Health Equity Trends Summit 2024

On June 6, the Health Equity Compact hosted the 2024 Health Equity Trends Summit. Over 1,000 people joined in-person and via livestream for the second annual Health Equity Trends Summit, themed “Health Equity in Action.”

Featuring 32 remarkable speakers and panelists from government, healthcare, and community sectors, the event showcased the significant progress and momentum towards health equity since the last Summit. Each session underscored a shared responsibility and commitment to actionable steps towards a more equitable Massachusetts.

Thank you to everyone who joined us for this critical conversation, and for your commitment to this important work. Let’s continue to build momentum and achieve our vision of an equitable Massachusetts together!

Governor Maura Healey opens the 2024 Health Equity Trends Summit, declaring health equity a top priority for Massachusetts
Summit attendees filled the room at UMass Boston
Health center pioneer and Boston civil rights icon, Dr. John Hatch, honors us with his presence and salutes the continued progress towards health equity
Technology, policy, and provider experts highlight “The Imperative of Racial Health Equity in the Age of AI” and the urgency of taking action now
Boston Medical Center’s Health Equity Accelerator team offering an inside look of their inspiring work to address gaps in social justice and health outcomes

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Event Materials

Below are several resources relevant to the 2024 Summit.

Event Videos

The Health Equity Trends Summit featured influential leaders from government, health, philanthropy, and other diverse sectors who are key to advancing health equity statewide.

You can access a full recording of the Summit to the right. Links to recordings of specific parts of the Summit are below.

Agenda

8:15 am – 9:00 am	Registration, Networking, Breakfast
9:00 am – 10:00 am	Welcoming Remarks Health Equity Now: Momentum and Opportunities
10:00 am – 10:50 am	Healthcare Leadership in Action: Progress and Future Directions
10:50 am – 11:00 am	Break
11:00 am – 11:55 pm	Inside Boston Medical Center’s Health Equity Accelerator
11:55 am – 12:45 pm	The Imperative of Racial Health Equity in the Age of AI
12:45 pm – 1:30 pm	Lunch
1:30 pm – 2:15 pm	Embedding Equity: State Leaders Collaborating to Advance Health Equity
2:15 pm – 2:25 pm	Break
2:25 pm – 3:05 pm	Amplifying Impact Through Community Collaboration and Sharing Power: Addressing Equity at its Roots
3:05 pm – 3:45 pm	Amplifying Impact Through Community Collaboration and Sharing Power: Partnering to Close Life Expectancy Gaps in Boston
3:45 pm – 4:00 pm	Closing Remarks
4:00 pm – 5:00 pm	Reception on the Terrace

Michael Curry Welcoming Remarks

Governor Maura Healey

Chancellor Marcelo Suárez-Orozco

Senator Cindy Friedman

Representative John Lawn

Sheila Och Opening Remarks

Session 1 – Healthcare Leadership in Action: Progress and Future Directions

Session 2 – Inside Boston Medical Center’s Health Equity Accelerator

Session 3 – The Imperative of Racial Health Equity in the Age of AI

Session 4 – Embedding Equity: State Leaders Collaborating to Advance Health Equity

Session 5 – Amplifying Impact Through Community Collaboration and Sharing Power: Addressing Equity at its Roots

Session 6 – Amplifying Impact Through Community Collaboration and Sharing Power: Partnering to Close Life Expectancy Gaps in Boston

Recording Thumbnail - Sheila Och Closing

Sheila Och Closing Remarks

Event Photos

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Speakers

Welcoming Remarks

Michael Curry

President and CEO, Massachusetts League of Community Health Centers; Co-Founder, Health Equity Compact

The Honorable Governor Maura Healey

Governor of Massachusetts

Marcelo Suárez-Orozco

Chancellor, University of Massachusetts Boston

Senator Cindy Friedman

Massachusetts State Senator, Chair of the Joint Committee on Health Care Financing

Representative John Lawn

Massachusetts State Representative, Chair of the Joint Committee on Health Care Financing

MC

Sheila Och

Chief Equity Officer, Lowell Community Health Center; Executive Director, Health Justice Learning Institute

Healthcare Leadership in Action: Progress and Future Directions

Moderator

Myechia Minter-Jordan

President & CEO, CareQuest Institute for Oral Health

Michele Courton Brown

Chief Talent and Equity Officer, Blue Cross Blue Shield of Massachusetts

Juan Fernando Lopera

Chief Diversity, Equity & Inclusion Officer, Beth Israel Lahey Health

Elsie Taveras

Inaugural Chief Community Health and Health Equity Officer, Mass General Brigham; Executive Director, Kraft Center for Community Health, Massachusetts General Hospital

