We See You, Sis: Celebrating Angela Doyinsola Aina – NewsOne

Angela Doyinsola Aina, MPH is the Co-Founder and Executive Director of the Black Mamas Matter Alliance (BMMA), a Black women-led organization that centers Black mamas by advocating, driving research, building power, and shifting culture for Black maternal health, rights and justice.

Angela is a fierce advocate for Black women and their babies and has been in the trenches working to improve birthing outcomes for Black birthing people for many years.

Angela’s work within public health derives from her passion and commitment to works that seek to achieve the self-determination of women of African descent, the elimination of violence against women, the promotion of Black and African women’s rights and leadership, as well as womanist solutions to social and economic injustices.

“The solutions are within our communities, and people need to trust Black women, listen to Black women and invest in Black women” Angela notes. 

Her work, expertise and perspectives on Black maternal health spans decades and has been featured in numerous media outlets and publications such as the Huffington Post, The Atlantic, The Root, as well as on Headline News and CNN, to name a few.

In March of 2020, Angela was recognized as WebMD’s Health Hero and was also highlighted as an advocate for Black maternal health in TIME.

Throughout her time working within the public health space, Angela has served in different capacities on projects focused on incorporating health equity strategies into reproductive and maternal health initiatives, strengthening strategic planning and community-based workforce development, as well as data collection.

She has also served as a Public Health Analyst, Health Communications Specialist, and was a Public Health Prevention Service Fellow at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) for over 5 years, where she worked on Zika and Pregnancy, scientific program management, and the 2014 Ebola response staffing.

In September of 2020, Angela was named the Executive Director of the Black Mamas Matter Alliance (BMMA). In her new role, Angela is one of the foremost authorities on Black maternal health and works to convene other Black maternal health professionals as well as community-based organizations to develop trainings, programs, quality improvement initiatives, research projects, and black feminist advocacy strategies to advance holistic maternity service provision, policy, and systems change in global public health.

BMMA aligns with the reproductive justice movement, centering women of color in the struggle to recognize the human rights of every woman to decide whether, when, and under which conditions they choose to reproduce, have a baby, or end a pregnancy.

The organization supports community mobilization, community-building, and community-driven solutions. Most importantly, BMMA loves Black mamas and approaches their work with generosity towards all who are working for Black maternal health, rights and justice.

Sparked by a partnership between the Center for Reproductive Rights (CRR) and SisterSong Women of Color Reproductive Justice Collective, the Black Mamas Matter Alliance was “birthed” initially in 2013.

In 2015, SisterSong, CRR, and Elizabeth Dawes Gay, co-organized a convening that brought together experts and activists and stakeholders from a variety of sectors who were concerned about Black Maternal Health.

“Black Mamas Matter” was an outcome of the meeting. In 2016, BMMA hosted its first Steering Committee retreat where the group decided on the “alliance” structure.

In 2018, BMMA expanded from its initial group to include over 18 Black women-led organizations and in June of the same year, Angela became co-director, along with Elizabeth Dawes Gay of the Alliance.

In addition to her role at BMMA, Angela also continues to work on the front line – pursuing policy changes to improve maternal health, rights, and justice for Black women while holding strong to BMMA’s values that Black people must be active participants in the policy decisions that impact their lives.

Through her work within policy and advocacy, she has helped to drive awareness of and introduce the 2021 National Black Maternal Health Week resolution that brought official recognition of the Black Maternal Health crisis by the Biden-Harris administration – a long-awaited and important recognition of the ongoing crisis.

In addition, the introduction of the 2021 National Black Maternal Health Week Resolution is led by Representative Alma Adams, (NC-12), Representative Lauren Underwood (IL- 14), and Senator Cory Booker (D-NJ). Founded by the Black Mamas Matter Alliance and intentionally coinciding with National Minority Health Month and the International Day for Maternal Health and Rights, this week serves as an opportunity to raise awareness, inspire activism, and strengthen organizing for Black Maternal Health.

Angela holds a Master of Public Health degree in International and Women’s Health from Morehouse School of Medicine where she conducted a sequential mixed-method analysis of the reproductive health attitudes and behaviors of Nigerian-born immigrant women in the U.S., and a Bachelor of Science degree from Georgia State University in Psychology and African-American Studies.

Angela enjoys all things diasporic Black cultural expressions in dance, music, art, fashion, theatre and film.

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