Promoting Equity & Health Inclusive Policies with Kary Carbone and Isai Garnica-Palma by People.Power.Perspectives.

8:00PM Aug 12, 2024

Speakers:

Marcel Harris

Robert Lee

Kary Carbone

Isai Garnica-Palma

Keywords:

community

public health

equity

resources

work

state

fellowship

sharing

terms

focus

folks

leaders

support

create

challenges

inclusive

learning

happening

processes

policies

Welcome to People.Power.Perspectives, the podcast where we talk to the people that are working to overcome system inequities to achieve just outcomes.

Hi. Welcome to a new episode of People.Power.Perspectives. I'm Marcel Harris with CA4Health, and today I'm joined by two lovely speakers. Our first speaker is going to be Kary, who's a Program Manager with United Way of Northern California. And then I'll be also speaking with Isai, who is the program manager with Valley Onward. Let's go ahead and get started and have Kary go ahead and introduce yourself first, tell us a little bit about yourself, your work and what issues you're focused on.

Thank you so much, and thanks for the introduction. My name is Kary Carbone. I'm a senior program manager at United Way of Northern California. I focus on a few different things, mainly on health, education and financial stability in the north state. So we've got a few programs that work in that vein, and I've got a background in public health. So of course, the health and education programs that we have at United Way of Northern California are near and dear to to my heart.

My name is Isai Garnic-Palma. Very happy to be here. Marcel and Kary. Thank you for joining us and thank you for inviting me. I'm proud to work and be a part of Valley Onward. It's a nonprofit organization based in Merced, California, a small but vibrant community located in the heart of California's Central Valley, and I'm fortunate to be a co founder of the organization along with my executive director Sol Rivas, I've been involved in this work for a little over a decade now, and I've dedicated a lot of my efforts in working with the community, focusing on driving positive change and addressing the unique challenges that we face within our region and in that community. What our mission as an organization is to really empower and uplift community through various initiatives that promote social, economic and educational development, some of the things that we're working on right now focus primarily on supporting vulnerable populations, which we have a focus on Latino community, because they make up the largest portion of our county overall, and we're honing in on really mobilizing parents and to become more engaged in their children's education. We are working very hard to get parents involved in their local school districts to understand their local control accountability plans, or lcaps, with our goal to really build the base of residents that are actively participating in their boards, committees, that are engaged in the processes to really create changes, the changes that they want to see within their school districts. Thank you for having me here. Appreciate it.

Welcome. Thank you for sharing. And I'll pose this question to Kary first, and then definitely Isai feel free to jump in from your perspective. Share with us why investing in public health leaders with an emphasis on equity, is so important either one of you could touch upon opportunities like the together toward health fellowship and what that opportunity has meant for you.

Yeah, thank you for that question. I think it's definitely really important, especially right now, kind of where we are with public health I mean, we are coming off of a worldwide pandemic, there was a lot of eyes on public health, and as someone who has transitioned from county level health department type of Public Health to nonprofit, we have a really unique opportunity right now to really hone In and highlight public health and public health leaders that have focused on equity, because there is still so many eyes on public health and public health leaders right now, I think that with this fellowship, it comes at the right time, is helping people who maybe were in public health, maybe aren't in public health, or have transitioned their roles within the field. It really highlights the community aspect of community health. And so I know Isai and I being members of the inaugural fellowship, although we're guinea pigs, I feel very honored. And this fellowship has been able to create yet another community of public health leaders that aren't necessarily in government or authoritative role where there was such a focus in that, I think that really uplifting the community side is really conducive to lifting up the equity pieces of the work that is currently being done and amplifying that so that there can be more work.

Well, appreciate you sharing. Kary, I learned something new about you. Didn't know that you worked for county health department, and I know that there's many nuances to what that work can achieve and what it looks like, and how we engage community in that. And so really appreciate you sharing, and also wanted to uplift the importance of how we look at ways to broaden and support the entirety of the public health sector, not just local and state health departments. Isai feel free to go ahead and jump in here.

