Philanthropy Profile: A Conversation with Elizabeth Star-Winer of the Winer Family Foundation

As a Lactation Consultant and child birth educator with Novant Health in Charlotte, Elizabeth Star-Winer worked with hundreds of families, both in a hospital setting and in the community. Those experiences instilled in her a desire to focus her philanthropy on addressing the root causes of the challenges and disparities she observed, particularly the high rates of maternal and infant mortality across the state.1 "Because of my hands-on career experiences, I wanted our foundation to focus on improving outcomes in two areas: maternal and infant health and creating awareness of the long-term effects of trauma and toxic stress on families," Star-Winer told the NCMJ. "We are intentional on focusing our work upstream with the understanding that systems change takes time and investment in cross-sector partnerships and strong leadership." NCMJ Managing Editor Kaitlin Ugolik Phillips spoke with Star-Winer about how she transitioned from working directly with families to running her family's foundation with a mission of building capacity and aligning systems to ensure all families with children, from prenatal to age five, thrive across our state.