UMass Will Host Western Massachusetts Health Equity Summit

*** MEDIA ADVISORY ***

DATE:       Friday, Sept. 14
TIME:        8 a.m. to 3:30 p.m.
WHAT:      “What Do We Do Next? New Ideas to Move Health Equity Forward”
WHERE:   UMass Amherst Campus Center

More than 300 planners, community leaders, students and others from across the state will discuss next steps and “new ideas to move health equity forward.” They’ll attend workshops and discussions on policy, power, the toxicity of racism and challenges of data and analysis, says organizer Risa Silverman, director of the Office for Public Health Practice and Outreach at the School of Public Health and Health Sciences.

Co-emcees for the event will be Elizabeth O’Gilvie of the Springfield Food Policy Council and Gardening the Community and Phoebe Walker of the Franklin Regional Council of Governments. Plenary speakers will include:

  • Community organizer Pablo Ruiz of “Raise Up Massachusetts’s” minimum wage, earned sick time and paid family leave campaigns.
     
  • Diversity leader Gwendolyn VanSant, a community organizer for racial justice and founding director of Multicultural BRIDGE, Lee, and the Equity and Inclusion Team Lead at Imagine Philanthropy.
     
  • Organizer Danielle Winters at Arise for Social Justice, Springfield, works to involve low-income and people of color in environmental decisions that affect them.

Bomba de Aqui, a group founded and run by local artist and teacher Brendaliz Cepeda of the famous Cepeda family in Puerto Rico, will perform. Bomba is a traditional Puerto Rican music style that incorporates percussion, dance and singing. Sponsors include Baystate Health, Health New England, UMass Amherst School of Public Health and Health Sciences, Springfield Health and Human Services, Cooley Dickinson Health Care, UMass Amherst Research and Engagement, Wellness Workdays of Hingham, Shriners Hospitals for Children, Springfield, Criterion Child Enrichment, Trinity Health of New England/Mercy Medical Center, Communicate Health, Pioneer Valley Planning Commission, American International College, Advancing Wellness, Massachusetts Public Health Association, Tapestry Health, Dr. Charles and Mrs. Sara Pozner, Metrocare of Springfield and Ms. Charlene HD Mazer.