reinforcing the backbone organization structure (focused on strengthening organizational work structure, culture, norms, and values)
2. Partnership building and community engagement support
3. Design and piloting of interventions, and
4. Development of collective action performance measurement processes and systems.

As a collective action movement, Every Baby Guilford (EBG) continues to advance through the continuum of true collaboration by coordinating efforts around its four strategic priorities and  interventions, as outlined in its 2021-2026 strategic plan. Recent achievements include community convenings, tools and resources co-developed by community stakeholders united in the common purpose of combating the stark disparities in birth outcomes and infant mortality in Guilford County, North Carolina. 

Most recently, the Health Equity Impact Assessment in 2024 was completed to further identify areas of improvement in reproductive health messaging efforts aimed at  advancing reproductive justice (preconception and interconception). In 2025, a landscape analysis was completed and efforts are underway to  improve lactation coordination  efforts in the county.

Root Cause continues to work with EBG’s staff and partners to:

• Build the backbone infrastructure and capacity for collective action, 
• Provide staff capacity-building support (e.g., staff onboarding and training), 
• Develop the processes necessary for the successful alignment and implementation of EBG’s strategic priorities and interventions.