Healthy Neighborhood Investments Policy Convening for Advancing Racial and Health Equity

You can watch the recording of the May 19, 2021 Healthy Neighborhood Investments Policy Convening for Advancing Racial and Health Equity where Doug Jutte from BHPN moderated a conversation with plenary speakers Angela Glover-Blackwell, Founder-in-Residence of PolicyLink, Kathleen Kelly Janus, Senior Advisor on Social Innovation for Governor Gavin Newsom, and Carolyn Wang Kong, Chief Program Director of Blue Shield of California Foundation. Participants reported feeling inspired, engaged, and seen for their collective efforts towards advancing health and racial equity.

For the plenary session on May 19 and the specific tracks on multisector collaboratives and local policy and statewide policy on May 20, a group of 800 leaders from community, healthcare, community development, and other sectors gathered to weave belonging and civic muscle into the fabric of policy for racial and health equity–with a focus on California. This conversation built on the introduction of the Healthy Neighborhood Investment Policy Scan & Strategy Map Network Commons held on March 25 Network Commons.

We consistently heard that all of our policy work needs to focus on the commons–those physical, social, and economic spaces where different people come together to share ideas, create common purpose, and build a better future. And that creating opportunities to dismantle inequities requires focus, intention, and partnership. We heard commitment to challenge policy as a zero sum space, that equity in policy cannot focus on individuals. Policy must center root strengths built from neighborhood voice, lived experiences, and trust that communities know their solutions.

Learn more with the key takeaways and summary of the convening.

Watch the event

Learn More 

Check out these resources to learn more about the organizations and topics profiled in this event:

• Tools:
  • Healthy Neighborhood Investments: A Policy Scan & Strategy Map
  • Healthy Places Index Policy Action Guides
  • The Spectrum of Community Engagement to Ownership
  • Centering Equity in Healthcare Delivery Reform
  • Do Nothing About Me Without Me
• Events:
  • Community Health Improvement Week | AHA
  • Soul of Southside Arts & Humanities Festival • Visit Tallahassee
  • California Legislation: Support the California Health Equity Fund
• Video Recorded Event: Housing Solutions Summit
  • Federal Roles and Opportunities for Addressing the Housing Crises
  • Financial innovation for resident owned  neighborhood revitalization
• 2 Pager: Healthy Places Index Use Case Snapshot
• Concept Paper: Policy Options for Community-Defined Evidence Practices
• Analysis: Covid, Race, and the Revolution News and Analysis
• Websites:
  • California Truth and Healing Council | The Governor’s Office of the Tribal Advisor
  • Census Legacies – Building More Inclusive and Equitable Regions
  • Othering and Belonging Institute
  • PICO California Belonging Circles
  • BUILD Health Challenge – Vallejo Housing Justice Coalition
  • East San Jose PEACE Partnership
  • The Fuller Project
  • Endowment for Health: Health Equity
  • The Heckman Equation: Home Page
  • Governor Newsom Announces Appointments to First-in-the-Nation Task Force to Study Reparations for African Americans 
  • Youth Leadership Institute
  • Resident Owned Communities 
  • Trauma-Informed Community Development
• Blog: Hospitals As Anchor Institutions for Community Investment – RWJF
• Article:
  • Health Equity as a System Strategy: The Rush University Medical Center Framework
  • Leading Social Transformations: Creating Public Value and Advancing the Common Good
• Reports:
  • Enhancing Public Governance: An Agenda for 2021 and Beyond
  • Building to Heal: A Framework for Holistic Community Development
  • Trauma informed Community Building 
  • The Water of Systems Change
• Book Review: ‘The Sum of Us,’ by Heather McGhee

Continue the conversation 

Please take a moment to give us feedback and let us know how you are using the scan. Email us at: policyscan@buildhealthyplaces.org.