Hillman Innovations in Care Grant Awarded to Georgetown Nursing Faculty

(January 14, 2026) — The Rita and Alex Hillman Foundation, a philanthropy dedicated to advancing health equity and improving the health and health care of marginalized populations, has awarded the Hillman Innovation in Care award to Christina Marea, PhD, MA, MSN, FACNM, of Georgetown University’s Berkley School of Nursing, and Ebony Marcelle, DNP, FACNM, of Community of Hope.

The Foundation’s Deepening Partnerships for Growth Award provides $250,000 over two years and will allow work to continue on the evaluation of postpartum care to expand the community of action for perinatal health equity.

“Our team is reimagining perinatal care to promote health equity,” said Marea, co-principal investigator of the work along with Marcelle, who is also an adjunct nursing faculty member and director of midwifery at Community of Hope.

“We are doing this in two ways — creating a community of health equity scholars, practitioners, clinicians and researchers, and by partnering with Community of Hope, a federally qualified health center in Washington, to deliver comprehensive and equitable care, focusing on the postpartum period as the most neglected perinatally,” said Marea, the Mary L. and Raymond T. Holden Endowed Professor for Maternal and Infant Health.

Marea and Marcelle began this work at Community of Hope in 2022 by listening to the experiences and needs of Black birthing people and health workers in D.C. and offering additional services that meet those needs.

To address the feelings of isolation that new parents often experience, Marea and Marcelle offer cafes that give parents an opportunity to support each other in a non-hierarchical setting and group-based well-child care that integrates brief health evaluations for birth parents. They also offer postpartum home visits from a midwife.

“People are really enjoying receiving that care in their home,” Marea said. “We’re promoting joy and making sure people aren’t falling through the cracks.”

The grant will sustain the group activities and will also support a symposium on perinatal health equity this year to bring together health equity scholars from around the country to engage in dynamic community and collaboration building. The symposium will build on the 2025 symposium hosted by Marea and Georgetown nursing faculty members Lauren Arrington, DNP, FACNM, and Heather Bradford, PhD, FACNM.