STATE EXCHANGE

for Maternal Health

Driving Change Through Place-Based Philanthropy

The State Exchange for Maternal Health unites state-level funders, government agencies, and community partners to create optimal birthing conditions for all.

Illustration of a woman cradling a baby in the center of concentric circles with varying colors.

Through the State Exchange, CHAP provides partners across the country with technical assistance designed to accelerate maternal health initiatives and amplify impact at the state and community levels.

A conference room with a woman presenting in front of an audience seated at round tables. She stands near flip charts with colorful sticky notes and a screen displaying "Birth Equity Funders." Chandeliers hang from the ceiling.

In collaboration with Afton Bloom and Boldly Go Philanthropy, CHAP launched the State Exchange to provide a platform where funders could share best practices for public-private partnerships; direct more funding to state-level maternal health initiatives; and strengthen existing health systems by ensuring resources go where they are needed most.

Unlike traditional approaches that add complexity to already-strained systems, the State Exchange strategically advances high-impact solutions to create lasting change.

Working Together for Longterm Transformation

Map of the United States showing states involved in exploratory conversations and technical assistance, highlighted in different colors. Purple indicates exploratory conversations, and pink signifies technical assistance. States include CO, IL, MA, NC, PA, TN, WA under technical assistance, and others like CA, NY, TX under exploratory conversations.

An Expanding Footprint

Since 2022, the State Exchange team has provided technical assistance to funders and government partners in nine states and held exploratory conversations in fourteen more.

Additional funding for the State Exchange is provided by the Cambia Health Foundation and Pritzker Children’s Initiative.

HOW WE WORK: TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE

  • Through monthly gatherings, we help private, state-based funders find alignment and coordinate priorities.

  • Through research, surveys, and interviews, we help identify strategic areas for support based on individual state needs.

  • Our team members provide strategic guidance on issue areas, change-making approaches, and funder collaborative structure and operations for all State Exchange partners.

  • We help state-based collaboratives identify and implement grantmaking structures that best suit their needs, from co-investments to pooled funds.

  • By making introductions to peers in other states and organizing regular huddles, we fuel connection and learning across the country.

The New Jersey Model:
A Blueprint for Change

In 2018, CHAP played a pivotal role in launching Nurture New Jersey, a statewide initiative to improve maternal and infant health. To ensure long-term impact, CHAP also established the New Jersey Birth Equity Funders Alliance, a collaborative fund that mobilized over $2.5 million from six funding partners.

Through strategic partnerships with state agencies and community leaders, this initiative has helped to improve perinatal and postpartum health and move New Jersey’s maternal health ranking from 47th to 28th in the nation.

STORIES & NEWS

Group of people posing together indoors, wearing business attire, in a well-lit room with a large window and curtains.

In October 2024, funders with investment in nearly all 50 states met in Washington, DC, at the inaugural State Exchange Convening. Participants entering into collaborations on equal footing; strategies for promoting maternal health across the nation; and what working with partners in adjacent fields, like reproductive justice and early childhood, can look like.