Appears In: “Champion Spotlight”

The BEC addresses inequities that structural racism and oppression have on the health, well-being, growth, and economic stability of the Black community in Pittsburg and beyond by leveraging the expertise of social scientists, physicians, health care professionals, epidemiologists, public health practitioners, funders, government officials, business and education leaders, researchers, and community advocates....

For this month's champion spotlight series we spoke with Families Moving Forward (FMF), a community-based organization in Durham, North Carolina that helps provide families with children a stable, safe, and loving environment while they are in the temporary crisis of homelessness....

In April, we spoke with Dr. Luke Smith, Psychiatrist and Executive Director at El Futuro, a community-based nonprofit organization that seeks to transform mental health care in North Carolina and beyond. They provide bilingual therapy, psychiatry, case management, substance use treatment, and other mental health services to North Carolina’s Latino community in a welcoming environment of healing and hope. El Futuro hosts residents and students, and leads efforts to support and educate those who are interested in serving the Latino…

Te’Kima divides her time between West Babylon, NY, and Washington, DC, and gives back to the social work profession by mentoring masters-level social work students at Stony Brook University, and serves as a Board Trustee for the Belmont Lake Civic Association in West Babylon, NY. Te’Kima is also a new member of the African American Federal Executive Association (AAFEA), a non-profit organization dedicated to preparing and supporting African Americans for advancement into the senior ranks of the United States Government...

This month, we spoke with Maria Portela MD, MPH, the Director of the Office of Minority Health (OMH) Health Equity Leadership Development Initiative (HELDI). This residential fellowship program is committed to diversifying leadership in the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) by providing fellows training, mentorship, and HHS agency placement....

This month, we spoke to the Native American Connections Patina Wellness Center. Formed in 1972 as a grassroots program, Native American Connections (NAC) has since expanded their services to include “Native American culturally appropriate health, affordable housing, and community development services.” The Patina Wellness Center is one of two NAC Residential Treatment Centers in the Phoenix, Arizona area, providing residential substance use treatment....

This month, we spoke to the Center for a Diverse Healthcare Workforce at the UC Davis School of Medicine. Their stated mission is to “promote best practices and advance diversity in the workforce by: leading research focused on recruiting, training, and retaining a diverse healthcare workforce to advance health equity; sharing research and engaging in meaningful conversations to increase diversity in the healthcare workforce; and creating partnerships and collective impact to advance educational opportunity, equity, and diversity within the healthcare workforce.”...

This month, we spoke to the University of New Mexico School of Medicine about their Learning Environment Office (LEO). Their stated mission is “to foster an inclusive learning environment where teachers, staff, and learners thrive, and relationships are mutually respectful and beneficial to each other and to our institutional climate. The primary goals of the Learning Environment Office are to increase exemplary behavior exhibited by teachers and staff and decrease incidents of learner mistreatment.”...

This month, we spoke to the Organization for Associate Degree Nursing (OADN) about their organization and collaboration with the Social Mission Metrics Initiative. Read below for our interview with OADN's new Chief Executive Officer, Rick García....

This month, we spoke with third-year medical students from the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai in New York City, Adriana Pero and Emily Xu. They recently authored an article published in the AMA Journal of Ethics, called Is It Reasonable to Expect Students and Trainees to Internalize Equity as a Core Professional Value When Teaching and Learning Occurs in Segregated Settings?...