About Us
The Center for Black Health & Equity envisions a world where all people of African descent are able to obtain optimal health outcomes.
Mission and History
We engage health care organizations, public health officials, faith leaders, and African American communities in health promotion and disease prevention work.
Our mission is to facilitate programs and services to benefit communities and people of African descent. We do this by building community capacity, developing community infrastructure, and advocating for equity-centered policies. We are committed to addressing the social and economic injustices that have marginalized our communities and led to deep health disparities.
We apply our proven framework for policy and social change to our work in tobacco control, COVID-19, HIV/AIDS, women’s health, cancer, mental health and other disparities.
Center for Black Health & Equity
Board and Staff
2020 – 2024 Annual Reports
Career opportunities at The Center
To identify, reduce, and eliminate the social, economic, and environmental conditions that result in health disparities, The Center for Black Health & Equity’s (The Center) equity-centered approach helps us build community capacity, develop community infrastructure, and advocate for equity-centered policies.
Community Capacity and Community Infrastructure
The Center maintains collaborative partnerships with public and private institutions to provide training, funding, and support to marginalized communities as part of national efforts to ensure access to health education, information, and resources for all people.
Equity-Centered Policies
The Center envisions a world where every person is able to achieve optimal health outcomes. By working to enact policy change to eliminate disparities, we help create systems that benefit all people by acknowledging the challenges of marginalized communities and equipping them with the resources to advocate for themselves.
We Fight for
Our Lives.
At The Center for Black Health & Equity, we understand that the first step to mobilizing health organizations and communities is to become aware of the root causes of health disparities among African Americans. This means examining and abolishing the stigma associated with HIV/AIDS, fighting the tobacco industry’s predatory marketing tactics, and reversing the impact that institutional racism has had on African American health.
African Americans carry the highest burden of death for many of the country’s most fatal diseases. Approximately 45,000 African Americans will die from a smoking-related disease this year,
and African Americans are still more likely to die from cancer than any other ethnic group. Additionally, African Americans continue to account for nearly half of all new HIV cases. The Center is taking a stand and providing advocacy assistance to eliminate such egregious health disparities.
To reduce rates of death and illness among African Americans, it is critical that we help people to quit smoking,
encourage early cancer screenings, get more people tested for HIV, promote healthier lifestyles, and assist our community members in accessing quality health care. In addition, wetrain community leaders to pursue the policy changes necessary for people to make such important choices.
We Equip Communities to End Health Disparities.
Strategic action reduces the results of tobacco use, cancer-related health disparities, and the prevalence of HIV/AIDS in order to advance health equity. The Center leads the way in effective action to reduce the burden of chronic disease in African American communities.
To improve the overall quality of health in America, we must rethink the tools, strategies, and interventions designed for minority populations.
Since 2000, The Center for Black Health & Equity has worked collaboratively with communities to eliminate health disparities. We have employed our model to address inequity across a myriad of health issues.
We Build Capacity and Provide Resources.
Sharing is the key to health justice and parity. Our funded community partners are the driving force behind our impact. Together, our efforts move us closer to health justice.
The Center for Black Health & Equity has a network of strategic partners uniquely positioned to strengthen, support, and disseminate evidence-based and promising strategies to eliminate tobacco, HIV/AIDS, and cancer-related health disparities. It is imperative to engage more public health advocates across sectors in disease prevention work. This includes state and local public health officials, faith leaders, youth, academic researchers, and leaders in the African American community.
Funders are partners in our work. We are grateful for the organizations and institutions that make our work possible. Through the continued funding provided by private foundations and federal agencies, we are yet moving closer to achieving health justice for African Americans. Funders and supporters are truly partners in this work. They make it possible for us to invest one-third of our budget back into communities and their initiatives.
The Center for Black Health & Equity has a network of strategic partners uniquely positioned to strengthen, support, and disseminate evidence-based and promising strategies to eliminate tobacco, HIV/AIDS, and cancer-related health disparities. It is imperative to engage more public health advocates across sectors in disease prevention work. This includes state and local public health officials, faith leaders, youth, academic researchers, and leaders in the African American community.
