Five Lessons we’re bringing to the Proverbial Table :Update your approach to social & health equity rollbacks in real time
Last week, mid-rant, I thought to myself, “we’ve done this before”. Not to excuse what is happening now, or what may happen in the coming day, but to ground myself in experience, ability, and dare I say…hope.
During the last Trump administration, I was working as a public health/home visiting nurse and in grad school. I worked abroad year 3, but was back in year 4 for the height of the pandemic. Doom scrolling on this app and others have reminded me that in the time since the first term many new professionals have entered the workforce. I’ve read posts and watched videos from recent grads, newly minted public health professionals, nurses, and DEI practitioners that to me, highlight the importance of sharing previous experiences and at the very least, using them as stepping stones to collectively figure out what comes next this time around. Crying, screaming, and throwing up on the bathroom floor is a righteous choice, but not one that gets us to the same place as those MLK quotes we all posted last week.
Here are some reminders/ stepping stones from working in public health, government, and facilitating health equity work during that time. As with everything- share what you can (in the comments), take what you need, and leave the rest.
Connect to community, invest in community
There are a multitude of dynamic organizations within our local communities that have weathered these storms before. From immigration, to healthcare and everything in between- there is likely a grassroots community organization that has not received airtime or a donation since the end of the last term, but has continued to do the work. Invest (sustainably) in these organizations, amplify the work they’ve always done, share the resources they offer, and plug your local network into them. When government services were cut, due to an executive order or lack of funding, I routinely referred clients and patients to community organizations that could help fill the gap or offer needed guidance and support.
Let’s also talk about the private sector. COVID is the most recent example of the private sector’s nuanced history of filling resource & infrastructure gaps left by the federal government. We’ve already seen private companies affirm their commitments to fostering inclusiveness, continue grant funding to support health equity work, and offer relief in other ways. While private funding or resource allocation (think free space rentals, etc.)can be fickle and varies with social and market trends, it’s important to not count them out. Identifying private companies in your sector who have committed to equity work and values in the past and are now signaling their capacity to support communities most at-risk, is a great first step.
Learn on the job, AND off
Ask yourself, in what ways can community events drive health equity and larger DEI learnings? In the past week alone, we’ve seen an increase in community-led and hosted webinars, panels, and teach-ins. During the first term, I attended similar events with colleagues to increase our understanding of equity frameworks, policy changes, policy implications related to the communities we live and work in, and be updated on the ever growing community resource lists. Your job should not be the only place where you hold yourself accountable to engaging in health equity and DEI learning experiences.
The reality is, health equity, and larger DEI learning experiences exist outside of the workplace and will continue to, even in the newfound absence of them in many workplaces and classrooms across the country.
For my people leaders and team builders-while workplace based trainings and learning experiences engage those who would otherwise not seek out these experiences on their own, now is a great time to consider professional skillsets that are of high-value. Who is coming in the door prepared vs. who do we need to prepare? As you recruit, hire, and form internal teams-view knowledge of health equity frameworks as a valued skillset if you don’t already.
Ask any of our clients and they will tell you how adamant we are that diversity, (health-, racial-, gender-, etc) equity, and inclusion learning experiences are not exclusive to the workplace. One of our many goals is to support the development of a workforce where DEI knowledge is as crucial to being hired as having gone to medical is for a physician.
Tap into professional associations and coalitions (especially at the local level)
Professional associations and community coalitions are underrated! During the first administration, I was a member of the Black Nurses Association at the national and local level. Through this membership, I was able to work alongside local organizations to provide free healthcare screenings for at-risk communities. We also collaborated with other local organizations and agencies to keep communities informed and well-resourced in the midst of ever changing policies and executive orders.
Additionally, professional associations and community coalitions are great places to seek out trainings and learning experiences, invest in community, collaborate with others in your professional sector to better support vulnerable populations, and most importantly- share sector specific communications with the greater public.
Throughout the first term, we saw a number of professional associations and community coalitions use their unrestricted voices to dissent, share policy updates and community implications, amplify resource lists and community-focused funding, and inform the public of recommended actions to support their overall health and safety.
Recent rollbacks on the autonomy and scope of work of certain social, health, and research departments at the federal level are concerning. While the action of professional associations and community coalitions cannot compare to those of federal departments, they can offer us spaces to learn and act alongside experts in those sectors in spaces that are less restrictive.
If you’re reading this and realizing that there is not a local chapter for your profession’s association or an existing community coalition that addresses gaps- now is a great time to step in and up.
You’re not new to this, you’re true to this (use old skills in new ways)
Stating the obvious here, but equity work, no matter the sector you work in, is never easy. It is intentionally inconvenient work in a society that demands convenience and ease. It requires an understanding of self, history, and human behavior. It demands patience. Even when organizations create the departments and recruit you to do the work, you still find yourself fighting to adapt policies and procedures to usher in the equity work that they champion externally. It can be exhausting.
Yet, here you are, still doing the work.
Health Equity/ DEI practitioners come in different packages. You might be the lead of a dedicated DEI department, or an employee doing this work off the side of their desk. No matter how you assume the role of practitioner, we all share a distinct ability to speak to the heart and the pockets. We know how to make it make cents because inequity COSTS. No matter your race, gender, socio-economic status, language spoken, or sexual orientation; inequity COSTS.
That’s one example of a skillset/ knowledge base we already have that has kept this work afloat despite those who wake up every morning, even before January 20th, 2025, and act to remove mention and examples of diversity, equity, and inclusion from the fabric of our society. I’m sure you can think of many more. The point is, take inventory of the unique skillsets you have from doing this work and use it for the greater good.
During the first term, many of us public health nurses were able to use our connections to grassroots organizing and rapport in our local and national communities to serve as trusted messengers in a multitude of ways (being vague/ having discretion is another skillset- clock it).
Breathe
Do it with me right now… in for 4 counts, out for 4 counts.
Inhale collaboration, mutual aid, and staying close to our sense of humanity.
Exhale limiting beliefs.
