Investing In Community-Led Solutions
We follow our partners' lead.
They have a deep understanding of their communities and are best positioned to identify solutions.
In 2012, we made our first grants in Haiti, Indonesia, and Uganda to support maternal health initiatives. Since then, we have supported 79 locally led organizations and initiatives in 17 countries with $24M in grants. Our grantee partners have used our support for a variety of initiatives, including transportation vouchers to enhance healthcare access, solar suitcases to enable providers to offer care at all hours, training new midwives to increase access to skilled birth attendants in regions around the globe, and strengthening providers’ capacity to manage emergency complications. A common theme runs through all this work: in every instance, we collaborate with community-based organizations to identify their most pressing needs and ask them to let us know how we can best support.
The Impact of our Grantmaking in 2024
49
organizations and programs supported.
237,361
people reached with comprehensive maternal and reproductive healthcare.
13,887
births attended by a skilled provider.
8,291
providers trained in the healthcare sector.
196
health facilities strengthened.
Grantmaking Priorities and Partners
Our grantmaking is grounded in our organizational values and we approach every relationship with intention. We partner with organizations around the world that share our commitment to human rights, equity, and birth justice, and prioritize reaching underserved and historically marginalized communities.
We support organizations that are locally led—often by women—and look to our grantee partners to help guide and inform our efforts. Our grants focus on proven evidence-based models of care, such as the midwifery model of care, that contribute to improved maternal health experiences and outcomes.
We focus on issue areas where we believe our grants can make the greatest impact.
Community-Based Care
We support high-quality maternal health services at the community-level. For example, our grants help fund community birth centers in underserved areas, expanding access to care for everyone, even in remote areas.
Maternity Care Workforce
We address provider shortages by growing, strengthening, and diversifying the maternity care workforce. For example, our grants support midwifery training programs in several countries across the globe.
Systems Change
We invest in systems change work to create enduring improvements in the maternity care system. For example, our grants have supported the drafting and passage of historic maternal health legislation at the state level.
How We Approach Grantmaking
We invest in organizations with care and approach every funding relationship with an equity lens and as a partnership. We keep application and reporting processes simple, maintain open communication, and respond quickly to our grantees’ needs. Beyond funding, we help grantees deepen their impact, grow, and become stronger through multi-faceted support—often by championing their work and making strategic connections.
We currently have four types of grants: General Operating Support; Impact Scaler; Discretionary; and Emergency. Most of our grants are General Operating Support to provide organizations with the flexibility necessary to carry out their work.
Every Mother Counts accepts proposals by invitation only. We recognize that many organizations are doing valuable work, but due to our organization’s size and approach, we are only able to provide grants to a small number of organizations.
Grantee Spotlight: Asociación Corazón del Agua in Guatemala
2025 marks 10 years of our partnership with Asociación Corazón del Agua, a locally and woman-led organization that works to expand access to midwifery care in Guatemala. Corazón trains parteras (professional midwives) through Guatemala’s first university-level midwifery degree program and advances vital systems change by leading the country’s first association of professional midwives.
Where We Work
We support grantee partners in almost every region across the globe. Learn more about out partners and their critical work.
Our U.S. Grantee Partners
We’re supporting organizations in 16 states and Washington D.C. that are addressing the maternal health crisis, providing much-needed services to pregnant people, and training providers who can fill maternity care gaps in communities across the country.
Our Global Grantee Partners
We’re supporting locally led organizations in Sub-Saharan Africa, South and Southeast Asia, and Latin America and the Caribbean that are responding to maternal health needs in their communities, from building a maternity care workforce to providing services that model respectful, quality care.