Know your body
Clear, culturally responsive education that helps women recognize, track and understand what their bodies are communicating.
Heavy bleedingAnemiaFibroidsEndometriosisCancerAnxietyHormonesPerimenopauseMenopause
Innovation Institute
Founded in Wilmington, North Carolina
Black women deserve more than being dismissed.
We are building a new home for truth-forward health education, stronger self-advocacy, community-powered research and women’s leadership in health innovation.
For Black women in Wilmington, across the Southeast and online.
Why we exist
When women know more, document more and demand better, systems have to change.
Too many Black women are navigating life-altering symptoms with fragmented information, rushed appointments and no clear roadmap. This institute exists to close that gap—with evidence, lived experience, practical tools and collective power.
What we’re building
Information is the beginning.
Power is the destination.
Our launch programs connect health education to action—personally, professionally and across generations.
Use your voice
Tools that help women document symptoms, prepare stronger questions and advocate for themselves during healthcare visits.
Shape the future
Community listening, research literacy and pathways into the science, technology and leadership shaping women’s health.
First signature program
The Body, Brain & Hormone Lab
An 8-week education and advocacy experience designed for 20–25 women ready to understand their patterns, strengthen their voice and help define what better support should look like.
Get pilot updatesOur focus areas
Heavy bleeding + anemia↗
Fibroids + endometriosis↗
Perimenopause + menopause↗
Anxiety + mental wellness↗
Cancer navigation↗
Relapsing-remitting multiple sclerosis↗
Traumatic brain injury↗
Dementia + cognitive health↗
Beta-zero thalassemia↗
Neurodivergence↗
Research + STEM pathways↗
Patient-controlled follow-up
Your visit should not disappear when you leave the office.
Record appointments, specialties, symptoms, treatment or regimen changes, lab results, portal problems and promised next steps in one private timeline. Compare each result with the last one and flag unanswered questions for follow-up.
A tracking and visit-preparation tool—not medical interpretation or emergency monitoring.
Open my private trackerRecord the visit
Date, provider, specialty, reason, symptoms and what was recommended.
Add results
Save exact values such as hemoglobin and ferritin with the date and laboratory.
See the trend
Compare changes without confusing a single improved number with complete recovery.
Close the loop
Track portal access, callbacks, referrals, repeat testing and overdue next steps.
Stop paying for the wrong door
Know who handles what—before you book.
Specialty labels can be confusing. This educational map helps self-pay patients ask whether an office actually manages the problem they need addressed.
What you need addressedWhere to startWhen another specialist may be needed
Before paying or scheduling
1. “Does this clinician routinely evaluate my exact concern?”
2. “What is the self-pay price for the visit and likely tests?”
3. “Who reviews results, and when should I expect contact?”
4. “What happens if I cannot access the patient portal?”
Clear ways to begin
Education that moves women toward action.
Launch pricing is shown plainly so women can decide before sharing contact information or committing time.
Available first
Appointment Power Pack
$27Organize symptoms, labs, records, questions and follow-up before the next visit.Join the founding list →Pilot
Education Workshop
$39–$59Understand patterns, care roles and stronger appointment-preparation strategies.Join the founding list →Coming next
Community Navigation
$49–$79A non-clinical session to locate resources and organize questions—not a diagnosis or provider guarantee.Join the founding list →Complex and lifelong care
Serious conditions deserve coordinated navigation.
These areas require licensed specialists and often multidisciplinary teams. The Institute’s role is education, organization, appointment preparation and helping women understand the care pathway.
Cancer
Navigation must begin with the cancer type and location because oncology care may involve surgery, medication, radiation or a combination.
Official information: National Cancer Institute ↗Relapsing-remitting MS
Track relapses, recovery, symptoms, imaging, medications, rehabilitation and access to a neurologist or MS specialist.
Official information: NINDS ↗Traumatic brain injury
Separate immediate injury evaluation from long-term cognitive, physical, emotional and occupational rehabilitation needs.
Official information: NINDS ↗Dementia
Support documentation of memory, thinking, behavior, daily-function changes and the path to a qualified diagnostic team.
Official information: National Institute on Aging ↗Beta-zero thalassemia
Treat beta-zero thalassemia and sickle beta-zero thalassemia as distinct inherited blood-disorder diagnoses that require exact records and hematology expertise.
Official information: CDC ↗Important distinction: “Beta-zero thalassemia” may refer to beta-thalassemia caused by a β⁰ variant, while HbS/β⁰-thalassemia is a form of sickle cell disease. The exact diagnosis and genotype should be recorded rather than combining them.
Build with us
Partners, sponsors and subject-matter experts belong at the table.
We welcome mission-aligned clinicians, researchers, educators, community organizations, funders and women in STEM who support transparent, culturally responsive health education.
Choose partnership or sponsorship
Meet the founder
Robbyn Baker
Founder & Women’s Health Education Advocate
I founded the Women’s Health Innovation Institute with the conviction that healthcare must continually evolve to reflect women’s lived experiences, emerging research and changing needs. This mission is deeply personal. My mother graduated from nursing school, and I view this work as an opportunity to continue the foundation she established by advancing education, advocacy and informed decision-making for women today.
My grandmother, who raised me, died from pancreatic cancer, and I have lost most of my aunts to cancer. The women in my family also lived during a time when menopause was rarely discussed and reliable guidance was limited. Although awareness has grown, many women still experience difficulty finding knowledgeable, comprehensive support for perimenopause, menopause and postmenopause.
Every woman deserves to understand her health, ask informed questions and receive a clear explanation of the medically appropriate options available to her. Surgery, birth control and hormone therapy may be suitable for some women, but care should never be reduced to a one-size-fits-all recommendation. Women deserve education, thoughtful communication and decisions that respect their individual health needs, preferences and stages of life.
The Institute exists to strengthen health education across generations. Girls should be prepared for their first menstrual cycles with accurate, age-appropriate information. Young women should develop a strong understanding of their bodies well before perimenopause begins. Women approaching menopause and postmenopause should enter those stages informed, supported and equipped to advocate for their long-term well-being.
“When women share knowledge across generations, preparation replaces fear—and no woman has to navigate her health alone.”
Founding community
Help build what Black women should have had all along.
Join the founding list for program updates, community listening sessions, the Appointment Power Pack and opportunities to learn, lead, partner or sponsor.
Education and advocacy—not diagnosis, prescribing or medical treatment.
Your voice is data
Tell us what Black women actually need.
Take our confidential 5–7 minute Community Needs Survey. Your answers will shape programs, partnerships and future research priorities.
Take the community survey