Executive Overview
Nested is an interdisciplinary research-to-practice organization. We identify systemic gaps in caregiver and educator well-being, conduct high-rigor studies, and translate findings into scalable tools, public campaigns, and clinical programs that reach families where they are.
This impact report covers our initial year of work: a national study of perinatal mental health, an intervention protecting connection in early childhood classrooms, and a multi-institutional project investigating why research on underserved families so rarely reaches decision-makers.
Key Highlights
900+ Birthing Caregivers Surveyed
National dataset tracking perinatal mental health, screening rates, and workplace policy gaps combined with in-depth interviews.
Widespread Screening Gaps
40% of surveyed caregivers who experienced a perinatal mental health condition were never screened at a follow-up visit, and only 22% felt able to speak honestly with their partner about their mental health.
1,500+ Stakeholders Reached
Award-winning research proposal presented directly to clinicians, researchers, and perinatal policy experts.
Our Three Pillars of Research-to-Practice
Perinatal Mental Health
Our national birthing caregiver study surveyed 900+ birthing caregivers nationwide, surfacing critical gaps in screening and comfort around disclosure. It also drove the launch of our follow-up study focused on non-birthing caregivers, who are almost entirely excluded from current perinatal mental health models.
Early Childhood Education
In partnership with New York University and a New York City Head Start site serving families from low income backgrounds, the Small Moments Study is identifying what helps early childhood educators stay connected to their students and find meaning in their role in a field facing high turnover and burnout
Research Visibility
Most groundbreaking research on children and families never reaches a headline, a classroom, or a policy decision. With researchers at Stanford and New York University, we're analyzing 700+ studies to find out what determines whether a study gets media attention, from which students were studied to how the research was done.
Media & Recognition
Our first White Paper reached beyond academic audiences: interviews by Parents.com and WNYC's All Of It, as well as a research feature from NYU News, and featured articles on Emily Oster's ParentData and Psychology Today.
Findings were also cited directly in outreach to clinical and parent-support networks by organizations including FamilyWell Health, Brooklyn Parent Support, The Parent Collective, Matrikas, and The Seleni Institute.
Nested co-founder Dr. Robin Neuhaus received the Susan A. Hickman Memorial Research Award from Postpartum Support International and presented Nested's non-birthing caregiver research proposal to 1,500+ clinicians and perinatal stakeholders at PSI's Annual Conference.
Where Funding Helps
Each gift below fully funds its project.
Family Connections: Early Head Start Pilot — $35,000
Launches a new collaboration with Harvard Medical School to facilitate dialogues about mental health among parents and early childhood educators. Funding would allow for a pilot of an adaptation of the evidence-based model, Family Connections, to serve a broader perinatal population in a New York City Early Head Start site.
Multi-Site Expansion & Policy Recommendations — $75,000
Expands the Small Moments Study across additional Head Start centers and translates findings into leadership-facing guidelines that reduce administrative burdens on teachers and make more room for small, but essential moments of connection with children.
Research Visibility Expansion — $25,000
Builds and validates an AI-assisted research coding pipeline, allowing us to expand our research visibility audits into other fields where there are likely to be equity gaps in the media's uptake of studies, including women's healthcare and perinatal mental health.
How do we use funding?
Every gift goes toward participant incentives, researcher time, and the outreach that gets our findings into clinics, classrooms, and policy conversations.