Frankie Robertson
Frankie Robertson, a nationally recognized, respected leader in public health is the founder and President of The Amandla Group LLC, a social justice advocacy consulting firm specializing in addressing the social, structural, and political determinants of health impacting Black and brown birthing people through public policy and advocacy. The Amandla Group works to empower Black birthing people and eliminate systemic barriers that create deadly health inequities.
Frankie is also founder of Black Joy, a doula firm providing doula services where she is known as the Capitol Doula and The Preemie Doula. Black Joy provides specialized doula training, and community education to support positive birth and mental health outcomes for birthing people with an emphasis on supporting high risk clients of color and parents of infants hospitalized in the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit.
Through her firm’s project management portfolio, and her commitment to addressing systemic barriers, she serves as the Executive Director of the National Professional Black Lobbyists Association to increase opportunities for Black lobbyists and build the pipeline of future leaders.
Frankie has worked in grassroots nonprofit organization management for 22 years and in maternal and child health for 15 years. Her work in maternal and child health began as the state director of the Louisiana Chapter of March of Dimes. During her tenure as state director, her talented team partnered with key stakeholders on highly successful statewide initiatives that received national recognition such as the 39 Weeks Initiative, Group Prenatal Care, Baby and Me Tobacco Free, and Go the Full 40.
Frankie also served as Regional Director of Advocacy and Government Affairs at March of Dimes. She supported a team of staff, contract lobbyists and volunteers across the southeast region, including LA, MS, AL, TN, FL, GA, NC, SC, and Puerto Rico. Key advocacy initiatives included maternal mortality and morbidity, social determinants of health, health equity, workplace protections, paid leave, maternal mental health, protecting immunization laws, health care coverage, newborn screening, neonatal abstinence syndrome, and smoking cessation. Frankie’s experience building and managing coalitions have led to high success throughout her public health career.
Frankie has an unwavering and unapologetic commitment to social justice and equity. She applies her experience as a mission mom, training as a facilitator and alumna of Dialogue on Race Louisiana, the training she received from the Interaction Institute for Social Change to facilitate racial justice work, and extensive training as a birth doula, to advance policies and engage in community education to address root causes and dismantle structural racism that leads to health inequities for Black and brown birthing people and families.
Frankie completed her undergraduate studies at Louisiana State University and received a Master of Public Administration from the Nelson Mandela College of Government and Social Sciences at Southern University. She is also an alumna of Council for a Better Louisiana’s Leadership-Louisiana.
Frankie serves on the board of Dialogue on Race Louisiana, the Louisiana Budget Project, Saul’s Light Foundation and serves as a member of Woman’s Hospital’s Health EquityAdvisory Committee. She has also served on the Governor’s Children’s Cabinet Advisory Board. She serves on the Louisiana Perinatal Quality Collaborative Advocacy & Policy Subcommittee and Mayor Sharon Weston Broome’sHealthy BR Maternal and Infant Health Coalition. She is actively engaged in the New Orleans Maternal Child Health Coalition and the Mama+ Health Package Core Group.
Frankie was featured in Ebony Magazine as a Young Leader of the Future, she is a 40 under 40 honoree of the Greater Baton Rouge Business Report, she was named by InRegister Magazine as a 2020 Woman with A Cause for her dedicated volunteer work in dismantling structural racism with Dialogue on Race Louisiana, and has been recognized as a Legislative Champion for two consecutive years by the Southeastern Louisiana United Way. In October 2023, she delivered the opening keynote for the Dona International Doula Conference and has also presented nationally to the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists (ACOG) and the Centers for Disease Control at its annual Maternal Mortality Prevention Summit.
Most importantly, she is married to Levi Robertson and has two children, Levi II (8) born full term and Zoe Amandla (5) who was born three months prematurely.