I think that it's it's very important that we continue to invest in public health leaders, because, like Carrie was mentioning, public health leaders really do help address health disparities that are happening. Investing in focuses the lens on addressing the issues and what populations are being most impacted by the issues that are happening. Taking the example that she was sharing around covid, we were learning by investing in it public health leaders, we were learning that certain segments of our population were being more impacted than others, and we were learning why. And that goes to another point of making sure that we're promoting inclusive policy, because the thing is that when we understand and we begin to build that there is certain groups are being disproportionately impacted, how are we creating policies that are really being inclusive and taking into account all these other factors that are impacting in the lives of so many community and then by investing in those that are most marginalized and impacted. It also strengthens our community resilience. It builds a stronger community. Yes, it builds stronger residents. It builds more resilience in the communities to be able to thrive, to have a healthier overall life. So I feel that for me, I think that's why it's so important for us to be investing in leaders, and that's why I think that this fellowship, Kary said, is like, it comes at a perfect time, at least for me as somebody who's beginning to really delve into this world, because it's it's really enhancing my skills. The fellowship is providing me with skills that I've gained over the years, but it's really refining them. It's helping me see the skills I already have. And it's like, how am I implementing them? What changes can I make? It's allowing me to also tap into the network that I've developing. We're working with fellows from across our state, from all the way from Southern California San Diego, right by the border, all the way to where Kary's at way up in Redding, basically bordering the state of Oregon. And in between, we're located in Merced, the heart of the state of California. So building all these connections with these great leaders, honestly, it's been a very impactful opportunity for us, and it's been very important for me, just personally in my growth and how I'm seeing myself being transformed with all these skills and knowledge that I'm gaining. Thank you.

Beautiful. Thank you for sharing, Isai. I wrote down a term that you shared, and someone that loves policy, I wish that I hear more frequent in terms of the spaces that I'm in in regards to inclusive policies. I think it's really interesting at when we see times the extra work of having to pass additional policies, because maybe when we're thinking about a specific population, or those unintentional consequences, and really going back to the drawing board, but I really appreciate you highlighting that, and I know that we have a lot of work to do in terms of whose voices are included when decisions are being made, and how we bring in that more lived experience element to really drive and inform decisions before they're made. And so a lot more work to be done here, not just here in California, but I think also on a local level, really ensure that those spaces or promoted and then have ways to actually include multiple voices, and making sure that the materials have more than one language, and really meet folks where they are so you know, I would love to hear I'll start off with you first, Isai, you know, wondering what project you're currently working on and what you hope it'll change.

So for me right now, currently, what I'm working on is where we have a campaign around educational equity, and really what we're trying to do is we're trying to mobilize parental engagement in education. Right now, we're currently building a base of community members that are actively engaging in their schools processes, so they're learning a lot about okay, well, what does this educational system look like? What the system has created for you to be able to better engage yourself? How do you provide your voice? How do you voice your concern so that we can allocate funding and all that's been done through the local control accountability plan, which is their LCAP process, as it's known, through its acronym. And we're focused on building this base so that these residents are able to sit in these boards committees, so they can have the power to influence decisions, because we all want to see our children thrive, but when we're able to give them the tools to be able to have the power to actually create these changes, I think that that's a powerful tool. And having more parents understand that, and being able to play a role at that level, I think it's crucial some of the objectives that we have, some of the goals, we want to ensure that one parents have an understanding of how the process works, so that they can best advocate for their child's education. So it's just building that, that understanding, that knowledge first, hopefully that will begin to build and create a more inclusive and responsive educational system, because parents, the school systems, will know it's like, well, parents are more involved now they there's.

Speaking their voice. They're speaking for the things that they need, and that the school will be responsive to that by actually addressing the challenges that the children that the parents are asking for. And that's pretty much it is just kind of making sure that the parents are actually part of these committees, that they're the ones leading these conversations. Because I think that's what you said, is making sure that the voices of those most marginalized are part of these processes, and I think that that's very important, because a lot of times we as experts, or they're like, well, I've studied, I have so many years of education, formal education, I have an understanding of how to create this policy, but at the end of the day, you might have that expertise, but these individuals are living with the repercussions of what of these policies and how they're being enacted, so it's important that their voices are also included in these processes overall.

Thank you for sharing Isai and I want to also express my gratitude, because I also know on the other side of that there is some big push to like limit what we do in schools in terms of talking about history and supporting the LGBTQ community and students. So I know that that work is extremely challenging, but also very important. And I know at times when folks don't have access to information, things happen, and then we kind of wonder why, and have to backtrack. And so really appreciate you sharing the work that you're doing. And as a parent, I could see myself being a part of those conversations as my child gets a little older and starts to navigate that school system. And Kary also wanted to connect with you in terms of hearing about what issue or project you're currently working on, and then trying to understand what you hope it will change as well.

Yeah, we've got a bunch of projects going on, and a lot of lot of different programs. But one that kind of ties a few together is we've really been working on stigma reduction in the north state, whether it's from covid 19, vaccines or just general information education on covid 19. And we're also working on substance use disorder, stigma reduction, hoping to provide information about the resources that are available in the north state, although there are not as many as we need or would like, there are still some available. So hoping to raise awareness and hoping to get people to the resources and care that folks need, also around mental health, behavioral health, things like that. So there's a few different projects that are part of that, but really it ties into stigma reduction, education. I mean, like Isai was saying, and what you were mentioning as well, education really is key, whatever topic it is. I think that to be a resource, a trusted messenger, to provide information to the community in a way that is easily digestible for the community is so important I mentioned before. I've got experience at a county, small county, rural county, health department, but that information gets spread out to the community differently than if small grassroots organizations are getting that information out to the community, and I think that organizations that are doing boots on the ground work are able to weave in the equitable messaging that is needed, and because they know the community. And so those are some of the big pieces that we really focus on, that I really focus on in my day to day work to make sure that the information is factual and accurate but also easily understandable, and something that people will absorb.

I am going to pose this next question to you, first, Kary, and then I'll go to Isai. From your perspective and given where you are situated now within the state, can you share what is most critical to advance equity efforts?

I think that resources is always it's always a challenge, whether it's funding from organizations or, you know, foundations, things like that, sustainable funding to keep the programs that we have going, but also just our geographic location, we serve nine counties in Northern California, so that includes Shasta, Tehama, Butte, Glen Siskiyou, Trinity, Modoc, Lassen and Plumas. So we are the very tippy top part of Northern California, and so there's less resources, just naturally in these rural areas, we don't have large transit, public transit, these, these are big challenges for our communities, and also not really easily addressed by CBOs or, you know, nonprofits and government and things like that. Yeah, I think I got a little away from the question. I'm sorry.

No, this is perfect, and I do want to add, or just recognize, that some of our other work with CA4Health, we've worked with the health departments in the Greater Sacramento Sierra region, and I think that that was something common that I've heard in terms of what it looks like in a rural area. In terms of a really massive geographical area, and maybe not as many folks on the ground or even the ability to actually go provide services. And so, you know, I think it's interesting when you look at other parts of California, I think there's very unique challenges within rural parts of California that other places are not facing or are having to deal with, and that directly impacts equity, the conversation, how it moves forward, what it looks like. And so I appreciate you sharing and then Isai, I definitely want to bring you in, in here, if you wanted to comment on anything that Kary had provided, or just from your perspective, where you are in California, what it looks like to advance equity efforts.

I would agree with, although we're located in two different completely different parts of the state, I think that the Central Valley also struggles a lot with some of the things that Kary was saying in terms of transportation, access and just being so rural and sprawled and and these types of things. But I think that some critical elements to advance equity efforts. For us are really centering on community engagement, empowerment, making sure that we have the people involved and being the forefront of advancing and advocating for these, these advancements in equity, making sure that they're provided the resources and education that they need to feel powerful, to feel like they were equipped with the information that they need to best wish for the changes that they want to see. I think it's making sure, again, going back to like that inclusive policy development, that who's a part of the table when these policies are developed, like how much input is being given, and then making sure that there is that equity lens that these policies come from, because otherwise it's a policy, can just be a policy, and if we're not focusing on the people, then it's really not going to create a lot of changes. And to that, I think that we do a lot of work, and a lot of this work, we track data and making sure that that data, that we're taking, that we're that we're learning how to use it in a way that helps us create those narrative changes that Kary was talking about, because those paint a picture. And how do we take that information and create that picture where people can really understand it and digest it, and then understanding those partnerships that exist within the community? And how are we building these collaborations within local leaders? I think that a lot of times there tends to be, especially in small communities, there tends to be a lot of fight for resources, because there's not a lot. And you're constantly like, Oh, should I work with these individuals or not? Because if I share my resources, then, like, or if I work with them, then when we're applying for grants, it's like, how do I justify these things? And it's like, I think that sometimes we're made to fight for some of these resources, instead of learning how to really work together and build these partnerships as organizations and leaders. So I think that really learning how to work with one another and share resources and build these partnerships is crucial. The last thing would be just adapting. There's constant change happening around us, and sometimes we're stuck on ways for like, well, we've done this, these ways for such so long, and it's like, if we're really trying to have an equity lens to things, then we have to learn how to change. We have to learn how to adapt to like, the practices that maybe it's like, hey, there's a better way of doing certain things, and there's emerging things that are happening. It's like, how do we take some of those things and really adapt to those changes? So those would be some things that I would say could be crucial to as we advance equity issues moving forward.

