About CCALAC’s Anti-Racism Organizational Change Initiative
Community health centers were founded out of the civil rights movement to disrupt the barriers of access created by systemic racism and expand care for Black, Indigenous and People of Color. Due to deep inequities in the American health care system and beyond, CCALAC’s commitment to ensuring all people have access to the comprehensive whole person health care they need is at the forefront of our work.
We know that a person’s intersecting identities – such as race, ethnicity, gender, income, age, location, and immigration status – impact the quality and equitable delivery of care they receive because of systemic racism, implicit bias, and other systems of discrimination that create health inequities. We must address these systems to provide equitable health care that builds healthier communities.
Following the social justice protests in summer 2020, the CCALAC staff committed to becoming an anti-racist organization to better serve our members and their patients. Since then, CCALAC has taken the following steps:
- Developed an internal committee, representing a diverse cross section of demographics and lived experiences, to guide our efforts to address internal/organizational and external factors that contribute toward systemic racism.
- Embarked on an organizational change initiative to strengthen the commitment to justice, equity, diversity and inclusion (JEDI) for CCALAC and its member health centers through implementing anti-racist organizational changes.
- Advocated for policies at the federal, state and local levels that expand health care for all people, regardless of socioeconomic or citizenship status.
We recognize that change is not quick, nor is it easy, but cultural change over time will bridge gaps, bringing us closer to a truly equitable health care system. The CCALAC staff is committed to doing the work and supporting our members’ efforts to lead the charge in providing culturally responsive, patient-driven, restorative health care.
JEDI Committee
CCALAC’s JEDI Committee focuses on supporting inclusivity, an equitable organizational climate and relationships, cultivating career development to address issues of systemic racism and sexism, promoting equitable hiring and retention practices for underrepresented populations, and promoting health equity in our everyday work.
JEDI Committee Staff Members:
- Traci Bivens-Davis, Assistant Director of Training and Equity
- Taryn Burks, Communications Manager
- Ericka Hobson-Griffin, Executive Assistant
- Louise McCarthy, President & CEO
- Aaysha Memon, Administrative Associate
- Andres Sanchez, Workforce Program Manager
- Ahana Singh, Clinical Services Project Manager
- Nina Vaccaro, Chief Operating Officer
- Debbie Williams, Human Resources and Office Manager
JEDI Committee Community Health Center Members:
- Tinuade Akinfolarian-Arbouet, Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and Accessibility Director, Planned Parenthood Los Angeles
- Donny Fan, CIO, APLA Health & Wellness
JEDI Committee Board Members:
- Karen Lauterbach, Director of Community Programs and Advocacy, Venice Family Clinic
CCALAC’s Journey to Anti-Racism
In this video, CCALAC discusses lessons learned on the path to becoming an anti-racist organization and how its commitment to JEDI shapes its future.
Statements
New Member Peer Group: JEDI Roundtable!
CCALAC is excited to convene the JEDI Roundtable. The roundtable is a space to build community, share best practices, and develop actionable items to operationalize JEDI and other anti-racist practices into community health center workforce, provide optimal care and enhance patient outcomes. Community health center professionals leading JEDI or similar initiatives are encouraged to participate. The meetings are held monthly, alternating between virtual and in person at CCALAC’s office in Downtown Los Angeles. For more information, please contact Traci Bivens-Davis, Assistant Director of Training and Equity, tbivens@ccalac.org.
Our next meeting will be held at the CCALAC office in Downtown Los Angeles on July 10, 2024, from 10 a.m. – 12 p.m.
Trainings
We offer trainings to support our members in building organizational cultures that are rooted in JEDI. Non-members are also welcome to participate, unless otherwise specified. View our upcoming trainings below.
CREW
CCALAC invites member health center teams to participate in the Collaborative for Retention, Engagement, and Wellness (CREW). This program will bring together three to five member community health center teams to learn and discuss anti-racist approaches to recruitment, onboarding, retention and staff wellness as it relates to staff burnout, wellbeing, and the quality of care that we provide to our communities.
For more information, please contact Traci Bivens-Davis, Assistant Director of Training and Equity, tbivens@ccalac.org.
Click here to download the 3-part series titled, “Operationalizing JEDI in Leadership,” presented by faculty from the Association of Clinicians for the Underserved. Prior member trainings include:
- Unpacking, Understanding, and Interrupting Implicit Bias and Microaggressions (2021)
- Ethical Storytelling: Creating Equitable and Inclusive Communications (2021)
- Honoring Inclusive Wellness: Balance and Support for Health Center Professionals (2022)
- Building and Sustaining Action and Accountability Around Biases in Health Centers (2022)
- Communication Without Exploitation: Introduction to Ethical Storytelling (2022)
- JEDI Informed Facilitation (2023)
Resources – a select list curated by CCALAC staff
Ethical Storytelling
Communication is an important part of building an anti-racist, social justice culture. Words matter. We must be intentional in how we communicate about our work and the communities we serve. CCALAC developed the Ethical Storytelling Guide to help staff adopt an ethical lens when developing materials and communications and telling stories that are not ours. The guide is not all inclusive, nor is it static: language is constantly evolving and the guide evolves accordingly.
For a deeper dive on ethical language and storytelling, refer to A Progressive’s Style Guide, a resource that helped inform the CCALAC Ethical Storytelling Guide.
Books
- “1619 Project” by Nikole Hannah-Jones
- “Medical Apartheid” by Harriet A. Washington
- “White Rage” by Carol Anderson
- “So You Want to Talk About Race” by Ijeoma Oluo
- “The Color of Law: A Forgotten History of How Our Government Segregated America” by Richard Rothstein
- “Why Are All the Black Kids Sitting Together in the Cafeteria?” by Beverly Daniel Tatum
- “The Fire Next Time” by James Baldwin
- “Caste: The Origins of Our Discontents” by Isabel Wilkerson
- “Stamped from the Beginning” by Ibram X. Kendi
- “Blood Done Sign My Name” by Timothy Tyson
- “Blaxhaustion, Karens & Other Threats to Black Lives and Well-Being” by Theresa M.Robinson
- “Saltwater Slavery: A Middle Passage from Africa to American Diaspora” by Stephanie E. Smallwood
- “Tender Points” by Amy Berkowitz
- “We Too: Essays on Sex Work and Survival” edited by Natalie West with Tina Horn
- “Pleasure Activism: The Politics of Feeling Good” by Adrienne Maree Brown
- “The New Jim Crow: Mass Incarceration in the Age of Colorblindness” by Michelle Alexander
Reports
- In Their Own Words: Black Californians on Racism and Health Care by Linda Cummings, PhD
Videos and Podcasts
- Acknowledging and Managing Implicit Bias by Dr. Bryant T. Marks
- The Hidden Bias of Good People by Anne Trujillo and Dr. Bryant T. Marks
- How to Check Your Unconscious Bias by Dr. Jennifer Eberhardt
- On One with Angela Rye
- 1619 Podcast with Nikole Hannah-Jones
Websites and Zines