COVID-19 Sparked a Health Equity Movement – and Vaccines are Just the Beginning

01.22.2021 | Health Leads

What Essential Resource Data Tell Us about our COVID Recovery

11.18.2020 | Damon Francis MD

As we work to to flatten the next COVID-19 curve – the increased demand for essential resources like food, housing and income supports – it is critical that we lean on data to inform the path forward. In this post written with several of our Bay Area partners, we review various data sources to show how social services systems have been impacted by the pandemic and discuss the power of harnessing data in partnership with community input to shape interventions.

The 2020 Election: Recover and Recommit

11.17.2020 | Health Leads

The outcome of this election may open doors and opportunities for much-needed progress toward racial equity, and we have put important, productive miles behind us over the past four years. But undoing years of systemic racism that impacts everyone’s health is multi-generational work. We hope you can take the time you need to recover and recommit ourselves to the fight for health, dignity and well-being.

Joint Statement on Ensuring Racial Equity in the Development and Distribution of a COVID-19 Vaccine

10.26.2020 | Health Leads

According to recent polls, only 58% of the U.S. population would get vaccinated as soon as a COVID-19 vaccine becomes available. But as millions of dollars are invested in developing a safe and effective vaccine, the development and distribution strategies proposed in the U.S. lack a clear focus on racial health equity and clear coordination among federal, state, tribal and other local levels.  We have co-created a set of guiding principles designed to ensure Black, Latinx, Native and other communities of color and those most susceptible to COVID-19 have access and opportunity to receive safe and effective COVID-19 vaccines when they become available. Sign on, share your feedback, and join the effort to build a coordinated, equity-centered COVID-19 vaccine strategy.

Reflections from Our Data Democratization Journey

09.16.2020 | Sheena Nahm McKinlay, Elsbeth Sites

We build on Part 1 of this blog series with some details of what's worked well for us in applying data democratization in our work, along with some foundational principles for promoting and advancing this important approach.