ANNUAL REPORT 2019

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Dear Friend,

This past year has been an exciting one for the Jennifer Bush-Lawson Foundation and the economically
vulnerable moms and babies we serve.

We continued our support of the successful telemedicine pilot at Virginia Hospital Center’s Outpatient Clinic
for low-income moms with high-risk pregnancies and donated two hospital-grade breast pumps. In addi-
tion, we launched a new event series with two deep and thoughtful conversations on maternal and infant
health, in partnership with Duke University in DC, Huge Inc. and the American Medical Association.

We awarded our very first $25,000 Prize for Prenatal Innovation to Children’s National for a citywide
study on maternal mental health for low-income black women — research that promises to benefit
vulnerable women in Virginia, Maryland and around the country.

Our marquee event, the annual 5K & Family Fun Day, in its fifth year registered the second-highest
number of runners ever, with an amazing overall turnout on a beautiful but cold morning.

Finally, we expanded the reach of our Board with the addition of Elizabeth Ingram and Dr. Colleen Borelli.
Elizabeth is an integral volunteer for our annual 5K and local Arlington mom, and Colleen is an ob-gyn
based in Virginia Hospital Center who has a passion for giving back to the community she serves.

All of these initiatives can only be done with the support of friends and businesses in our community.
Our deepest thanks for your dedication to moms and babies in need.

We have more to come in 2020, including continuing our series of events on maternal health, donating
much needed supplies, and research on existing gaps in care for the patients we serve. Plus, the sixth
anniversary of the Jennifer Bush-Lawson 5K & Family Fun Day on November 21 promises to be our most
innovative yet!

Thank you again for your support.

Sincerely,

Neal Lawson
Founder & Chair
 RUNNING ON A MISSION
FIFTH-ANNUAL 5K RAISES OVER $50K
Community spirit was alive and thriving during the fifth annual Jennifer Bush-Lawson
5K & Family Fun Day on November 23, 2019.
We raised over $50,000 during the event for Virginia Hospital Center, bringing the
five-year total of funds raised to more than $300,000. We saw the second-highest
number of registered runners — 633 — in the event’s history, as well as a strong
92% renewal rate from top-level sponsors. And we welcomed new sponsors, held a
successful silent auction, and enjoyed TV coverage on Good Morning Washington.
Most importantly, we raised awareness for prenatal care equity while bringing
the community together to have fun. The event, held on the Knights of Columbus
property in Arlington, has become a cherished annual tradition, with hundreds more
friends and family members joining the runners after the finish to enjoy kids’ activities,
a beer garden, live music, and each other’s company.
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COMMUNITY SPIRIT
SCHOOLCHILDREN AND COMMUNITY MEMBERS
SUPPORT JB-LF’S WORK
Nottingham Elementary School
Fifth-graders from Nottingham Elementary School in Arlington made the Jennifer
Bush-Lawson Foundation the beneficiary of their class service project in 2019.
Students put together newborn gift bags — filled with goodies like wipes and
swaddling blankets — and presented them to JB-LF founder Neal Lawson at their
school’s Fifth Grade Promotion Ceremony in June. The gifts were distributed to moms
and babies in need through the Virginia Hospital Center Outpatient Clinic.
Gifts That Give Hope
JB-LF is one of 18 local nonprofits benefiting from Gifts That Give Hope, an
organization that turns traditional holiday gift giving on its head for a cause. Shoppers
make donations to purchase much-needed goods and services — in our case, this
included pack-and-play cribs, blood-pressure cuffs, and metro cards to help low-
income women to get to prenatal appointments. Donors get a greeting card to
personalize for family or friends, showing what’s been gifted on their behalf.
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 FURTHERING OUR MISSION
$4,354
JB-LF AWARDS MAKE A DIFFERENCE
In 2018, we purchased two hospital-grade breast pumps, which were donated

Three special awards in 2019 furthered the mission of the Jennifer Bush-Lawson to the Arlington County WIC office in January 2019. The pumps have made a

Foundation to serve economically vulnerable mothers with access to high-quality difference in new mothers’ lives, according to local WIC breastfeeding coordinator

prenatal and infant care. Zulma Vargas, who explained that her office cannot provide a breast pump if a
mother isn’t yet enrolled in WIC. “These two pumps have helped tremendously in
emergencies,” Vargas said. “We’re able to help mothers before they are enrolled in
$55,000 WIC, if they cannot make it due to a C-section or other health issue, or while they
are still recovering at home.”
In our third year of support, we presented our partners at the Virginia Hospital
Center Outpatient Clinic with a $55,000 grant to care for low-income and
uninsured pregnant patients. The grant pays mostly for telemedicine services “These two pumps have helped
for high-risk pregnancies, a project we helped launch in 2017 that’s seen some
impressive results. With convenient access to services and the accountability and
tremendously in emergencies,”
empowerment that comes with it, telemedicine patients have seen declines in Vargas said. “We’re able to help
C-section rates, NICU admissions, and ER and hospital admissions. mothers before they are enrolled
in WIC, if they cannot make
$25,000 it due to a C-section or other
health issue, or while they are
Our inaugural Jennifer Bush-Lawson Prize for Prenatal Innovation was awarded to
Children’s National. The $25,000 prize, which seeks forward-thinking solutions to still recovering at home.”
improve access to prenatal care for disadvantaged Washington, DC-area women,
is supporting a mental health research project led by Dr. Catherine Limperopoulos.
With stress, depression, and anxiety affecting 40% of low-income black mothers,
Limperopoulos’s team is working on strategies to reduce obstacles to mental
health screenings and to provide these women with follow-up resources tailored
specifically for them.

