Infant Mortality and Other Wicked Problems tells a powerful story of one community’s collective effort to tackle its wicked problem and provides a community-driven approach to creating change that communities can adopt to address their own deep-seated issues. 

When Cincinnati, Ohio’s healthcare providers, community leaders and residents, nonprofit organizations, and funders partnered to create a radical model of care and support, they were finally able to move the needle on the city’s (tragic and persistent) wicked problem: infant mortality. Now, more than a decade since these collective efforts began, more than 220 children and counting are alive because of the community’s collective efforts to save babies.

In sharing these accomplishments and mapping out a blueprint for change, the authors acknowledge that this is not their story but their entire community’s.  The word “we” encompasses healthcare systems and providers, corporate and political leaders, nonprofits, public health departments, funders, and other community stakeholders and champions. The story is told from the perspectives of a key health funder involved in the community-wide initiative and a relentless executive leader.