CHR&R and MATCH Co-Produce Advancing Racial Equity Webinar Series

County Health Rankings & Roadmaps and Mobilizing Action Toward Community Health are excited to co-produce Advancing Racial Equity, a three-part webinar series on May 18^th, June 15^th and July 20th. This series has been crafted for community health practitioners, residents, and decision makers positioning themselves to address racial inequities in their communities.

Centuries of structural racism, reflected in local, state and national policy, have resulted in stark differences in health outcomes by race.  As a result, many communities are segregated from opportunities, and inequities are entrenched. For instance, poverty is experienced more among children of color, impacting their opportunities to thrive as they grow. For decades there has been an alarming pattern of racial disparities among low birthweight babies. Low birthweight is a key indicator of quality of life for mothers and babies. Furthermore, narratives ensconced in racism can give rise to biased policies and systems that exacerbate and reproduce inequities rather than eliminate them.

We contend that racial equity can only be achieved when differences in health outcomes no longer exist among racial and ethnic groups. Therefore, we are committed to naming racism as a contributing factor to poor health outcomes and equipping our audiences with resources and tools to advance racial equity. This three-part series will feature national and community leaders who share that vision and commitment. Each webinar will be followed immediately with a discussion group where participants will engage in deeper exploration of key issues and be invited to share their local racial equity strategies. A customized resource guide for each webinar will be emailed to all registrants.

Here is a preview of the series content.

• Part 1: Declaring Racism as Public Health Crisis. This webinar will address what it means to declare racism as a public health crisis and describe readiness for such a declaration, while featuring an example of how one community has benefitted from its declaration. In this webinar we will hear from
  • Dr. Renée Canady, CEO of the Michigan Public Health Institute (MPHI).
  • Jannah Bierens, A Health Equity Consultant with the MPHI’s Center for Health Equity Practice.
  • Jennifer Harris, Research and Program Manager at Milwaukee County Government.

Access resources and the recording of the May 18 webinar here.

• Part 2: Transforming Narratives to Create Racial and Health Equity. This webinar will answer questions like how narratives are created? How does implicit bias support racist structures? And, how can communities transform racist narratives so that they effectively center minoritized voices? We are pleased to announce that this webinar will feature
  • Jonathan Heller, Senior Health Equity Fellow at the University of Wisconsin Population Health Institute.
  • T. Gonzales, Director of the Center for Health Equity at the Louisville Metro Department of Public Health and Wellness.
  • Paula Tran Inzeo, Director of Mobilizing Action Towards Community Health (MATCH).

Access resources and the recording of the June 15th webinar here. 

• Part 3: Exploring Asian American and Native Hawaiian/Pacific Islander identity and health equity. This webinar will examine the complexity of Asian American and Native Hawaiian/Pacific Islanders (AANHPIs) as a group and better understand the need to break down data and understand the multiple ethnicities within the group to achieve health and racial equity.

  • Dr. Nia Aitaoto, Associate Professor at the University of Utah College of Health
  • Dr. Simona Kwon, co-director of the New York University Center for the Study of Asian American Health

Access resources and the recording of the July 20th webinar here.

Be sure to register for each webinar in the series and plan to join the discussion groups afterward. Note: The discussion group connection information will be shared during the webinar.

County Health Rankings & Roadmaps and Mobilizing Action Toward Community Health are units within the University of Wisconsin Population Health institute where we strive to accelerate capacity to create equitable conditions for everyone to be healthy by advancing knowledge, practice, policy and system change across sectors.