Check Out Danielle Tong’s Story

Today we’d like to introduce you to Danielle Tong.

Danielle, we appreciate you taking the time to share your story with us today. Where does your story begin?
I built my career in social work and public health, focused on improving systems for families because they weren’t built the way families actually needed them to be. That led me to pursue my Master of Public Health so I could help change those systems from a different seat. At the time, I was working in maternal and infant health at the Ohio Department of Medicaid. I had already experienced a healthy pregnancy with my first son, and I was navigating life as a working mom while pregnant with my second.

Then, at 28 weeks pregnant, I collapsed at work.

Leading up to that moment, I had raised concerns and experienced complications that were dismissed as normal. As a young Black woman, I knew I wasn’t always being heard in the way I should have been, but even with everything I knew, I didn’t expect it to turn that quickly. My son was born at 28 weeks. I hemorrhaged, nearly lost my life, required multiple transfusions, and ultimately had a hysterectomy. In a matter of hours, everything I knew about my life had changed.

While my son was in the NICU, I found myself navigating a system that wasn’t built to support us. I ran out of leave, had to leave my job to maintain health insurance through my husband, and faced the reality of a $17,000 a day NICU stay. Even with my background, even knowing how these systems work, I still had to fight every step of the way.

Due to my sons complications, he was unable to attend regular daycare. I stepped away from traditional work to be who my son needed at that time and started a consulting business, The Kind Elephant, focused on improving how health and human service organizations operate. When I was ready to return, I joined The Columbus Foundation, where I became the first Director of Nonprofit Capacity Building. The role was new, but the work was not. I was focused on helping organizations strengthen how they operate so they could better serve their communities.

Today, I lead CelebrateOne, the City of Columbus’ infant vitality initiative, focused on reducing infant mortality and improving outcomes for families. I lead this work as someone who has experienced these systems from every side, as a professional and as a mission mom.

Can you talk to us a bit about the challenges and lessons you’ve learned along the way. Looking back would you say it’s been easy or smooth in retrospect?
A lot of my work has come full circle in ways I didn’t expect. I went from working inside these systems to relying on them during one of the most critical moments of my life.

While I was in the NICU every day watching my son fight for his life, I was also navigating spaces where I didn’t always feel seen or respected. There were comments about my hair and how I showed up, often framed in comparison to other Black mothers, as if that had anything to do with the care my child needed. I had no choice but to step away from my career, navigate financial uncertainty, and figure out how to support my son through ongoing health needs without the guidance or support I needed. I was (& still am) willing to do anything to help my family thrive.

So as I lead this work, I’m not afraid of the tension. I’m leading in spaces that I’ve personally experienced as not working, and that doesn’t go unnoticed. It shows up in how I ask questions, what I push on, and what I’m unwilling to accept when it comes to how families are treated.

Thanks – so what else should our readers know about your work and what you’re currently focused on?
I lead CelebrateOne, the City of Columbus’ infant vitality initiative, where our focus is on reducing infant mortality and improving outcomes for families.

At the core of the work is bringing together all the systems that impact families and making sure they function in alignment as one support network. Families don’t experience services separately or in silos, so when they don’t work together, families are the ones left to navigate the gaps.

What sets me apart is that this work IS personal. I often call myself a “mission mom” because this work is part of my identity, part of who I am. How I show up in this space is directly tied to my own experience and what I’ve had to navigate. I pay attention to what families are actually dealing with in real time, and I don’t move past something if it doesn’t sit right. I’ve been in those moments, and that perspective shapes how I lead.

I’m most proud of being able to push this work forward in a way that centers families and lived experience. At the end of the day, what matters most to me is leaving things better than I found them—whether that’s for the families we serve, the systems we’re working to improve, or for my own children.

What sort of changes are you expecting over the next 5-10 years?
Over the next 5-10 years, I believe this work has to evolve. The reality is, babies are still dying, and those rates have to go down. We all share that goal, but we can’t keep approaching it the same way and expect to see different results.

I think we’ll see a shift toward more creativity and a willingness to think beyond traditional approaches. Public health and healthcare are critical parts of this work, but they can’t be the only perspectives at the table. We need to bring in people who think differently, including those working in data, technology, behavioral health, and social sciences, to better understand the full picture of what families are actually experiencing and how to respond to it.

I also think we’ll see a stronger emphasis on lived experience in leadership. Families and individuals who have navigated these systems bring a level of expertise that is not accessible anywhere else, and that perspective needs to be reflected in how decisions are made.

At the end of the day, progress in this space will require alignment, openness to change, and a willingness to do things differently so that outcomes for families actually improve.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://celebrateone.org/
• Instagram: https://www.linkedin.com/company/celebrateone/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/CelebrateOne
• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/danielleptong/