OUR APPROACH · EVIDENCE. COMMUNITY. POSSIBILITY.
From safe sleep recommendations to safer sleep conditions.
Evidence tells us what protects babies. Equity asks whether every family has the support and resources to put that evidence into practice.
We connect infant safe sleep science with community wisdom, compassionate care, and institutional change.
OUR GUIDING PHILOSOPHY
Evidence. Community. Possibility.
OUR PHILOSOPHY
Evidence and compassion belong together.
A safe sleep recommendation is essential. Understanding what makes it achievable is equally important.
GISS Center supports established evidence-based infant safe sleep recommendations while recognizing that families face different pressures, resources, and circumstances when trying to follow them.
Our approach starts with what families experience and asks what communities, professionals, and institutions can change to provide more meaningful support.
OUR SIGNATURE FRAMEWORK
The Afrofuturist SUID Equity Cycle
A six-stage framework for connecting evidence, imagination, shared design, material support, systems transformation, and equity-centered learning.
Follow the arrows clockwise. Equity Evaluation reconnects with Evidence so learning shapes the next round of action.
01 / EVIDENCE
Understand the Conditions
Bring together infant sleep science, local data, and families’ lived experiences to understand protective practices and the conditions influencing risk.
02 / VISIONING
Imagine Safer Futures
Invite communities to define what safer nights, responsive care, and more equitable systems could look like beyond current constraints.
03 / CO-DESIGN
Create With Communities
Develop responses with caregivers, community organizations, healthcare professionals, and institutions—not simply for them.
04 / MATERIAL SUPPORT
Make Safety Possible
Connect advice to practical resources, appropriate sleep spaces, reliable referrals, and the support families identify as necessary.
05 / POLICY & SYSTEM CHANGE
Change the Environment
Improve counseling routines, resource pathways, institutional policies, and accountability so effective supports can be sustained.
06 / EQUITY EVALUATION
Learn and Reimagine
Examine who benefits, what changes in practice, what barriers remain, and how the next cycle can be improved.
It is a cycle, not a checklist.
Each stage informs the next. Learning and evaluation return us to listening, evidence, community visioning, and redesign.
SIGNATURE INITIATIVE
Dreaming Safe Sleep Futures™
Dreaming Safe Sleep Futures™ translates the Afrofuturist SUID Equity Cycle into professional learning, community-informed conversations, practical tools, and opportunities for institutional improvement.
It emphasizes families as knowledgeable partners and asks professionals to consider not just whether recommendations were delivered, but whether meaningful supports were identified and connected.
The initiative helps professionals consider:
From awareness to application.
• How to reinforce accurate infant safe sleep guidance
• How to listen without judgment to families’ real nighttime experiences
• How to connect recommendations to practical resources
• How teams can improve and assess routine practice
REAL NIGHTS CONVERSATIONS
Start with what actually happens.
Compassionate, nonjudgmental conversations help professionals understand what families experience and work with them on realistic, safer plans.
Questions that invite understanding
• Where does your baby start the night, and where do they usually end up?
• What happens when feeding, soothing, or exhaustion makes the plan difficult?
• Is a suitable, separate infant sleep surface available?
• What support would make tonight safer?
Listen carefully, reinforce current evidence-based infant safe sleep recommendations, explore practical barriers, and help families develop an individualized plan and connect with available resources.
These prompts complement—not replace—established safe sleep guidance or clinical judgment.
PRACTICE TRANSFORMATION
Training is a beginning. Practice change is the goal.
Institutional change becomes possible when learning is connected to specific routines, tools, resources, and feedback.
01 / LISTEN
Understand Current Practice
Review how safe sleep conversations happen today and hear from caregivers, professionals, and community partners.
02 / IMPLEMENT
Co-Design Practical Changes
Identify a manageable improvement: a counseling checklist, Real Nights Plan, referral pathway, or shared documentation process.
03 / LEARN
Measure and Adapt
Track whether the new practice is being used, whether families receive support, and what barriers still need attention.
OUR VALUES
Five values. One shared responsibility.
These values shape how GISS Center approaches learning, dialogue, partnerships, and improvement.
Truth
Honor evidence and lived realities.
Compassion
Lead with dignity and respect.
Support
Connect advice with meaningful resources.
Fairness
Challenge inequities in care and systems.
Future
Protect every infant’s potential.
PUT THE APPROACH TO WORK
Put the approach into action.
Choose the next step that fits your work or interests.
Learn With GISS
Explore professional learning experiences, workshops, and upcoming training opportunities.
Discover the Publications
Explore the Dreaming Safe Sleep Futures™ book, companion guide, and other resources.
Collaborate for Change
Discuss professional education, community-centered solutions, or institutional improvement.
BUILD SAFER FUTURES WITH US
What if every safe sleep conversation led to meaningful support?
We welcome organizations and professionals who want to bring evidence, community wisdom, and accountable action together.