Exploring Community-Driven Change and the Power of Collective Action

NORTH STAR QUESTION

How does community power catalyze, create, and sustain conditions for healthy communities? 

WHY FOCUS ON COMMUNITY POWER?

Today, the gaps in opportunities for health and well-being across neighborhoods and communities are large, persistent, and increasing. 

We know that health is influenced by the community conditions where a person lives, learns, works, and plays, and by the level of engagement individuals have in their community. As a nation we won’t close inequitable gaps in health without grassroots organizing strategies to break down existing social and economic barriers, such as poverty and discrimination and their consequences, including powerlessness. 

The connection between community-led strategies, place, and health is strong and research has shown that the people most directly affected by systemic barriers and inequities are the best positioned to drive change in their communities.

Low-income communities, communities of color and other historically oppressed communities have been excluded from decision-making on the policies and practices that impact their health. 

Therefore, now more than ever, building community power is critical to creating lasting change.

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