141st APHA Annual Meeting

In This section

289794
Advancing health equity through policy and environmental change: The convergence partnership

Tuesday, November 5, 2013 : 1:30 PM - 1:50 PM

Amanda M. Navarro, DrPH, MPH , PolicyLink, Oakland, CA
The Convergence Partnership (Partnership) is a collaborative of eight funders with the shared goal of changing policies and environments to better achieve the vision of healthy people living in healthy places. Recognizing that equity needed to be a central focus of the work and that community engagement is a crucial element for making changes sustainable, the Partnership aims to achieve its vision by supporting efforts that promote equity as the means to ensure that everyone has the opportunity to participate and prosper. This requires strong, effective partnerships that crisscross fields; use strategies that bring triple-bottom line benefits to people, places and the economy; and affects change in places that lack healthy systems and structures. Achieving this vision requires the broad expertise and influence of funders, advocates, practitioners and community leaders working across multiple fields. Increasing access to critical social determinants of health – affordable transportation to travel to work or school, healthy and affordable foods and activities, opportunities for economic mobility – for low-income people and communities of color requires innovation and ingenuity. In fact, emerging evidence is revealing that innovation, collaboration, and adaptation are critical for creating significant and meaningful changes to community conditions. In this panel, representatives of the national Convergence Partnership, together with local and regional foundation affiliates, will discuss efforts to transform community environments, important factors for success, and lessons learned regarding emerging best practices for equitable community change.

Learning Areas:
Diversity and culture
Implementation of health education strategies, interventions and programs
Public health or related public policy

Learning Objectives:
Describe a model for philanthropic partnership in which collective impact is achieved through shared decision-making and leadership and joint grantmaking. Identify core areas of interest and policy priorities among funders supporting efforts to advance healthy people in health places. Discuss equitable strategies, and environmental change efforts occurring nationally and regionally as well as emerging best practices and lessons learned.

Keywords: Partnerships, Health Disparities

Presenting author's disclosure statement:
Organization/institution whose products or services will be discussed: The work described in this abstract was made possible by grant support from the Convergence Partnership, a collaboration of seven major philanthropic funders.

Qualified on the content I am responsible for because: I have extensive experience and expertise in the area of health equity and public policy, including serving as lead on various projects while working in academia, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and now PolicyLink. PolicyLink is the program director for the Convergence Partnership,, and I oversee all of the activities under this initiative.
Any relevant financial relationships? No

I agree to comply with the American Public Health Association Conflict of Interest and Commercial Support Guidelines, and to disclose to the participants any off-label or experimental uses of a commercial product or service discussed in my presentation.