Dear Ally and Partner
In many ways, 2021 was a year of milestones for MPHA. We continued to deepen our commitment to listening to the voices of those most impacted by health inequities – realigning the structure of our policy council with this principle in mind and working in solidarity with grassroots organizations in every facet of our work.
We said goodbye to our longtime Policy Director, Maddie Ribble, who leaves behind a strong policy team well-positioned for the challenges ahead, and welcomed a new Deputy Director, Oami Amarasingham, who will be spearheading our policy work moving forward.
We made major strides in our campaign to transform the local public health system in Massachusetts, securing $200M in federal funding to invest across the state and building broad support in the legislature for enacting crucial policy solutions, such as credentialing public health workers and establishing minimum public health standards for every community.
To address the inequities of the state’s vaccination program, MPHA continued our work as co-chair of the Vaccine Equity Now! (VEN) Coalition, partnering with civil-rights, racial justice, and immigrant justice organizations to demand equity, transparency, and accountability in the allocation of vaccine-related resources.
We also maintained our focus on the social determinants of health, including access to healthy food, quality public transit, and safe, stable housing. Many of the partnerships we formed during the COVID-19 pandemic are informing and enriching this work, including our partnership with Homes for All Massachusetts, a statewide formation of grassroots housing justice groups, and our partnerships with community-based transportation advocates across the state.
Looking ahead, we are excited to continue building the movement for health equity in Massachusetts, translating the hard lessons learned over the past two years into new, more equitable policies. As ever, your support is crucial to the success of our work. We are deeply grateful for your participation and partnership.
With appreciation,
Carlene Pavlos Neil Maniar
Executive Director Board President