One Small Thing

Through his partnership with the Office of the California Surgeon General, Dr. Ilan Shapiro, Chief Health Correspondent and Medical Affairs Officer at AltaMed Health Services, has helped spread the message of One Small Thing throughout AltaMed, making the initiative part of his organization’s health communications and outreach.

Dr. Shapiro has helped make One Small Thing accessible to the people who follow and trust his communications. He helped bring the initiative directly to his audience by featuring One Small Thing on the AltaMed website, sharing the message through his social media and making One Small Thing Coupon Books available to help people turn the message into a tangible action.

He also helped elevate the conversation through an interview with Dr. Diana Ramos, creating an opportunity to talk about why supporting mothers and families matters and how each of us can play a role.

Dr. Shapiro understands the power of health communication to do more than inform, it can connect people with practical ways to make a difference. By making One Small Thing part of his outreach and communications, amplifying the message to his large audience, he has helped bring more people into the movement.

Thank you, Dr. Shapiro, for using your platform to help Californians see that supporting mothers and families can start with something as simple as one small act.

We are proud to recognize the First Partner of California Jennifer Siebel Newsom as our first One Small Thing Everyday Superhero. From the launch of One Small Thing, the First Partner was an early champion of the campaign, using her platform to help us encourage individuals, families and communities to be there for new mothers during the postpartum period when support and connection can make an important difference.

As a mom of four and a longtime champion for women, children, and families, much of the First Partner’s work has focused on giving kids the best start in life while ensuring women have the support they need across their health, wealth, and well-being. Her work supporting mothers, particularly during pregnancy and postpartum, is an important piece of that larger commitment. Her leadership in these areas helped take the One Small Thing conversation into communities across California, inspiring more people to recognize that supporting a new mom can be as simple as checking in, bringing a meal, offering a helping hand, or making sure she knows she isn’t alone. By amplifying One Small Thing, the First Partner helped turn a simple message into a broader call to action—every one of us can help strengthen the village surrounding a new mother.

Through his partnership with the Office of the California Surgeon General, Jorge De La Cruz has helped expand awareness of One Small Thing and create opportunities for more parents, families and communities across California to connect with the simple ways they can support one another, especially during the transition to parenthood.

Jorge has made One Small Thing part of First 5 California’s statewide engagement, ensuring the message reaches the people and communities who can help make it part of everyday life. At the 2026 First 5 California Summit: Their Futures First, Jorge helped ensure that every attendee received a One Small Thing Coupon Book, giving participants practical ways to support new parents and families. He helped extend the conversation beyond the conference and into the work happening in communities across the state. Jorge has further amplified the movement through First 5 California’s communications channels and outreach, helping introduce One Small Thing to an even broader and more diverse audience of parents, families and community partners.

Jorge demonstrates what it means to turn partnership into action. By integrating One Small Thing into First 5 California’s events, communications and community engagement, he has helped move the message from a campaign into the hands of people who can put it into practice. His leadership is helping build a stronger network of support for new parents, one community, one family and one small act at a time.

Shantay R. Davies-Balch of the BLACK Wellness & Prosperity Center represents what it means to be an early adopter and a true partner in our effort to support moms in postpartum, quickly turning this new idea into action.

From the moment she learned about One Small Thing, Shantay embraced the initiative and brought her team along with her, recognizing the value of One Small Thing from the beginning, embracing it with enthusiasm, and incorporating it into part of the work her organization is already doing to support families in Fresno and beyond.

By bringing her team into the effort and putting resources directly into the hands of families, Shantay is helping make sure that supporting a new mother isn’t just something people talk about, it’s something they can do.

Thank you, Shantay, for embracing One Small Thing from day one and showing what can happen when a community leader is willing to say, “Let’s do this.”

When Victor Dominguez, President & CEO of the YMCA of Metropolitan Los Angeles, learned about One Small Thing, he immediately saw how it could help families and communities in Los Angeles support new parents. He didn’t stop at just sharing the message, he began bringing One Small Thing into Y centers across Greater Los Angeles—turning an idea into community action.

Victor has helped launch a One Small Thing program across the LA Y Centers of Community Well-Being, creating new opportunities for families and the people around them to learn how small acts of kindness and connection can make a meaningful difference. One Small Thing Coupon Books have also been made available at LA Y Centers, giving families practical ideas for showing up for one another. Through the YMCA’s newsletter, which reaches thousands of individuals, Victor has continued to promote the importance of connection, kindness and supporting one another helping bring the message of One Small Thing to an even broader audience.

Victor recognized that One Small Thing could be more than a message. It could become community practice. By bringing the movement into the LA Y communities, making resources available to families, and using the Y’s communications to encourage simple acts of kindness, Victor is helping create more connected communities where new families know they don’t have to navigate parenthood alone. His leadership shows what can happen when a community leader sees an opportunity to make a difference and chooses to do something about it.

Thank you, Victor, for helping turn One Small Thing into action and for inspiring thousands of people across Los Angeles and beyond to show up for one another.