Kate Wallis

Vice President Clinical Innovation, Point32Health

Inside Boston Medical Center’s Health Equity Accelerator

Moderator

Giavanna Gaskin

Senior Manager, Equity Programs, Boston Medical Center

Tabitha Cherilus

Director, Population Health, Boston Medical Center

Jason Flood

Senior Director, Population Health Analytics, Boston Medical Center

Thea James

VP of Mission & Associate Chief Medical Officer, Boston Medical Center

Trina Martin-Cherry

VP of Community Engagement and External Affairs, Boston Medical Center

Megan O’Brien

Clinical Nurse Program Manager, Equity in Pregnancy, Boston Medical Center

Catalina Sanchez

Population Health Specialist, Equity in Diabetes, Boston Medical Center

The Imperative of Racial Health Equity in the Age of AI

Moderator

Rahsaan Hall

Founder and Principal, Rahsaan Hall Consulting; President and CEO, Urban League of Eastern Massachusetts

Renee Crichlow

Chief Medical Officer, Codman Square Health Center; Vice Chair of Health Equity, Boston University Department of Family Medicine

Marzyeh Ghassemi

Associate Professor at MIT in Electrical Engineering and Computer Science and Institute for Medical Engineering & Science

Kade Crockford

Director, ACLU of Massachusetts Technology for Liberty Project

Embedding Equity: State Leaders Collaborating to Advance Health Equity

Moderator

Amie Shei

President and CEO, The Health Foundation of Central Massachusetts

Yvonne Hao

Secretary, Massachusetts Executive Office of Economic Development

Lauren Jones

Secretary, Massachusetts Executive Office of Labor and Workforce Development

Kate Walsh

Secretary, Massachusetts Executive Office of Health and Human Services

Amplifying Impact Through Community Collaboration and Sharing Power: Addressing Equity at its Roots

Jessica del Rosario

Director, Division of Community Health Planning and Engagement, Massachusetts Department of Public Health

Leo Blandford

Director of Health Equity and Community Impact, Outer Cape Health Services

Mary Gianetti

Director of Resource Development, Heywood Hospital

Amplifying Impact Through Community Collaboration and Sharing Power: Partnering to Close Life Expectancy Gaps in Boston

Ann Hwang

President and CEO, Atrius Health Equity Foundation

Bisola Ojikutu

Commissioner of Public Health and Executive Director, Boston Public Health Commission

Mary Ellen McIntyre

Senior Vice President, Compliance, Massachusetts League of Community Health Centers

Press

Health leaders, state officials propose bold health equity goals, Bay State Banner, June 12, 2024
The artificial intelligence frontier hits health care, CommonWealth Beacon, June 18, 2024

Planning Team

Thanks to the following people for their contribution to planning the Health Equity Trends Summit:

Alicia DelVento, Sánchez Strategies
Angel Bourgoin, JSI Research & Training Institute, Inc.
Eileen Alexopoulos, Blue Cross Blue Shield of Massachusetts Foundation
Emy Takinami, FXB Center for Health and Human Rights at Harvard University
Grace Riordan, Health Equity Compact
Hannah Kloomok, Health Policy Commission
Jade Nortey, Beth Israel Lahey Health
Jasmine Bland, Health Policy Commission
Katie James, JSI Research & Training Institute, Inc.
Lauren Nwagboli, Massachusetts Business Roundtable
Lin Li, JSI Research & Training Institute, Inc.
Lindsey Tucker, Health Equity Compact
Marlishia Aho, 1199 SEIU
Oami Amarasingham, Massachusetts Public Health Association
Tamar Kaim Doniger, JSI Research & Training Institute, Inc.
Sarika Bharil, Health Equity Compact
Sonna Obiorah, Blue Cross Blue Shield of Massachusetts
Stephanie Campbell, Health Leads

Mary Ellen McIntyre

SVP, Compliance, Massachusetts League of Community Health Centers

Mary Ellen McIntyre, Senior Vice President, Compliance has held numerous positions at the Massachusetts League of Community Health Centers over the past 20+ years.

In her current role, Mary Ellen provides and facilitates technical assistance (TA) to the state’s 52 health center organizations who provide health care services to over 1 million residents through their 285+ health access points and to other stakeholders with regard to federal and state policies, regulations, guidance and reporting requirements, health center operations, budgeting, planning, and other compliance related issues. Specifically, Mary Ellen provides TA to health centers on: community development and expansion through federal funding opportunities, preparation for HRSA Operational Site Visits and compliance with HRSA’s 19 Program Requirements, preparation for Uniform Data System (UDS) reports, development and retention of federal designations including Medically Underserved Area/Population and Health Professional Shortage Area (MUA/Ps & HPSA) designations, and other financial and economic impact reporting requirements. She also is a Co-chair of Boston Community Health Collaborative Steering Committee that successfully developed City of Boston wide Community Health Needs Assessment (CHNA) in 2022 and Community Health Implementation Plan (CHIP) in 2023.

