Acknowledgments

The committee wishes to acknowledge and thank the many individuals and organizations that contributed to the study process and the development of Communities in Action: Pathways to Health Equity. Their contributions significantly enriched the committee's information gathering and enhanced the quality of this report.

To begin, the committee would like to thank the sponsor of this study. Support for the committee's work was provided by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation.

The committee found the perspectives of multiple individuals and groups immensely helpful in informing its deliberations through presentations and discussions that took place at the committee's public meetings. The speakers whose presentations informed the committee's work include, in order of appearance, Steven H. Woolf, Camara Jones, Rachel Davis, Richard Hofrichter, Edward Ehlinger, Martha Halko, Gregory Brown, Anna Ricklin, Sam Zimbabwe, Robert Bullard, Marianne Engelman Lado, Thomas LaVeist, David Zuckerman, Michelle Chuk Zamperetti, Katie Loovis, Doran Schrantz, Nina Wallerstein, Manal Aboelata, Beatriz Solís, and David Erickson. The public meeting agendas are provided in Appendix C.

The committee also greatly appreciated the input of the Association of State and Territorial Health Officials, National Association of County and City Health Officials, Mildred Thompson at PolicyLink, Prevention Institute, Liz Welch at Thunder Valley Community Development Corporation, and Richard Wood at the University of New Mexico.

The committee extends its utmost gratitude to the individuals who served as consultants to the committee by sharing their time and expertise during the writing of this report. They were instrumental to the study process as the committee explored the complex issues of health inequity and the role of community-based solutions in advancing equity. These individuals include Ariel Collins, Deborah Kimbell, Nancy Negrete, Ron Suskind, Makani Themba, Julie Troccio, Cesar De La Vega, William Weeks, and Sunmoo Yoon.

The committee is especially grateful to the nine inspiring communities highlighted in this report for generously sharing their experiences, challenges, and achievements. Specifically, the committee would like to thank Sasha Cotton and Gretchen Musicant (Minneapolis Blueprint for Action to Prevent Youth Violence); John Fairman and Neuaviska Stidhum (Delta Health Center); Juan Leyton, Andrew Seeder, and Harry Smith (Dudley Street Neighborhood Initiative); Mary Ellen Burns, Henrietta Muñoz, Sebastian Schreiner, and Jeniffer Richardson (Eastside Promise Neighborhood); Shoshanna Spector (Indianapolis Congregation Action Network); Patricia Bowie, Ron Brown, and Lila Guirguis (Magnolia Community Initiative); Trisha Chakrabarti and Dana Harvey (Mandela MarketPlace); Clarke Gocker, Ahmad Nieves, and Julia White (People United for Sustainable Housing, Buffalo); and Peggy Shepard (WE ACT for Environmental Justice).

The committee thanks the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine staff who contributed to the production of this report, including study staff Amy Geller, Yamrot Negussie, Sophie Yang, Anna Martin, Alina Baciu, Micaela Hall, Hope Hare, and Rose Marie Martinez. The committee thanks the National Academies communications and report production staff, including Greta Gorman, Nicole Joy, Sarah Kelley, and Tina Ritter. Thanks also to other staff of the Board on Population Health and Public Health Practice who provided occasional support. The committee was also fortunate to have support from Suzanne Bakken and Kendall Campbell, who contributed their time and expertise throughout the report development. This project received valuable assistance from Daniel Bearss and Ellen Kimmel (National Academies Research Center); Dana Korsen and Jennifer Walsh (Office of News and Public Information); Doris Romero (Office of Financial Administration); and Clyde Behney, Chelsea Frakes, Lauren Shern, and colleagues (Health and Medicine Division Executive Office and Office of Review and Communications).

Finally, the National Academies staff offers additional thanks to the executive assistants of committee members, without whom scheduling the multiple committee meetings and conference calls would have been nearly impossible: Sandra Aponte, Tiffany Eckert, Robbie Fox-Dunigan, Maria Gallegos, Chandra Halstead, Faith Johnston, Ruth Ann Keister, Lorena Maldonado, Cheryl Mance, Justin Nguyen, and Lauren Pell.