Public health professionals are being asked to advance equity and anti-racist practices while working within systems shaped by funding requirements, tight timelines, staffing shortages, and competing priorities. Equity is often named as a value, yet many practitioners wrestle with what it looks like in everyday decisions—program planning, community partnerships, internal governance, and resource allocation. This session focuses on that gap: how equity shows up in the daily structures and choices that shape public health work.
The purpose of this training is to help participants identify where community voices may be unintentionally constrained and determine practical shifts that increase authentic community influence without adding burden to already stretched communities. Rather than staying theoretical, we will work through public health scenarios grounded in Colorado contexts—rural, urban, and frontier—and examine how decision-making hierarchies, grant expectations, timelines, and performance measures influence whose knowledge is centered.
The session opens with a brief framing of anti-racist public health practice and systems-level decision-making. Most of our time will be spent in guided, case-based discussions where participants analyze real challenges, assess where equity may be limited, and identify structural adjustments—such as revisiting decision points, clarifying roles, or strengthening feedback and accountability loops. Participants will also reflect on one of their current initiatives and outline one equity-centered action they can take immediately.
This training strengthens core public health skills in systems thinking, ethical practice, community engagement, and shared accountability. It reinforces that equity is not an add-on—it is reflected in how decisions are made, how power is shared, and how success is defined. Participants leave with practical strategies to adjust processes, lead stronger equity-centered conversations, and align their work with community voice.
As Colorado communities face widening disparities and capacity gaps, public health professionals need structured approaches that keep equity central—even under pressure. This session supports the conference theme by turning equity commitments into actionable skill development and strengthening leadership in community-informed public health practice.
Participants will leave with clear next steps, practical tools, and peer connections to sustain this work in their daily roles
