The Healthy Start TA & Support Center (TASC) hosted the inaugural Healthy Start Consumer Convening in Northbrook, Illinois from Wednesday, May 24 to Friday, May 26. We worked with our TASC Faculty Planning Committee members, Ms. Dakisha Mitchell and Ms. Amanda Henley, who are mentored and supported by Mrs. Tamela Milan Alexander to grow this idea of creating space for Healthy Start participants to come together to cultivate consumer voices.

The TASC’s Consumer Convening brought together Healthy Start (HS) consumers, staff, and partners from around the nation to lift HS consumer voices, activate consumer agency, and build a shared vision for a national HS consumer platform. The goals of the convening were to:

  • Build a national community of HS consumers, staff, and partners working together to spread and uplift best practices in consumer engagement in the HS and broader maternal and child health (MCH) community.
  • Serve as a launching pad for other national HS consumer activities, with a focus on building and sustaining pathways for HS consumers to grow into consumer advocates and advisors for local and national MCH initiatives.
  • Provide HS consumers with training opportunities, co-created with consumer advisors and specifically designed for them, that build their skills and activate their agency to show up as advocates and advisors in the MCH ecosystem.

To access the slides and materials from the Consumer Convening, click the links below: