Book chapter authored by HIP co-directors Lili Farhang and Solange Gould featured in the new collection “Leading Systems Change in Public Health: A Field Guide for Practitioners.”
Overview
Public health is increasingly adopting systems change frameworks to advance long-lasting change toward a more equitable and healthy future. Leading Systems Change in Public Health, edited by public health leaders from the de Beaumont Foundation and the University of Illinois Chicago School of Public Health and featuring chapters written by diverse thinkers from across the field, develops a shared language for practitioners to discuss systems thinking, outlines the key principles of systems change leadership, and offers a comprehensive framework for individuals and organizations that want to lead systems change. With real-world examples and practical exercises and tools for leading systems change in relationship with communities at the national, state, and local levels, Leading Systems Change in Public Health is a foundational resource for public health professionals interested in effective, transformative solutions to public health issues.
“Racial Justice and Power-Sharing: The Heart of Leading Systems Change,” a chapter in the book authored by HIP Co-Directors Lili Farhang and Solange Gould, draws on HIP’s experience working with over 100 health departments and public health organizations to unpack the way power operates within social systems and how systems change leaders can center racial justice and power-sharing at the heart of our practice. In the midst of a massive racial reckoning in the United States, it’s as urgent as ever that public health grapples with how to support the Movement for Black Lives and other uprisings for liberation, and organize around a vision of health that is truly equitable. Systems change leadership can be a critical step in that direction.
The chapter covers the following principles and provides clear tips for how to achieve them:
- How to develop a shared analysis of how racism, power imbalances, and other forms of oppression structure our systems today
- The importance of attending to the work of “being” together, and not just “doing,” together, in order to develop the relationships necessary to disrupt these patterns at the interpersonal, team, organizational, and community levels
- How to establish change processes that embody a model of sharing power and center the voices of people who have been most impacted by the systems we seek to change
“Racial Justice and Power-Sharing” is intended to be a resource for public health practitioners and systems change leaders hoping to deepen the “why” behind their practice and push themselves further in their analysis around the root causes of public health issues.
To learn more about this resource, please contact HIP Co-Directors Lili Farhang at lili@humanimpact.org and Solange Gould at solange@humanimpact.org.
