Are you really changing your name?
Yes. On July 1, 2018, For the Sake of All will officially be named Health Equity Works with the tagline, “data accelerating action.”
Is Health Equity Works continuing work in St. Louis initiated by For the Sake of All?
Absolutely, yes – but under its new name. Health Equity Works is committed to St. Louis. We believe the passionate work of accelerating health equity in St. Louis can be a model for communities nationwide. We’re changing our name to better reflect the scope of the work we do with our partners and supporters and the potential to grow and spark change both in St. Louis and beyond.
Is Health Equity Works under the same leadership and structure?
Yes. Health Equity Works remains under the leadership of Dr. Jason Purnell, an associate professor in the Brown School at Washington University, who is committed health equity and efforts to mobilize communities around the systemic change needed to realize it. Health Equity Works has the same staff of 12 and is supported each academic year by student researchers in the fields of public health and social work. The initiative remains based in the Brown School but connected to the community in vital ways. We remain grateful to our local and national funders as well.
Why a name change?
We’ve evolved beyond a report. The initiative was originally named for the research report entitled, For the Sake of All: A Report on the Health and Well-Being of African Americans in St. Louis and Why It Matters for Everyone, published in May 2014. Since that time, we’ve grown far beyond the binding of an academic report into a model for research, community partnership, and systemic change. We’ve learned more about working to bring data and information to the community in relatable and understandable ways. We’ve learned more about working with people and organizations in collaborative ways. And we’re committed to working in partnership to change systems for improved health equity. Through the work we’ve found our vision and our strengths. Indeed, Health Equity Works.
Why the name Health Equity Works?
The name plays on “works” as both a verb and a noun. As an active verb, Health Equity Works is a very powerful way to make entire communities healthier, more inclusive, and more sustainable. As a noun, Health Equity Works evokes an active foundry where information and ideas are forged by partnerships into powerful products to accelerate health equity.
Why the tagline, data accelerating action?
It’s what we do. We are a research-based initiative that brings meaningful data and information into communities to open minds and increase understanding. The data enables them to accelerate collaborative strategic action to improve health equity.
How do I fit into this change?
Grow with us! Be a part of this exciting vision for the future. Working together to advance health equity can help forge a model of change for communities nationwide.
In the meantime, continue to use our existing materials. Read and spread the word about the important information contained in both the May 2014 For the Sake of All report and the April 2018 community report, Segregation in St. Louis: Dismantling the Divide. Consider getting involved with the independent initiative, Faith and For the Sake of All, which is mobilizing faith communities to respond to pressing health equity needs. Read our blog. Check back into our developing Health Equity Works web site for updates on school-based health, our Robert Wood Johnson Foundation-funded work to develop a toolkit for designing healthy and successful schools, our continued work in dismantling the divide regarding segregation and housing, ongoing work to assist in developing early childhood systems and economic prosperity, including providing Child Development Accounts for children born in the St. Louis area.
Finally, keep an eye out later this year for a report to the community.
Can I help spread the word?
By all means. Partners, please use our new name and our new logos on relevant communications. Contact Aviva Needle at aneedle@wustl.edu or ncambria@wustl.edu to obtain the logos.
Where, when, and how can I learn more?
Please keep checking back to our new web site still under construction at healthequityworks.wustl.edu. Join our email list. (If you are already receiving For the Sake of All emails, there’s nothing more you need to do.) Read our blog on the new Health Equity Works web site and our previous blog posts on the For the Sake of All web site.
Follow us on Twitter @healthequityworks. If you were already following us @4thesakeofall, you don’t have to make any changes. The thread @4thesakeofall has simply been renamed @healthequityworks.
Is the name For the Sake of All going away?
Not entirely. The process of the name change will be gradual. We will no longer refer to our initiative in St. Louis or nationally as For the Sake of All. However, Health Equity Works will continue to refer to For the Sake of All as its founding project. The For the Sake of All website will remain online for several months as we facilitate the name change.
What’s the takeaway?
Health Equity Works is passionate about the process of data and collaboration to drive health equity. We believe:
- Change is possible
- Strategic action should be rooted in data and evidence
- Health equity cannot be achieved alone
- Health and well-being are rooted in equity and opportunity: nurturing early childhood systems, stable and decent housing, healthy neighborhoods, strong schools, accessible health care and employment, and vital social networks
- We are all better when everyone has the opportunity to thrive