This May, we’re celebrating motherhood with a series of community-Led Active Meetups throughout the United States and Canada.
We’re connecting our growing network through movement and conversation around maternal equity in sports, and raising funds to support our For All Mothers+ initiatives. Our work is making an impact, and we need your help to continue the momentum.
Whether you’re a mom, ally, or advocate, you can join the MomForward Movement and help us help families.
Why Your Participation matters
Common motherhood barriers such as lactation support, access to childcare, and accommodations for women at pivotal moments in their maternal journey exist at mass-participation events, including running races. Most people don’t realize these barriers exist until they become parents and discover no support is available.
The unsurprising fact is: More than 90% of people surveyed strongly agree that they prefer to support races that provide childcare options and pumping/lactation support services for athletes, even if they don’t personally need those services. [source: Race Towards Equity and Accessibility for Pregnant/Parenting Runners]
The surprising fact is: Most race directors are unaware of the demand for family accommodations because the barrier for entry for pregnant and parenting runners is “too much trouble,” and thus these potential participants simply don’t bother to register at all.
Strength in numbers: By hosting/registering for a MomForwardMovement Event, or simply wearing For All Mothers+ apparel line, you are signaling to the citizen race industry that the demand for event standards that support mothers and their families cannot be ignored.
How we’re mobilizing your impact
With the increase in awareness and fundraising through the MomForwardMovement Series, we will be able to:
Expand our Family Forward Event Standardization Playbook for events beyond road running events (ex. triathlon, cycling, trail running, swimming, skiing, etc.)
Continue to keep our playbooks free for race directors and event organizers (removing their most common barrier to adoption)
Financially bridge the gap for events that don’t currently have the budget to integrate family-friendly services this year/on short notice
Support members of the community with resources to participate in these events where they otherwise wouldn’t be able to (ex. lack of childcare)
Fund our research to create the most comprehensive directory of Family Forward events
Be part of the Movement
1. Host a MomForwardMovement Event local to you to raise awareness for our work and fundraise for our programs
2. Register for a MomForwardMovement Event close to you: Check out our Event Calendar
4. Support MomForwardMovement with storytelling on your platforms:
Share the opportunity to host an event and/or register for an event with your audience
Reshare relevant @forallmothersorg posts to your IG stories
Amplify our efforts to raise awareness about maternal equity issues in sports
Share your May movement by tagging @forallmothersorg and #forallmothers
5. Make a direct donation to fund For All Mothers+ Race Towards Equity Initiative: ask your employer if they’ll match your donation!
6. Shop our special edition apparel and accessories featuring art by the talented Maggie Stephenson! All sales directly support our programs.
Illustration by Maggie Stephenson for the MomForward Movement apparel and accessories collection.
Event Hosts Receive -
A Hosting Kit, which includes: Digital assets to help promote the run, physical assets (Posters! Stickers! Giveaways!), and a special edition Family Forward Event Playbook to help guide how hosts set up runs for the community in an inclusive way for moms and families
Support with registration logistics: For All Mothers+ will host the registration pages and create sub-events for all hosts.
Support for day-of goodies: For All Mothers+ will connect hosts with additional brands willing to help with demos and giveaways
Planning support: our For All Mothers+ team will be available to answer any questions and help hosts craft a fun, family-friendly running/walking event, and support the series with umbrella marketing efforts
We Ask Hosts to -
Schedule an event any time in May: Provide the For All Mothers+ team with specific details (routes, distances, pace groups and leaders, location, time). Hosts can choose to dedicate an existing May run to the MomForwardMovement Series.
Encourage your local community to register: While it’s not mandatory for attendees to register in order to participate, our registration pages will help us with our impact tracking, the MomForwardMovement event calendar, marketing, and fundraising, and we’ll send along a print-out with a QR code so folks can register day-of as well! You’ll have two options: attendance for your event is free, with a stated appreciation for donations to For All Mothers+ OR we make a sliding scale registration with a $10 minimum.
Promote some of the For All Mothers+ principles for Family-Forward Events: The Playbook you receive will highlight ways hosts can make their event more family-friendly. We invite you to consider implementation at the level possible for the contexts of your event!
Introduce For All Mothers+: In your local outreach and on event day, introduce For All Mothers+ and the mission behind our work.
Market your MomForwardMovement Event: Leverage the posters and digital assets in your Hosting Kit to promote your event to your local community.
Questions about hosting, participating, or partnering?
Send a note to justine@forallmothers.org