SAN FRANCISCO--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Today, Bobbie, the mom-founded and led infant formula company, announced its second-annual MotherBoard, a yearly collective of activist parents who are joining forces with the brand and their social good and policy arm, Bobbie for Change. Together the MotherBoard will lend their collective voices and take action on the critical issues facing modern parents.
The MotherBoard – an activist approach to collaborating with celebrities – is composed of parent activists and investors that are ready to create meaningful change in lock-step with Bobbie for Change. For the next year, the fired-up parents and parents-to-be include Gabrielle Union, Naomi Osaka (due this summer), Meghan Trainor, Karlie Kloss, Emily Oster – and returning for his second year, Tan France (the MotherBoard GodFather) – and will take on issues that impact new parents. Central to these six parents are the causes they will be addressing: the maternal mortality crisis in the US, specifically impacting women of color, increasing accessible and affordable infant nutrition, the lack of a paid leave policy for American parents, surrogacy, maternal mental health, and fostering a non-judgemental and fact-based approach to parenting and feeding.
“From day one, Bobbie has never existed simply to sell formula. As a mom founded and led company, activism is inextricably woven into our DNA as a brand – and we’d be naive to think that we can move the needle alone. By aligning ourselves with the impactful voices of these modern-day parents, we’re able to create meaningful change together, to bring awareness to the issues and push forth policies that are impacting American parents. Some of the work may be as simple as pulling back the layers of their day-to-day parenting struggles; some of it may include lobbying in DC – and it’s all equally important. We created Bobbie to change parenting culture and the MotherBoard is a critical pillar of that mission,” said Laura Modi, Bobbie CEO and co-founder, and mom of three.
Meet our MotherBoard:
- Gabrielle Union: Actress, best-selling author, and committed activist—particularly in the areas of racial justice, women's rights, and LGBTQ+ rights—Gabrielle advocates for social change both on and off screen. More specifically, she’ll be getting loud around the stigma of choosing surrogacy and the maternal mortality crisis in the US.
- Naomi Osaka: Widely recognized as one of the greatest tennis players of all time, Naomi is set to add another title to her collection (which includes four Grand Slams) this year: mom. From the beginning, Naomi has been a vocal advocate for mental health and outspoken about her struggles as a professional athlete. Now, as a MotherBoard member, she’s committed to using her voice to amplify the conversation about maternal mental health in the United States.
- Meghan Trainor: No stranger to flipping the script on cultural norms related to motherhood, this global superstar is committed to spreading awareness about how you can grow your career and family at the same time. We’re counting on Meghan (mom to Riley and soon-to-be mom of two) to get us into some healthy “treble” this year by supporting the fight for better parental leave policies and speaking honestly and openly about the challenges of becoming a mother.
- Karlie Kloss: This supermodel and soon-to-be second-time mom is a staunch advocate for women’s empowerment and social justice issues, even founding her own coding fellowship program, Kode with Klossy, a nonprofit organization that aims to teach young girls to code and pursue careers in technology. As a part of the MotherBoard, she’ll push for Paid Leave for All, a natural extension of her activism in being a cheerleader for women and fellow parents.
- Emily Oster: Economist, bestselling author, and mom-of-two who wrote the books that were on our nightstands from pregnancy through postpartum, including “Expecting Better” and “Cribsheet.” Emily has been helping parents find confidence in their choices based on insights and data, rather than societal trends and judgment for 10 years. We’re thrilled to bring her expertise and point of view to bear with our Bobbie Labs team, to help identify gaps in current research and propose new lines of work.
- Tan France: Style expert and fashion designer Tan France welcomed his first baby, Ismail, via surrogacy in 2019—and revealed baby #2 was on the way to our very own MilkDrunk podcast. As a gay, muslim dad based in Utah, he is no stranger to busting stigmas. Affectionately referred to at Bobbie as our MotherBoard GodFather, Tan has shared openly and vulnerably about his surrogacy experience, and has been a voice for others navigating their own transition into parenthood via surrogacy.
Last year’s MotherBoard members Ashley Graham, Tan France, Elaine Welteroth, and Laura Dern got loud for parents across the US during the infant formula shortage, released a history-making combo-feeding campaign to neutralize the feeding wars, participated in 80+ meetings on Capitol Hill to fight for domestic manufacturing bills, took actions to tackle the maternal mortality crisis, fought for the reintroduction of the Momnibus Act, and partnered with 4Kira4moms to ensure babies that have lost their mother in childbirth will be adequately fed.
Bobbie for Change, the activism and social good arm of the business, is focused on four pillars: the maternal health crisis, expanding insurance to include formula for parents impacted by breast cancer treatment, upleveling the formula industry and rapid mobilization in times of disaster or civil unrest. In lock step with the MotherBoard, Bobbie for Change will continue fighting to move the needle on these critical issues and activating on all fronts with the support of this powerful cohort of activist parents.
To learn more about this year’s MotherBoard, visit: www.bobbiemotherboard.com.
About Bobbie:
Bobbie is an Organic Infant Formula company that exists to build a parenting culture of confidence, not comparison, where every parent is supported in the feeding choice that is right for them and their baby. Bobbie launched in 2021 as the first direct-to-consumer, subscription-based infant formula company in the US. Today, Bobbie is the only mom-founded and led infant formula in the country and the fastest growing infant formula to enter the US market since the 1980’s. Bobbie’s recipe is modeled after breastmilk and designed to meet the most recent EU nutritional standards for critical ingredients like DHA and iron, while also complying with all FDA nutritional standards for infant formula. Bobbie is focused on providing a purposefully sourced, USDA Organic infant formula with Organic Valley milk from pasture raised cows. It was the first-ever infant formula to receive the Clean Label Project Purity Award and certification as a Pesticide-Free Product. Bobbie was founded in 2018, is based in San Francisco, and is venture-backed. For more information on Bobbie, visit www.hibobbie.com, and follow Bobbie on Instagram @bobbie.
