The focus is simple: stopping the deaths of millions of mothers and their babies who die each year in childbirth or during the first months of life. Groundswell will be a celebration of the successes happening worldwide and a galvanizing call for the Seattle community to rally to improve the health of mothers and babies.

This free event will also feature Christy Turlington Burns (Founder, Every Mother Counts), Dr. Chris Murray (Director, Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation), students, young professionals attending Agency (formerly Party with a Purpose) and global heroes making a difference for mothers and babies in Seattle and around the world.

Our program will follow the first 1,000 days of life for a child, from conception to age 2, considered to be the most crucial period for determining the future health of a person. Groundswell will highlight the importance of planning for a family, frontline health workers, new uses of existing technology and the need to learn what causes babies to be born prematurely. Partners include Seattle Children’s Global Alliance to Prevent Prematurity and Stillbirth, and Saving Lives at Birth: A Grand Challenge for Development partnership among the United States Agency for International Development, the Norwegian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, Grand Challenges Canada, UKAID from the Department for International Development, both calling on the brightest minds across the globe to identify transformative prevention and treatment approaches for pregnant women and newborns. We will also honor the winners of the “Be The Change” student competition in the high school, community college and undergraduate categories.