10 Years of 2020 Mom

By Joy Burkhard, MBA
Founder and Executive Director, 2020 Mom

Watch footage from our birthday celebration here.

Looking Back 

Ten years ago, after my personal, professional, and volunteer lives collided, I convened a group of passionate health care leaders in California and set out on a journey to understand why women were being failed by the health care system; not being diagnosed and treated for maternal mental health disorders.

We combed through research, spoke with 100s of people, and positioned our understanding of the complex health delivery system against what we learned. Then we developed a national call to action, called the 2020 Mom Project.

The Project shared new ideas and simple action steps that obstetricians, insurers, and hospitals could take, providing a wrap-around for community leaders to push for adoption using the Maternal Mental Health Community ACTION toolkit.  

The 2020 Mom Project: 
It became the first coordinated “push” for change in the U.S. 

We soon became referred to as the 2020 Mom Project (and officially changed our name to 2020 Mom in late 2014).

After many people took note of the national framework for change, we knew it was time to convene nationally, and in 2014 met in D.C. with leaders from the American College of Obstetrics and Gynecology, the National Institute for Health Care Management, Postpartum Support International, and more to discuss levers for change and where we all had shared interests.

The convening was held the day the government shut down (so our partners from the National Institutes for Mental Health weren’t able to attend).  It was also the week that a Black mother, Miriam Carey, appeared to be suffering from maternal psychosis and was shot and killed by Capitol police.

We still formed exciting connections and all agreed it was time to form a coalition. We then launched the National Coalition for Maternal Mental Health.

Together, National Coalition members identified TheBlueDot as the universal symbol for maternal mental health awareness, hosted our first annual advocacy day in DC, and launched Maternal Mental Health Awareness week. 

Meanwhile, back in California, we hosted events which we call the MMH FORUMs, at the state capitol and in L.A., flying in leaders from around the U.S. to hear mothers’ stories, share their knowledge, and connect with like-minded change agents.

We led Maternal Mental Health state advocacy work to close the gaps only states can address.

We did this by passing a legislative resolution and seeking funders to convene a multi-stakeholder and cross-sector task force. The Maternal Mental Health task force report was issued 18 months later and distributed to key stakeholders, including national organizations and agencies.

The Task Force report was instrumental in bringing more national professional associations and medical societies, and federal agencies to the table and for leading to the passage of the most comprehensive state MMH bill package in the nation.

At the same time, we dove into federal policy work, began to tackle maternal suicide reporting, address provider shortages through state-certified peer support, release issue briefs, and have continued to catalyze others through our ambassador program, non-profit policy fellows and public health fellows programs.

We end our 10 years with gratitude for our funders, staff, and all those who have encouraged and supported our work.

Looking Ahead

While our first 10 years focused on 
elevating maternal mental health and the complex barriers, 
our next 10 years will focus on 
doubling down on implementation of solutions.

Over the past year, 2020 Mom has stepped back to conduct a SWOT Analysis and re-evaluate what our vision is for our work. 

We looked at our unique strengths and assets, where gaps remain in the field, and how we can line up our strengths to tackle them.  

To that end, from 2022-2025, we will focus on three strategies, which we call our  “3 As”:

Access to Providers

Ample Insurance Coverage

Appropriate Screening

Our approach will remain the same: 

• We will continue to place moms at the center of this work, and 

• Translate complex information into bite-sized and approachable solutions

Our tactics are what we refer to as our 4 Cs:

Cravable Content

Commanding Action 

CoLaborations

Convenings and Learning Communities 

I couldn’t be more proud of what we have accomplished and have so much excitement for where we are headed.  

Stay tuned for our full strategic plan.

With much hope and gratitude for all that we have yet to do together!