"Equity: Just and fair inclusion. An equitable society is one in which all can participate and prosper. The goals of equity must be to create conditions that allow all to reach their full potential. In short, equity creates a path from hope to change." - Angela Glover Blackwell, PolicyLink. Creating healthy places is critical to improving the overall health of Americans. Our neighborhoods must allow people the opportunity to make healthy decisions. Yet, not all places are created equal. Some neighborhoods have safe places for children to play outside, good schools and proximity to healthy food outlets like grocery stores and farmers markets. Other neighborhoods have only liquor stores, and lack sidewalks and parks to play in. Those neighborhoods lacking in healthy opportunities are where low-income people and communities of color live. They are also where people experience the worst health outcomes. Yet, all people should have the opportunity to live healthy lives. To create healthy people it's critical to focus on low-income people and communities of color whose environments often do not allow for healthy choices. In this session, participants learned how equity-based strategies and principles can form the basis of environmental policy change.

Featured Speakers:

• Angela Glover Blackwell, Founder and CEO, PolicyLink (no powerpoint)
• Linda Jo Doctor, Program Officer, The W.K. Kellogg Foundation (powerpoint)
• Robert Garcia, Founder and Executive Director, City Project (powerpoint)

Creating healthy places where people can be healthy requires broad-based policy and environmental change. Developing these changes requires effective communication with others about the importance of healthy, equitable communities. Social science research demonstrates specific techniques for successfully conveying messages. For example, for most people in the U.S., the starting point for change of any kind is at the individual level. But when audiences are reminded early in the communication of the influence environments have on health, they are receptive to messages about policies that can change those environments. This webinar addressed effective communication strategies to advance the reality of healthy people in healthy places. Panelists discussed framing, language and techniques to develop messages that can garner support for policies and environmental change strategies. Panelists specifically addressed the challenges of talking about equity.

Featured Speakers:

• Lori Dorfman, Berkeley Media Studies Group (powerpoint)
• Phil Steger, ISAIAH (powerpoint)

The majority of efforts to improve health focus on healthcare and programmatic and educational strategies. Yet, environmental and policy changes can create long-term sustainable opportunities for health. In the past several years, advocates from multiple fields across the country are implementing innovative projects to foster policy and environmental changes that help create healthy places where families and children can lead healthier lives. These strategies are fairly new, so how do we know if they are working? Ongoing tracking, measurement, and assessment can provide short-term feedback to guide and improve existing efforts. Evaluation can also help to identify effective strategies and tools for sustained use over the long term. In this webinar, panelists will discuss techniques for effectively evaluating policy and environmental change efforts to create healthy people in healthy places. It will also touch on strategy evaluation to promote equity and multi-field partnerships. Panelists will draw on specific evaluation examples and discuss challenges and lessons learned.

Featured Speakers:

• Dana Keener Mast, ICF Macro (powerpoint)
• Steven Ridini, Health Resources in Action (powerpoint)

The Detroit region is undergoing growth and change. After losing approximately 156,000 people between 2000 and 2010, the region is projected to reverse its recent losses and grow by about 5 percent over the next 30 years. People of color will make up a growing share of the population, with much of that growth propelled by Latinos and Asians. An infusion of new public and private investments along with middle-wage job growth is also fueling an economic recovery, what some have called a Detroit Renaissance. However, not everyone will benefit unless business, community, and political leaders work together to connect people of color to jobs, business opportunities, quality education and career training, and healthy homes and neighborhoods. Read the summary and the full profile.

As cities come back, leaders must bake equity and inclusion into their growth strategies. This framing paper for the All-In Cities initiative, released at the 2015 Equity Summit in Los Angeles, shares cross-cutting practices and an eight-point policy framework to build equitable, thriving cities. See the report here.

The Convergence Partnership responds to the passage of the farm bill and programs to improve access to healthy food. The farm bill includes the authorization of $125 million for the national Healthy Food Financing Initiative (HFFI) that helps revitalize communities by bringing in new, vibrant healthy food retail and by creating and preserving quality jobs for local residents.