Health Equity Trends Summit 2025

On June 11, the Health Equity Compact hosted the 2025 Health Equity Trends Summit. Over 2,000 people joined in-person and via livestream for a powerful day of connection and shared purpose.

This year’s Summit came at a time of significant challenge and change in our health and policy landscape. The Summit featured 32 dynamic speakers and panelists from across government, healthcare, and the community sectors. It highlighted how we are meeting this moment — and what’s needed to align and amplify our efforts to advance health equity and improve outcomes across the Commonwealth.

Thank you to everyone who joined us for this urgent and inspiring conversation. Let’s continue to build momentum and shape a healthier, more equitable Massachusetts — together.

Compact members gather on stage in a show of collective leadership.
Governor Maura Healey, Senate President Karen Spilka, and House Speaker Ronald Mariano join the Health Equity Compact Board and Managing Director.
Elected officials, providers, and policy leaders discuss the urgency of centering health equity in primary care reform.
Attendees sign the Health Equity Wall, demonstrating their commitment to advancing the movement.
A full crowd at the JFK Library.

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Event Materials

Below are several resources relevant to the 2025 Summit.

Event Videos

The Health Equity Trends Summit featured influential leaders from government, healthcare and community sectors who are advancing health equity in Massachusetts.

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

Agenda

8:30 am – 9:15 am	Registration, Networking, Light Refreshments
9:15 am – 10:15 am	Welcome & Opening Remarks
10:15 am – 11:20 am	Navigating Towards Our North Star with Health Equity Benchmarks
11:20 am – 12:10 pm	Brockton’s Hometown Healthcare Academy: Place-Based Investment Sparking Opportunity
12:10 pm – 12:15 pm	Chair John Lawn Remarks
12:15 pm – 1:15 pm	LUNCH
1:15 pm – 2:05 pm	Centering Health Equity in Primary Care Reform
2:05 pm – 2:50 pm	Meeting the Moment: EOHHS
2:50 pm – 3:05 pm	BREAK
3:05 pm – 3:50 pm	Meeting the Moment: Health Systems
3:50 pm – 4:20 pm	Meeting the Moment: Attorney General’s Office
4:20 pm – 4:30 pm	Closing Remarks
4:30 pm – 5:30 pm	Networking Reception

Michael Curry Welcoming Remarks

Governor Maura Healey

Senate President Karen Spilka

Speaker Ronald Mariano

Carlos Cappas Welcoming Remarks

Session 1: Navigating Towards Our North Star with Health Equity Benchmarks

Session 2: Brockton’s Hometown Healthcare Academy: Place-Based Investment Sparking Opportunity

Session 3: Chair John Lawn Remarks

Session 4: Centering Health Equity in Primary Care Reform

Session 5: Meeting the Moment: EOHHS

Session 6: Meeting the Moment: Attorney General’s Office

Carlos Cappas Closing Remarks

Event Photos

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Speakers

Welcome & Opening Remarks

Michael Curry, Esq., PhD

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

The Honorable Maura Healey

Governor of Massachusetts

The Honorable Karen Spilka

Massachusetts Senate President

The Honorable Ronald Mariano

Massachusetts Speaker of the House

M.C.

Carlos Cappas, PsyD, MBA

Chief Behavioral Health Officer, Lynn Community Health Center; Health Equity Compact Member

Navigating Towards Our North Star with Health Equity Benchmarks

Presenter

Dr. Elsie Taveras, MPH

Chief of the Division of General Academic Pediatrics and Executive Director of the Kraft Center for Community Health, Massachusetts General Hospital; Health Equity Compact Member

Moderator

Dr. Bisola Ojikutu, MPH

Commissioner of Public Health and Executive Director, Boston Public Health Commission; Health Equity Compact Member

Audrey Shelto, MMHS

President and CEO, Blue Cross Blue Shield Foundation

Juan Fernando Lopera

Chief Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Officer, Beth Israel Lahey Health; Co-Founder, Health Equity Compact

Lauren Peters, JD

Executive Director, Center for Health Information and Analysis

Dr. Sandhya Rao

Chief Medical Officer and Senior Vice President, Blue Cross Blue Shield of Massachusetts; Health Equity Compact Member

Brockton’s Hometown Healthcare Academy: Place-Based Investment Sparking Opportunity

