Upstream USA

Upstream is a rapidly growing national nonprofit working to expand opportunity by reducing unplanned pregnancy. Working in partnership with states, Upstream provides health centers of all types with sustainable training and technical assistance to ensure all women have access to the full range of contraceptive methods and are able to obtain the birth control method of their choice in a single visit with their health care provider at low or no cost.

Upstream is on track to achieve nationwide impact at scale. Our goal through 2023 is to partner with health centers that serve over 1 million women of reproductive age across four states. We launched our first state-based initiative in Delaware in 2014, followed by Massachusetts and Washington in 2018. North Carolina will be Upstream’s fourth state for expansion. Philanthropic individuals and foundations have provided generous support for this ambitious plan for growth, including a $60 million lead investment by Blue Meridian Partners, which has helped grow Upstream’s budget from $1.7 million just three years ago to approximately $25 million by 2019. Upstream’s work has also garnered attention from a variety of leading publications, including The New York Times, Washington Post, The Atlantic, CNN, Vox, Forbes, and Marie Claire. 

Following our first statewide intervention in Delaware, a leading national research center estimates a 24% decrease in unplanned pregnancies among Title X patients between 2014 and 2017. Patient surveys conducted at our partner healthcare centers affirm that Upstream-trained providers are empowering patients to make their own decisions about their contraceptive care.