Catalyzing health equity and public health through women's leadership

Communities are at a crossroads when it comes to health, social, and economic well-being. Efforts such as Occupy Wallstreet represent important grassroots movements that help to frame the issues, create space for data gathering, and build constituency. To make transformative change, we must construct necessarytools and structures to actualize these movements. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, the labor force is becoming more diverse, older, and more female. In 2009, 59.2 percent of women were in the labor force and accounted for more than half of all workers in the financial, education, and health services industries. Women make roughly 80 percent of health care decisions for their families and are more likely to be the care givers for their family members. In these and other contexts, women need adequate knowledge and tools to achieve their multiple roles as decision makers and consumers of health care. The growing impact of social determinants of health and the alarming health and social disparities that exist for may communities, particularly in low-income communities and communities of color, further necessitates the leadership and actions of women. Participants in this workshop will explore the nexus between leadership and health equity and will be introduced to a number of leadership development tools and processes that can be adapted to their own organizational and/or community settings. Catalyzing health equity in grassroots communities through leadership development and capacity building of women leaders institutionalizes systems and policies that contribute to public health.