Moderator

Maria G. Celli, PsyD

CEO, Brockton Neighborhood Health Center

Belynda Cesar

Youth Healthcare Coordinator, Hometown Healthcare Academy

Laritza Perez

Healthcare Program Manager, Hometown Healthcare Academy

Marissa Rodrigues

Youth Healthcare Coordinator, Hometown Healthcare Academy

Berline Pierre Louis

Hometown Healthcare Academy Participant

Chair Lawn Remarks

The Honorable John Lawn

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

Centering Health Equity in Primary Care Reform

Moderator

The Honorable Cindy Friedman, M.Ed

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

Dr. Damian K.L. Archer

Chief Executive Officer, Outer Cape Health Services; Health Equity Compact Member

Joseph Kahoro, MPAS, PA-C

Vice President, Renaissance Medical Group

Mike Caljouw, Esq.

Commissioner, Massachusetts Division of Insurance

Dr. Renee Crichlow, FAAFP

Chief Medical Officer, Codman Square Health Center; Health Equity Compact Member

Meeting the Moment: EOHHS

Moderator

Dr. Monica Bharel, MPH

Former Commissioner, MA DPH; Health Equity Compact Member

Kate Walsh, MPH

Massachusetts Secretary of Health and Human Services

Dr. Robbie Goldstein

Commissioner, Massachusetts Department of Public Health

Dr. Clara Filice, MPH, MHS

Chief Medical Officer, MassHealth

Meeting the Moment: Health Systems

Moderator

Dr. Sandro Galea, MPH, DrPH

Dean, WashU School of Public Health; Health Equity Compact Member

Dr. Alastair Bell, MBA

President and CEO, Boston Medical Center

Dr. Kevin Churchwell

CEO, Boston Children’s Hospital; Health Equity Compact Member

Dr. Robert Fields, MHA

Executive Vice President, Chief Clinical Officer, Beth Israel Lahey Health

Meeting the Moment: Attorney General’s Office

Abigail Taylor, JD

Chief Deputy Attorney General, Massachusetts Attorney General’s Office

Sandra Wolitzky, JD

Assistant Attorney General and the Chief, Health Care Division, Massachusetts Attorney General’s Office

Press

Driven by 85 health leaders of color, Summit brings together 2,000 to push health equity forward in MA,Health Equity Compact, June 11, 2025
Curry, Mondejar: Time to double-down on health equity, Boston Business Journal June 13, 2025
Es momento de redoblar esfuerzos por la equidad en salud, El Planeta, June 13, 2025
Health Equity summit pushes back on cuts: Mass experts call for investment to combat Trump admin. rollbacks, Baystate Banner, June 18, 2025

Planning Team

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

Angel Bourgoin, JSI Research & Training Institute, Inc.
Bernide Bernadeau, Health Equity Compact
Cheryl Clark, Institute for Health Equity Research, Evaluation, and Policy
Giselle Ferro Puigbo, Health Equity Compact
Grace Riordan, Health Equity Compact
Guale Valdez, President and CEO, Mattapan Community Health Center
Katie James, JSI Research & Training Institute, Inc.
Izzy Lopes, VP of Health Equity, Massachusetts Health & Hospital Association
Leanna Pham, JSI Research & Training Institute, Inc.
Lindsey Tucker, Health Equity Compact
Sanah Lal, Health Equity Compact
Sonna Obiorah, Health Equity Compact
Tamar Kaim Doniger, JSI Research & Training Institute, Inc.
Tom Browne, C to C Services, LLC
Yashira Pepin, The Social Impact Group, LLC

Supporting Vendors

ASG
CompeteNow
RoseMark Productions

Andrea Joy Campbell

Attorney General

On January 18, 2023, Andrea Joy Campbell was sworn in to be the 45th Attorney General of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, pledging to build economic prosperity and stability for all residents, prioritize the mental health and well-being of children, stop cycles of incarceration and violence and ensure the people across the state have access to the AG’s Office regardless of their zip code, language or ability.

Growing up in Roxbury, Andrea’s life was filled with instability. When Andrea was eight months old, she lost her mother to a car accident while going to visit her father in prison. She and her brothers bounced around – living with relatives and sometimes in foster care – until her father got out of prison when she was eight years old, and she met him for the first time.

Andrea and her family relied on public housing and food assistance while her grandmother struggled with alcoholism. Her two brothers sadly cycled in and out of the prison system. She lost her twin brother Andre, when he passed away while in the custody of the Department of Corrections as a pre-trial detainee.

