African American Babies Coalition Awarded Upper Midwest Emmy

“Brains Are Built,” a public service announcement campaign aimed at supporting African American parents, has won a 2017 Upper Midwest Emmy Award.

The “Brains Are Built” campaign is a series of educational videos about key factors impacting babies’ brain development and parent child interactions through age seven.

The campaign was created by the African American Babies Coalition (AABC) in partnership with the Amherst H. Wilder Foundation and Twin Cities PBS (TPT). Throughout the campaign, video public service announcements featuring African American families sharing facts about healthy brain development were aired on TPT channels more than 5,000 times starting in June of 2016 and have been shared on numerous social media channels.

The goal of the ‘Brains are Built’ campaign is to share what is known from brain science and early childhood development research in a culturally relevant and accessible way with parents, grandparents and young people,” said AABC Executive Director Sameerah Bilal-Roby.

“We’re thrilled that TPT is being awarded from the work that AABC has produced and we are proud to have been a partner,” said Kirsten Johnson, Wilder Foundation community initiatives manager. “’Brains Are Built’ puts the spotlight on strong, resilient families sharing a message in support of their community and cultural heritage. Everyone involved in the campaign should feel proud about that.”