Dear Friend and Partner
As we look back on 2022, it was a year marked by significant transitions, hard work, and exciting victories for MPHA and our allies.
Over the past year, MPHA said good-bye to long-time staff members Maddie Ribble and Kristina Kimani and welcomed new staff members Mahal Alvarez-Backus and Oami Amarasingham. In an important step forward for the organization, Oami joined MPHA in the new role of Deputy Director and is now leading an all women of color policy team.
MPHA has continued the hard and vital work of deepening our two primary commitments: 1) to dismantle structural racism and 2) to listen to the voices of those most impacted by oppression in developing our policy priorities. We hope you see these commitments reflected in this report as we share with you the important victories of the past year.
We are proud to have been leading voices in the strong and broad coalitions that passed two critical ballot initiatives, Question 1: the Fair Share Amendment and Question 4 for Safer Roads.
We also continued the fight to create a 21st century local public health system through advocacy for the Statewide Accelerated Public Health for Every Community Act (SAPHE 2.0). Working with our partners and legislative champions, we secured unanimous favorable votes in both chambers of the Massachusetts legislature, laying the groundwork for near-certain passage in the 2023-2024 legislative session.
None of this would have been possible without YOU – our partners, allies, and supporters – and we could not be more grateful. We look forward to more victories over the coming year, as together we build power, take collective action, and make change for greater health equity.
With gratitude and partnership,
Carlene Pavlos Neil Maniar
Executive Director Board President
Public Health on the Ballot
Legislative Advocacy
Capacity Building
Partnership Building
