Description
The current pandemic has revealed even more deeply the health inequities that impact our communities, influenced by legacies of racial and economic segregation and disinvestment that fueled disparities in opportunity, health and well-being even before the COVID-19 crisis. The community development industry was originally founded during the civil rights movement, in response to racist “redlining”policies and discriminatory lending practices, and is responsible for investments in health clinics, affordable housing, permanent supportive housing, and more. What is the industry’s role in our current moment, and how can those working to provide for mental and behavioral health, better collaborate to address shared goals?
Objectives:
- Understand the role of the community development sector in supporting place-based healthcare investments and maximizing positive impact on community needs.
- Access practical tools to identify potential community development partners across the country and resources to advance similar successful cross-sector partnerships
Speaker Info
Ruth Thomas-Squance, PhD, MPH, is Director of Field Building at the Build Healthy Places Network where she develops and implements the organization’s national Field Building Strategy around cross sector health partnerships. A passionate public health change agent, she has 15 years of experience working in multi-sector collaborations with diverse partners to promote health equity.
Renae A. Badruzzaman, MPH, is Program Manager at Build Healthy Places Network where she operationalizes and implements the Network’s place-based strategy. Renae brings a decade of experience working in multidisciplinary and cross-sector collaborations to advance health equity, inclusion and justice for people of color and communities with low-income.
Ashley Hernandez is the Communications and Outreach Specialist for Build Healthy Places Network. She has extensive experience in non-profit work both nationally and globally. She has worked on a range of issues from economic empowerment to Indigenous philanthropy, with the goal of working with communities to build partnerships and create access to resources in order to build more equitable communities.
