Myla Flores/The Birthing Place Foundation (New York, New York)

Black women have the highest maternal mortality rate in America, regardless of socioeconomic status. That is why CNN Anchor Abby Phillip decided to give birth to her daughter at home instead of inside a hospital. Myla Flores is on a mission to improve maternal care for marginalized communities. Her organization, The Birthing Place Foundation, provides free prenatal and postnatal care, trains BIPOC doulas and operates a mobile clinic in the Bronx, where maternal health outcomes are among the worst in the country. Next year, Flores hopes to open the Bronx's only birthing center, redefining what safe, equitable and empowered reproductive healthcare can look like while saving lives.