Advancing health equity in California by catalyzing the collective power of academics, students, programs, and communities most impacted by health inequities.

We understand that policy plays a central role in promoting public health equity, which aims to ensure that everyone has a fair opportunity to attain their highest level of health. Through a collaborative effort with our academic and community partners, we created policy briefs for each action group focused on violence prevention, environmental health, and the public health workforce. These policy briefs serve to amplify the collective voice of community, government, and academic partners to inform policy change, educate the public, and advance health equity by developing a common policy agenda.

This year, we had the pleasure of supporting ENACT Day in more ways than one! We provided assistance in communication efforts, recruited Alliance members and students, and had staff attend the event, with some of our staff acting as leads for the advocacy groups. We also provided financial support by sponsoring students from CSU Bakersfield, CSU East Bay, CSU San Bernardino, UC Berkeley, and UC Irvine to attend and provided lunch for all attendees. Our staff was part of 70+ people statewide who engaged and met with 30 different legislative offices to advocate for policies affecting residents in California. ENACT Day is a perfect example of the power and importance of collaborations between academics and community-based organizations.

The Community Action Fund is a new flagship funding program of The Alliance, whose mission is to advance health equity by growing the collective power of California’s academic public health programs in partnership with community-based organizations (CBOs). The seven CAF-funded organizations use a health equity lens to impact change in three key areas: health workforce development, environment, and health and violence prevention. Each project is a collaboration between a supported community organization and a California-based School or Program of Public Health. Click the link below to learn more about our grantees and their projects.

Join CA4Health’s 21-Day Health Racial Equity and Social Justice Challenge today!

The CA4Health Challenge is designed to engage participants by having them dedicate approximately 30 minutes a day for 21 days. You will be presented with daily challenges such as reading an article, watching a video, reflecting on personal experiences, and more. Participation in an activity like this helps us to discover how racial, social, and environmental injustices impact our community, to connect with one another, and identify ways to dismantle racism and other forms of discrimination. Challenge starts June 3rd!

Did you know Earth Day started in California? That's right! Following a massive oil spill in Santa Barbara, CA, Senator Gaylord Nelson announced the idea for a teach-in on college campuses and to the media. He wanted to infuse the energy of student anti-war protests with an emerging public consciousness about air and water pollution. The first official Earth Day happened in 1970, making it the largest secular day of protest!

This Earth Day, we join Earthday.org in bringing attention to the overproduction and use of plastic and its impact on our planet. Join the fight to reduce plastic production by 60% by 2040! Let's beat plastic pollution together! 🌎❤️♻️

This month, we had the honor of highlighting our partner, Jessica Romo (she/her), from StrengthUnited. She spoke on the amazing work StrengthUnited does in offering support to survivors of sexual assault, abuse, and violence. In our newsletter, you will also find updates on policy work and our action groups, as well as the release of our Podcast hosted by CA4Health, and links to our oil & gas videos.

ENACT Day allows community members to share their expertise with California decision-makers and advocate for better outcomes.

This year the Alliance is happy to announce that we will be providing student scholarships for those interested in participating. Apply Here.

Make your voice heard by joining us for the 20th Annual ENACT Advocacy Day in Sacramento, Tuesday, April 23rd.

Our February newsletter just dropped! In it, we celebrate Black History Month and highlight our health equity work with our members. Our newsletters are a great way to learn about our current projects and collaborations. Follow the link to view the full newsletter.

As your time with us comes to an end, we want to express our sincere gratitude and appreciation for your hard work, dedication, and contributions to the team. Your unique perspective and passion for environmental health have helped strengthen our work and reach more students. We wish you all the best in your future endeavors!

Interested in being our next student project assistant? Click the link below to learn more.

This past November, with partners, Michael and Katy attended the American Public Health Association Conference in Atlanta, Georgia. Michael presented a poster on the Alliance and our collective impact model. We learned, networked, and shared with colleagues across multiple disciplines, from violence prevention to academic health departments to racial equity and climate health.

We want to congratulate our Student Project Assistant, Araceli Huerta, who will be graduating from UC Berkeley this Winter! While we are saddened to see her leave the Alliance, we are excited to see what’s next for her. We wish you all the best in your future endeavors!

Interested in being our next student project assistant? Click button below.

As we take time to review the year we’ve had, we want to thank all of our partners who make our work possible. Together we are stronger, and we cannot wait to see what we accomplish in the new year!

In honor of Dr. King’s legacy, The California Alliance of Academics and Communities for Public Health Equity (The Alliance) will reinvest an additional $44,450 to its Community Action Fund (CAF).

Thank you to all members who continue to champion Dr. King’s legacy of social justice. May we continue to work towards a more equitable society for all.