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 HEALTHY CONNECTIONS
TELEMEDICINE PROGRAM CONTINUES
TO IMPROVE OUTCOMES
2019 ushered in the second full year of the innovative telemedicine program funded
by the Jennifer Bush-Lawson Foundation. Through the care and persistence of the
medical staff at Virginia Hospital Center’s Outpatient Clinic, 311 mothers in need were
able to get the treatment they needed.
Launched in mid-2017, the telemedicine pilot has been a win-win-win for the
Foundation, the Outpatient Clinic and the women and families that it serves. It began
as a way to put our annual 5K proceeds toward much-needed funds for staff time and
care coordination for the project’s launch — and we are proud to say it has now been
fully funded in the 2020 VHC hospital budget.
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“It’s an effective tool in providing that persistent accountability that patients
require to be successful,” says Lesley Daigle, telemedicine coordinator for the
Outpatient Clinic. “And it’s very empowering — it connects them in a way that
allows them to take control of their health.”
“It’s an effective tool in providing that persistent accountability that patients require
to be successful,” says Lesley Daigle, telemedicine coordinator for the Outpatient
Clinic. “And it’s very empowering — it connects them in a way that allows them to take
control of their health.”
The telemedicine program has been successful on a number of fronts. During its
tenure, the Clinic has seen a 25.7% reduction in primary C-section rates and a 61.5%
reduction in NICU admissions. ER and hospital admissions have also declined by
65.2% among telemedicine patients.
But the main goal of the program has always been to increase access to care, a
mission shared by the Foundation, and that has been achieved.
“If we’re able to connect with patients, we’re preventing an ER visit,” says Clinic
Director Michelle Altman. “We’re addressing the health issues of patients before they
become chronic and keeping their babies inside healthy and happy. Empowering
patients to take the initiative and be involved in their care is not something this
population always feels or has.”
“We’re addressing the health issues of patients before they become
chronic and keeping their babies inside healthy and happy. Empow-
ering patients to take the initiative and be involved in their care is
not something this population always feels or has.”
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 EXPLORING ISSUES
JB-LF LAUNCHES EVENT SERIES WITH
TWO PANEL DISCUSSIONS
In an effort to better understand the issues we’re working on and spur action on
maternal health, JB-LF hosted two thought-leader discussions on two very current
topics: maternal mortality and race, bias, and equity in prenatal care.

Disrupting Maternal Mortality

On February 13 at Duke in DC, we co-hosted a panel of experts to discuss maternal
mortality, a pressing issue facing low-income women and, in particular, women of color.
Washington, DC, has the highest maternal mortality rate in the United States, which in
turn is the most dangerous country for women to give birth in the developed world.
The free event included questions from the audience and focused on the push to
disrupt this crisis through local and national innovation.

Race, Bias and Equity in Prenatal Care

A solutions-focused panel of public-health experts and medical practitioners explored
the topic of equity in prenatal care during a June 14 event at Duke in DC. The urgency
of the issue is due to a disturbing rise in deaths from pregnancy-related complications
— with black women 3.3 times more likely to die than white women — and the fact
that 60% of those deaths are preventable. Panelists explored what changes are being
made to address this issue, and what part we can all play.

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 DANCING QUEENS
NIGHT OF DANCING AND CHEER NETS $81K FOR JB-LF
For the fourth year in a row, the Jennifer Bush-Lawson Foundation benefited from
a night of dancing and merriment at DC’s Dancing Stars Gala, a charity event
generously run by the Cornelius J. and Ellen P. Coakley Family Foundation.
The event, modeled after the hit TV show Dancing with the Stars!, brings together
local celebrities and professional dancers for an evening of friendly competition to
raise funds for DC-area charities. The pairs of dancers learn a polished choreographed
routine over several months, then perform it in front of a panel of celebrity judges
and hundreds of gala attendees, who select the winner of the mirror ball trophy and
$10,000 grand prize for the charity of their choice.
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JB-LF has been one of a handful of named beneficiaries since the 2016 Dancing Stars
Gala. At the November 2019 Gala, JB-LF was represented by two amazing dancers.
London Olympian and Director of Georgetown Track and Field Julie Culley danced
to raise funds for the Foundation — and placed second in the Celebrity Challenge!
Prerana Dalal, a senior product manager from Huge Inc., also danced to raise funds for
the Foundation — and placed third in the Corporate Challenge, bringing our total from
the event and fundraising to $81,000!
The Jennifer Bush-Lawson Foundation is proud and immensely grateful to be a part
of this fabulously fun event — which also includes a VIP cocktail reception, gourmet
dinner, silent auction and entertainment beyond the marquee dance competition —
and we’re looking forward to participating in the next Dancing Stars Gala! For more
information on how to join us this November, visit dcsdancingstarsgala.com.
At the November 2019 Gala, JB-LF was represented by two amazing dancers.
London Olympian and Director of Georgetown Track and Field Julie Culley;
and Prerana Dalal, a senior product manager from Huge Inc. danced to raise
funds for the Foundation.
Julie Culley Prerana Dalal
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 THANK YOU
to the more than 900 individual donors who recognize and support the critical
mission of the Jennifer Bush-Lawson Foundation to increase access to maternal
and infant health care for our most disadvantaged community members.
Here’s how you helped:

633 runners and sponsors in the Jennifer Bush-Lawson 5K: $50,000+

Discovery Elementary charity basketball game: $2,000+

Kaelyn Davey’s birthday fundraiser: $1,000+

General support: $10,000+

Thank you to our Leadership Circle members,
the businesses in our community that support our work:

SAVE THE DATE

NOVEMBER 21, 2020
To join our movement for moms and babies in need, visit:
6th Annual Jennifer Bush-Lawson 5K & Family Fun Day
JB-LF.org/support-us or call 703-462-2336

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