Racial Equity and Public Health

Racial Equity and Health Justice

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention

Racial Equity and Health Equity go Hand in Hand.

"Racism—both interpersonal and structural —negatively affects the mental and physical health of millions of people, preventing them from attaining their highest level of health, and consequently, affecting the health of our nation".

Racism is a Serious Threat to Public Health

“A large and growing body of evidence indicates that experiences of racial discrimination are an important type of psychosocial stressor that can lead to adverse changes in health status and altered behavioral patterns that increase health risks”.

Racism and Health I: Pathways and Scientific Evidence

The American Medical Association (AMA), the nation's largest professional association of doctors, has released their comprehensive strategy for embedding racial and social justice within their organization

The AMA reports the Strategic Plan "recognizes the harmful effect's of the AMA's past and targets the systemic inequities in the health care system and other social institutions"

We Are All Born Equal. Health is Our Human Right.

Sonoma County Office of Equity

Announces Equity Core Team.

“We celebrate our responsibility to engage in meaningful conversations with all community members as we, together, pave a shared path to systemic and institutional change. Included in our Racial Equity and Social Justice Strategic Plan Pillar, we will also create a community engagement plan and an external Core team to ensure we are connected to and elevating the excellent efforts of many community members and organizations throughout our county”.

Sonoma County Racial Equity Pillar

Goals and Objectives

Goal 1: Foster a County organizational culture that supports the commitment to achieving racial equity

Objective 1: Establish an Equity Core Team by mid-2021 to advance equity initiatives across all departments in collaboration with the Office of Equity.
Objective 2: Invest in an ongoing and continually developing racial equity learning program, including understanding the distinction between institutional, structural, interpersonal, and individual racism, for County leadership and staff by end of 2021.
Objective 3: Conduct a baseline assessment by mid-2022 of racial equity awareness and understanding among County staff and develop a process to assess progress annually.
Objective 4: Develop a shared understanding of key racial equity concepts across the County and its leadership.

Attend the Virtual National Health Equity Summit

FREE June 7-10, 2021

Poderistas is a New Community for Latinas by Latinas

"We are Many, We are Mighty, and This is Our Moment"

“Pride, passion, and poder. That’s what we’re about at Poderistas™, because we know you’re about all of those things, too.

We’re building a community for modern Latinas who want to be informed and inspired. The ones who want to use their voices and harness the power of our poderosa collective to level up every aspect of their lives, whether it’s at home, at work, or in the voting booth. This isn’t about one moment in time. It’s about creating an authentic space for Latinas to celebrate and elevate our power, and to highlight the issues most impacting nuestra comunidad”.

Sonoma County Maternal Child and Adolescent Health

Website