Southern BEE Alliance Cooperative

Southern BEE Alliance Cooperative
The Southern BEE Alliance Cooperative is a worker-owned organization as well as one of the first Black-led birth and childcare worker cooperatives in the South Carolina region. Created in response to the inequitable infrastructure for care workers of color, the Cooperative aims to promote sustainability and growth opportunities for Black and Indigenous birth workers. Their priority is not only to recruit birth workers but to also promote workforce retention and to create a positive environment for these frontline yet often overlooked birth workers. 

Berkeley County First Steps
Berkeley County First Steps brings previous experience on cross-community partnerships and promoting change for both young children and families. Berkeley County First Steps employs Indigenous birth workers who provide much-needed cultural and linguistically informed care yet are still denied access to workforce sustainability and professional resources. Berkeley County First Steps will provide perspectives from not only Indigenous birth work but also on South Carolina-county specific public systems, policy, and community engagement. 

Lowcountry Birth Collective
Lowcountry Birth Collective is a grassroots birth worker collective, primarily operating in the Beaufort, Jasper, and Hampton counties of South Carolina. The Lowcountry Birth Collective will bring firsthand, direct, and deep experience on doula work, childbirth education, and family-centered pre- and post-natal care. As an organization made up of frontless doulas and birth workers, Lowcountry will provide a unique insight on how to craft specific policy recommendations that prioritize birth workers and their clientele.  

The Queens Collective 
The Queens Collective provides comprehensive, compassionate support to families navigating the perinatal period, including pregnancy, birth, postpartum care, and pregnancy loss. The collective supports birth workers and families through education, healing-centered programming, and community engagement. The Queens Collective’s expertise in community-led organizing and advocacy in the Carolinas will further the BJPL’s mission of community-informed work. 

Sanctuary Birth & Fertility 
Sanctuary Birth & Fertility is transforming the Reproductive Justice landscape in South Carolina through education, advocacy, workforce development, and direct support in family-building, pregnancy, and fertility care. As a 501(c)3 nonprofit, Sanctuary specializes in general advocacy, provider education, and policy engagement within maternal health. Led by birth workers, Sanctuary will also provide a firsthand perspective on necessary policy recommendations.