Love it. I really appreciate you highlighting that. And I know that the past couple of years, I feel like there's been a really big push to look at how we do business in terms of those practices, those protocols. I feel like we were making some movement in terms of being more inclusive, and then things sort of got put on pause, and I know now in terms of state budget processes and funds and resources, we have less than what we had originally. And so what does that work look like moving forward now? How do we continue to build on what we've learned and to ensure that we don't continuously make those mistakes in terms of not being inclusive. And I think that that's the challenge in equity and justice work is, you know, how do we change the systems to improve outcomes, rather than putting the blame on individuals? I know that that's also challenging. Within public health, there's the tendency at times not to say that either one of you do this, but I think there's a tendency at times in public health to go into a community tell them what they need, without really understanding the context that they live their lives in and working with them to co create solutions rather than telling folks what they need. I really appreciate this conversation we touched on it a little bit in terms of some of the challenges that you perceive possible strategies to address. But I'll pose this question to either one of you, if there's any additional challenges that you might perceive within your work, and then any possible strategies to address those or overcome those, those challenges.

I actually sorry just want to back up for just a second, Marcel and Isai, you're both talking about, we have less funding. We've got maybe less resources than we originally had, and there could be some fighting within our own field for the resources. What we need to do as public health leaders in nonprofits or whatever sector we're in is, instead of thinking of they're taking my resources or I'm taking theirs, is pooling our resources to work more collaboratively and really foster those partnerships and relationships, because there's a lot of work being done, and I think that some of it is also a little duplicative, and so being able to really hold these strong relationships with other organizations and other leaders to pool the resources so that we can work more efficiently for the community overall, I think is the only way that we can really adapt to make a big difference in our communities. So sorry.

I really appreciate that. Thank you. Carrie and I wrote down here leveraging resources. I think when things get tough, I know we could do a better job of just sharing space, collaborating, bring in other partners. And I'll also say that for the local health departments, I think moving forward, figuring out ways to support community based partners to help them do the work, so that all the onus isn't on one entity, but really working collectively. Unfortunately, we're just going to have less resources moving forward. And so how do we get creative to then sustain the work, and then to continue to bring in the new projects and work on issues as they arise? And Isai, I don't know if you wanted to comment on on what Kary had provided, or if you had anything else that you wanted to share.

I definitely agree. I think that it's learning how to leverage those resources. It's very important. Because one thing that I'm learning is that, like one organization cannot take on the whole issues of a whole community, county like that. We have to learn how to work together. That's just it's key. And we have to learn how to put our own professional egos aside and make sure that it's like, hey, if we're really focused on equity, how are we really focusing on the individuals that are being impacted, and not so much focused on our own self or trying to make ourselves look greater or that we have a greater impact. It's like if we have a collective greater impact, that's a lot greater than just having one individual outshine everybody else. But I think that another barrier, or we're seeing challenge, is just some systemic barriers, and I think that this long standing thing of equity, I think equity is a there's a big bias just because people continue to see is like, Oh, you're trying to give more money to like people of color. And what about individuals, like, seeing me as a white person. I'm not seeing any of these things. I don't have any white privilege. And it's not having that understanding that it's like, hey, individuals of color, this is not just happening two years ago or six years ago, what was the foundation of this country? And looking back way to the beginning and seeing how individuals of color have been discriminated there's a history of oppression that has happened decade after decade after millennia. Well, not millennia, but this whole centuries that have been happening since the inception of this country, we're beginning to try to take steps to create a more equitable landscape, but it's gonna take resources. It's gonna take time. It's gonna take individuals having that understanding that it's like, hey, some people have less than others and have struggled more than others because of the policies that we've created, and the only way that we're gonna make things better is by changing these policies and making sure that they're more diverse, that they're more inclusive and that they're equitable. So I think that it's about dismantling this way of thinking that, Oh, some people are getting an advantage. I'm like, No, they've been disadvantaged for a very long time. And how are we taking steps to remediate some of these things? So that would be one thing. And I think that also another thing is, is, although there is momentum at times for people being involved, I think that there's still a lack of engagement, enough engagement from the community overall. And there's a lot of distrust and and I understand it, because it's, it's like, hey, for so many years, people have promised these things, and change hasn't come. But the thing is that if we don't continue to be involved, to be engaged, to be learning, we can't make these changes. One of the things that we were talking about is like, hey, we have to learn how to work together, but yeah, you also have to learn how to kind of be involved, because without your voice, we can't necessarily make these changes happen. So that those would be two additional things that I would say, Hey, I see as like, continued challenges and things like that as we continue to move some more work forward.