In this role, she also serves as Project Director for the League’s Migrant Health Program (Connecticut River Valley Farmworker Health Program, a two‐state Section 330g migrant voucher program serving over 2,400 migrant and seasonal agricultural workers and their families through 6,800 visits annually).

She serves as the lead staff managing the League’s PCA Cooperative Agreement with HRSA, including supervision of the federal grant workplan development and progress, submission of reporting requirements and supporting staff in the use of e‐Handbooks.

She serves as primary HRSA liaison for requests for information, coordinating responses to HRSA and other federal agencies, as well as for external parties seeking information and technical assistance about health center development.

She develops and maintains data sources for health center and League use for planning and program design. She supports the collection, roll‐up and analysis of program and community data.

Mary Ellen is also a life‐long volunteer at a summer camp for children and adults (campers) with intellectual or developmental disabilities (IDD). Her volunteer work also includes running and supporting several fundraisers to raise needed funds to create inclusive opportunities for
people with IDD at Exceptional Citizens’ Week at Camp Fatima and Best Buddies International.

Maura Healey

Governor of Massachusetts

Maura Healey is the 73rd Governor of Massachusetts. She was sworn in on January 5, 2023, becoming the first woman and first openly LGBTQ person elected Governor in Massachusetts history.

Governor Healey and Lieutenant Governor Driscoll are building an experienced, diverse team that is focused on bringing people together and delivering results for Massachusetts residents. They’re committed to making Massachusetts more affordable and growing the state’s economic competitiveness by prioritizing housing, transportation, job training and child care. They believe that Massachusetts has the greatest collection of human and intellectual capital, business, innovation, and know-how in the world. They are harnessing these resources to deliver for residents, families, and businesses throughout the entire state.

Healey was elected Massachusetts Attorney General in 2014 and re-elected in 2018. As the People’s Lawyer, she took on the issues that impact residents across Massachusetts, including the opioid epidemic, the climate crisis, escalating health care costs, and student loan debt. She was the first Attorney General to sue Purdue Pharma and the Sacklers for their role in fueling the opioid crisis. She also routinely protected the rights of consumers, workers, students, seniors, immigrants and the LGBTQ and disability communities.

Building on her promise to run an office that serves people across the state, Healey launched the Community Engagement Division in May 2015. The first-of-its-kind division brought the Attorney General’s Office and its work into neighborhoods and communities across the state. The Division launched community office hours and has assisted with the rollout of several policy initiatives including the Earned Sick Time law and Domestic Workers’ Bill of Rights.

Healey grew up the oldest of five siblings in an old farm house in Hampton Falls, New Hampshire. They were raised by their mother, Tracy, who worked as a nurse at the local elementary school. Her stepdad, Edward, later joined the family and was a teacher, local union president, and coached her high school basketball team, giving her a lifelong love of the game.

Healey attended Harvard College, where she captained the basketball team, and then spent two years as a 5’4” starting point guard on a professional basketball team in Austria. She attended Northeastern University School of Law, motivated by a commitment to public service and desire to help people. She went on to work in private practice before leaving to serve as Chief of the Civil Rights Division in the Attorney General’s Office. She was promoted to oversee two of the office’s most prominent divisions: the Public Protection & Advocacy Bureau and the Business & Labor Bureau. During this time, she led the first state challenge to the Defense of Marriage Act and held banks and lending companies accountable after the 2008 financial crisis.

The Health Equity Compact wishes to recognize founding supporter Foley Hoag LLP for their invaluable work providing pro bono legal skill and expertise in developing and writing An Act to Advance Health Equity.

Health Equity Trends Summit 2024

Event Materials

Event Videos

Event Photos

Speakers

Welcoming Remarks

MC

Healthcare Leadership in Action: Progress and Future Directions

Moderator

Inside Boston Medical Center’s Health Equity Accelerator

Moderator

Giavanna Gaskin

The Imperative of Racial Health Equity in the Age of AI

Moderator

Embedding Equity: State Leaders Collaborating to Advance Health Equity

Moderator

Amplifying Impact Through Community Collaboration and Sharing Power: Addressing Equity at its Roots

Amplifying Impact Through Community Collaboration and Sharing Power: Partnering to Close Life Expectancy Gaps in Boston

Press

Planning Team

Mary Ellen McIntyre

Leo Blandford

Catalina Sanchez

Megan O’Brien

Trina Martin-Cherry

Jason Flood

Representative John Lawn

Mary Gianetti

Maura Healey

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