Jim Bialick, MA
Founder + Principal

I am a healthcare and human services policy strategist with over fifteen years of domestic and international experience in policy and political advocacy. I have been a part of enacting three federal laws, 31 state laws, and dozens of substantive regulatory changes in healthcare and human services. I have twice testified before the U.S. House of Representatives and am a trusted advisor to elected officials and their staff. I strongly believe in transparent, trust-based collaboration to improve human service policies that work equitably for all. 

My journey has instilled a deep understanding of families' needs and the power of collective action. I'm committed to using my expertise to champion public policies that ensure every family thrives.

Career Timeline

2005:  Clean Water & Nutrition - Oaxaca, Mexico

After completing my undergraduate degree in political science from Boston University (Go Terriers!), I worked internationally in Oaxaca, Mexico, on community-based approaches to clean water and nutrition. My time in Mexico shaped my understanding of the unique value empowered communities bring to public health initiatives.

This work included working with pottery collectives to leverage the infrastructure for their ancestral art form to build water filtration systems to address waterborne illnesses and organizing farming collaboratives to affordably reintroduce ancient grains into local diets to ensure children have access to the complex proteins critical for early brain development.

Community Clinic Gathering
Vicente Gurerro, Mexico

Community Museum Ceremony,
San Martin Huamelulpan, Mexico

2005

2010

Public Health & Policy - Washington, DC

On my twenty-third birthday, I co-founded and served as the executive director of the Newborn Foundation and the Newborn Coalition, two action-oriented non-profits focused on policymaking and advocacy to improve public health outcomes for babies and families. In my time with the Newborn Foundation, I was honored to play a leading legislative advocacy role in the campaign for mandatory, universal screening for critical congenital heart disease for all babies born in the United States, which included diverse coalition building, lobbying, and testifying before the United State Congress. 

As a result of that effort, between 2010 and 2012, the number of newborns screened in the United States increased by more than 4000%, and it is now the standard of care for the more than 4 million babies born in this country every year of which CCHD will impact 1 in 100. In addition, the Newborn Foundation’s efforts played a critical role in the international acceptance of the screening in China and India, informed the development of the World Health Organization’s Safe Childbirth Checklist, and expanded routine hypoxemia screening for pneumonia detection in sub-Saharan Africa and South America. 

Testifying before the
US House of Representatives.

Launch of the Newborn Foundation with Rep. Betty McCullum (D-MN)

Site Visit: Neonatal ICU, Chengdu, China

Newborn Screening Summit
Rabat, Morocco

Patient Safety - Irvine, CA

Building on my experience with the Newborn Foundation, I was hired as President of the Patient Safety Movement Foundation (PSMF) to leverage my relationships with the hospital, medical technology, academic, government, and advocacy communities to reduce preventable hospital mortality.

The demands of this work were a confluence of the skills I had acquired over my career: organizing advocates to drive policy change, leveraging relationships to bring structural change to the highly regulated and concentrated hospital market, and engaging with medical technology companies to share their data to improve patient safety.

The movement drew the attention of world leaders, clinicians, executives, and patient advocates alike. As a result of my time with PSMF, more than 1,600 healthcare organizations committed to implementing lifesaving patient safety protocols that saved more than 24,500 lives in 2015 alone.

Presdient Joe Biden

Fmr. Presdient Bill Clinton

Fmr. Presdient Jimmy Carter +
Jason Carter

2014

2019

A Lobbyist for Babies - Washington, DC

Returning to DC, I was honored to join the federal team at ZERO TO THREE. It was in this role that I truly learned the interconnectedness of good health, strong social-emotional foundations, and economic security for our most vulnerable fellow Americans, particularly during the pandemic.

Working in a hybrid advocacy environment (read: at home with two daughters, one of whom was doing online kindergarten), my portfolio had wins in emergency paid family and medical leave, child care investments, an expanded refundable child tax credit, investments in infant and early childhood mental health, and child abuse prevention and home visiting legislation reauthorization. 

These policies are essential to families, but the pandemic laid bare that these supports were vital lifelines. I am very proud of the early childhood community's accomplishments during the pandemic and as a part of Build Back Better advocacy. While a lot is left to be done for babies, these strides advanced the public conversation about what families need to thrive in America today.

Hybrid-Advocacy Environment

Advocacy Day on Capitol Hill

Bipartisanship at its finest.

Philanthropy + Maternal Mental Health - Seattle, WA

In addition to my role at PLPG, I am the Senior Policy & Advocacy Officer for the Perigee Fund, a Seattle-based national philanthropy dedicated to ending intergenerational trauma through the power of early relationships.

Perigee resources leaders who create much-needed change through interconnected policy innovation and program investments that support the mental health and overall well-being of parents and their babies. My role is unique because it allows me insight into the policy and advocacy goals of philanthropic and donor communities that many non-profit and advocacy leaders cannot regularly access. Continuing to represent babies in the beautiful “other” Washington is an honor.

Governor Jay Inslee (D-WA)

Rep. Colin Allred (D-TX)

Governor Katie Hobbs (D-AZ)

2022

Additional Details

Education

  • Bachelor of Arts, Political Science, Boston University

  • Master of Arts, Government, from Johns Hopkins University

Advisory Positions

  • Board Member, Redfern Analytics

  • Board Member, Robertson-Bialick Center for Science and Translational Public Policy

  • Policy Advisor, Wave Crest Innovation

Chosen Publications