I like it. And I know that first piece of acknowledging terms of like historical context can be very difficult for some or living in the denial saying, hey, that didn't happen here. Well, I know even doing some of the reparations work, folks were under the impression that slavery didn't happen here in California, and that is just not the case. And so I think that, along with acknowledging that education piece is extremely important for those that maybe didn't experience didn't witness it understanding what that experience was for those that went through it, and then also understanding how our systems were designed to continue to perpetuate disparities and hold folks back. I really appreciate this discussion here. Kary wanted to see if there's anything that you wanted to add in terms of what kind of community sport is needed, or if there's anything else that you wanted to share with folks.

Isai already touched a little bit on it. But community support that is needed is engagement. The type of support that is needed is showing up to town halls, to community events, learning about the issues and things that are happening currently in your community or in the state, I think other support can be around getting accurate information and sharing that with friends and family members, and being able to help empower other people to be advocates for things that they're passionate about that affects them and their community. I think community engagement is is a really good way to support also get more involved in the community and make some new friends. That's always fun.

If you wouldn't mind, Kary, would you share how folks can get in contact with your work United Way NorCal, or any additional resources? And we'll also have stuff on the website as well.

We can go check out our website at NorCal United way.org We also have social on social media, Facebook, Instagram and Tiktok, so be sure to check us out there. I'll make sure to get those handles on the website. We have offices located in Redding and Chico, although we do serve the nine counties. So you can come see us at community events, stop by our table, say hi. We've got a lot of information. And love to love to chat with you.

And then on to you, Isai.

We also have a website. It's www.valleyonward.org but it's currently under work, but you can go on there to see some of our contact information for all our staff. So you can get our contact information from there if you'd like to reach out to us, and then always follow us on social media, through Instagram and Facebook, our handles are at Valley onward, Merced or at Valley onward, so you can see all the great work that we're doing on there. Currently working on kind of sprucing that up as well, kind of bringing people on, really partnering with some college students to support us with some of their understanding of social media and how to best manage that. So we're very excited about some of those things that are happening, like Kary. We're also constantly engaged in the community. You'll see us at community events. We are planning a couple of activities in July with our assembly woman, Esmeralda Soria, where we're having a series of health fairs. And so we're looking forward to those. As soon as I get some of those dates confirmed, I will definitely share looking forward to those activities.

Awesome. Anything else that you wanted to add in terms of final words, final comment, anything that you didn't get in either Kary or Isai, feel free to go ahead.

I just want to say thank you for allowing us on this podcast. I think that it's really important that we are highlighting public health leaders, because in this fellowship, the together toward equity fellowship is, I think, something that is going to be really big, and I think that it's going to really help public health leaders and shed some more light on the work that is currently being done and how to invest in community leaders, which in turn, just invest in the community. So thank you for just letting us be here and chat a little bit.

And I would agree, I'm very grateful for the together towards health fellowship, because it's beginning to create these spaces where we can have these conversations, where we're bringing people from throughout the state of California that have different ideas, that have different experiences, even though we live in the same state, we're facing very different issues, but it's allowing us to really learn from one another, learn from our experiences, our concerns, our ideas for how we're addressing things, and we're incorporating, like, the beautiful thing is that we're incorporating some of these ideas into our own work that we may not have thought of, but it's like, Hey, this is something that we're taking and we're implementing, and it's going really well, and it's also leading to just honest conversations about the challenges that we're facing. One thing that we're seeing a lot is that there's a lot of similarities in those challenges. It's just been a privilege to kind of be a part of this and just looking forward. And I know that, like Kary said, it is going to grow and it's going to get big and and I'm very happy to be part of the inaugural class for this fellowship, and looking forward to what all of my colleagues will continue to achieve throughout their work. So thank you!

Wonderful. You know, I want to also give thanks to both of you, Kary and Isai for being speakers on this particular episode. And I look forward to staying in contact. I truly appreciate you sharing the wealth of information your experiences. I'm hopeful that folks will learn from it, reach out to you and continue connect and support your work throughout this process. So really, just appreciate you sharing your perspectives and then also to our audience. Thank you for listening to another episode of CA4Health's People.Power.Perspectives. Podcast.

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