Through all of this, Andrea persevered. Thanks to loving relatives, community support and a network of teachers who encouraged her, she turned pain into purpose. She graduated from Boston Latin School and then worked her way through college with the help of grants and student loans, graduating from Princeton University and UCLA Law School.

After earning her law degree, she worked as a legal services attorney for the EdLaw project, defending the rights of children and their families — particularly those with disabilities.

Andrea also practiced law at Proskauer LLP as an employment attorney, and ultimately left to serve the public as General Counsel at the Metropolitan Area Planning Commission, working across 101 cities and towns to address regional challenges like health care access, transportation, affordable housing, and climate change.

Andrea served as legal counsel to Governor Deval Patrick, working to improve our education and transportation systems and move forward an agenda of equity across the state.

In 2015, Andrea successfully ran for the Boston City Council becoming the first woman to represent District 4 on the Council. Her first piece of legislation was the Community Preservation Act, which still generates over $20 million annually for new affordable housing, historical preservation, and parks and open space. In 2018, she was unanimously elected City Council President – the first Black woman to hold the title.

Audrey Shelto, MMHS

President and CEO, Blue Cross Blue Shield Foundation

As a proven leader with 40 years of achievement in improving the delivery of health care and human services, particularly for populations who have been marginalized, Audrey assumed leadership of the Foundation in August 2013. She leads the Foundation’s strategic agenda to ensure equitable access to health care through grants, research, and policy initiatives.

Audrey served as interim president of the Blue Cross Blue Shield of Massachusetts Foundation in 2005, helping to shape the Foundation’s policies and supporting the Roadmap to Coverage initiative that led to Massachusetts’ landmark 2006 universal health care law. She joined Blue Cross Blue Shield of Massachusetts in 2007, where she focused on medical cost and care management initiatives over the next six years before returning to the Foundation to become its president.

Audrey’s other professional experience includes chief operating officer of Neighborhood Health Plan, executive director for the Boston Mayor’s Advisory Committee on Health Care, associate commissioner of Massachusetts’s Department of Mental Health, and assistant budget director for the Massachusetts Executive Office for Administration and Finance.

She is widely recognized for her expertise in all aspects of health care and is often called upon to serve on committees and task forces around the state, such as the Mayor’s Advisory Committee on Addiction & Recovery (Boston), the MA House of Representatives Legislative Working Group on Managed Care Organizations, the Attorney General’s Advisory Task Force on Community Benefits and the Middlesex County Restoration Commission. Audrey is also a sought-after speaker on the local and national health care scene.

Audrey holds a master’s degree in management of human services from the Heller School at Brandeis University and a bachelor’s degree with honors in psychology from the University of Connecticut. She serves on the boards of the MA Health Policy Forum and Philanthropy Massachusetts (Chair). She received the inaugural Art of Healthcare Award from the East Boston Neighborhood Health Center in 2014 and the Thomas M. Menino Award in 2016 from the Disability Policy Consortium. In 2018, Audrey was honored by the Lynn Community Health Center with their annual women’s award and by the Massachusetts Association for Mental Health with their Spirit of Compassion award. Audrey was named a 2022 Champion of Health and Wellness by the Massachusetts Health Council. She is an elected member of the International Women’s Forum of Massachusetts.

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 2025

Event Materials

Event Videos

Event Photos

Speakers

Welcome & Opening Remarks

M.C.

Navigating Towards Our North Star with Health Equity Benchmarks

Presenter

Moderator

Brockton’s Hometown Healthcare Academy: Place-Based Investment Sparking Opportunity

Moderator

Berline Pierre Louis

Chair Lawn Remarks

Centering Health Equity in Primary Care Reform

Moderator

Meeting the Moment: EOHHS

Moderator

Meeting the Moment: Health Systems

Moderator

Meeting the Moment: Attorney General’s Office

Press

Sponsors

Planning Team

Supporting Vendors

Abigail Taylor, JD

Dr. Robert Fields, MHA

Sandra Wolitzky

Andrea Joy Campbell

Joseph Kahoro, MPAS, PA-C

Maria G. Celli, PsyD

Marissa Rodrigues

Belynda Cesar

Laritza Perez

Sandro Galea, MD, MPH, DrPH

Representative John Lawn

Audrey Shelto, MMHS

Lauren Peters, JD

Dr. Sandhya Rao

Mike Caljouw, JD

Dr. Clara Filice, MPH, MHS

Dr. Damian K.L. Archer, MD

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