Providing the Tools for Change

The Center for Cross-Cultural Health believes that in order to improve health and eliminate racial, ethnic and socioeconomic inequities, we must address the social and economic conditions that shape the health of a community.

Low-income communities, immigrant and refugee communities, communities of color and Native American communities need to be prioritized as they experience the greatest burdens of illness and injury.

The Center’s goal is to help create the conditions in which communities and community groups, rather than outside experts, identify common goals or problems, mobilize resources, and develop and implement strategies to achieve those goals.  Research shows that when individuals within the community are involved, long term health improvements in the community are achieved. Every community has different health needs as well as different resources and capacities to address those needs.  Programs shaped by community members will be more authentic and far more likely to be successful.

The tools we provide to help you create the change you need are:

Leadership Development:  Finding and developing leadership is a slow and intentional process.  We believe anyone can be a leader with the right encouragement and support.  The Center can help you develop a systemic plan to: 

  • Identify and “test” new leaders;
  • Improve the effectiveness of existing leaders;
  • Hold more effective meetings;
  • Recruit new members to your organization; and more. 

Training:  Training is an important tool to move your work forward rather than an event to plan and implement.  We can work with you to assess your training needs as well as develop and implement a training plan that is tied to the work you are doing and the goals you want to achieve.  Our staff and consultants have years of solid experience in training on these topics:

  • Building Relationships
  • Stereotypes and Oppression
  • Racism and Racial Justice
  • Community Building and Asset Based Community Development
  • Basics of Community Organizing
  • Moving Upstream:  Addressing the Social Determinants of Health  (link)

Partnerships:  The Center partners with community based organizations, where our skill in building cross-cultural relationships, our experience in community organizing and our knowledge of the health care system are useful.    

Convening:  We convene and host dialogues around issues related to health equity and health disparities.