New Jobs | Applications Now Open for PHI's Together Toward Equity Fellowship | How the Media Shapes Public Perceptions of Safety

Apply Today:?PHI's Together Toward Equity Fellowship

Applications are now open for?PHI’s Together Toward Equity (TTE) Fellowship, a dynamic public health workforce development program that's?strengthening community leadership and organizational impact by investing in an effective, sustainable and equity-focused public health infrastructure for the future. Eligible?staff from California community-based organizations?receive personalized coaching, capacity building support, project-based leadership training, peer networking and more. Fellows also receive a $5,000 stipend for their participation. Learn more about the program and apply by September 24.?Learn more about the program and apply →

Meet the Current Together Toward Equity?Fellows

The TTE blog features Fellows' insights on leadership development and other lessons-learned in the program, as well?their unique perspectives on advancing health equity in their local communities. The latest piece, written by TTE Fellow Isai Garnica-Palma in both Spanish and English, shares his experience?growing up as a son of immigrants?and?achieving his parents' dreams of achieving a higher education. Isai also shares how today he is working alongside parents who—despite language barriers and other structural challenges—are fighting to improve educational opportunities for children in their communities.?Read TTE Fellows' reflections on leadership, community, health and equity?→

PHI in the LA Times: How the Media?Shapes Public Perceptions of Safety

Studies show that violent crime has dropped significantly in many major U.S. cities, so why do people still report not feeling safe? In the LA Times, PHI’s Pamela Mejia, director of research and associate program director for PHI’s Berkeley Media Studies Group, explains?how perceived crime is often shaped through media coverage and social media. If the news depicts the world as a violent place, then people are more likely to believe that the world around them is a violent place—a cognitive bias known as “mean world syndrome," explains Mejia. She also shares tips for newsrooms to improve how they cover crime, such as diversifying the voices featured in crime reporting to include local experts and community members, rather than primarily police officials. Read the full story →

PHI’s President & CEO?Melissa Stafford Jones?Discusses Advancing Health Equity

PHI’s President & CEO Melissa Stafford Jones speaks with the UC Berkeley School of Public Health about her 30-year-long career in public health, her role at PHI, critical public health challenges, policy approaches in public health and more. “What has crystallized for me through the range of experiences I have is really coming to deeply focus on and prioritize upstream prevention, change at a systems level, and working across sectors as a critical approach to making advances on challenging issues in public health. And being very intentional about centering equity, and specifically racial equity, through authentic partnership with the community," says Stafford Jones, "And that was part of why I was so thrilled to come to PHI—because those are central to the work of PHI through a range of initiatives."?Read the full interview →

Upcoming Webinars, Events & Trainings

Racial Equity Community of Practice for State Government: Facilitating Belonging Opportunities: Monday, September 9 | 9:30-11am PT. Are you a state government practitioner working to advance racial equity? Join PHI’s State of Equity and partners for their next Community of Practice meeting to learn about embedding racial equity into government services, focused on?"Facilitating Belonging Opportunities." Participants will also connect to a national network of people in state government who are leading and participating in racial equity efforts.?Register →

CASp Examination Training Course: September 16-20: 8am-12pm PT | Cost: $1,400. A CASp is a qualified individual who is certified by the California Division of the State Architect to review buildings and facilities for compliance with state and federal construction-related accessibility codes and standards. PHI's Beyond Consulting offers a five-day online training course, featuring a comprehensive review of the relevant knowledge, skills and abilities covered on the examination to become a CASp in California. It will also explore California laws and relevant federal disability laws, including the Americans with Disabilities Act. Sign up →

Trauma-Informed Care for AAAI LGBTQ+ Youth: Wednesday, September 25 | 12-1:30pm PT. PHI’s Lotus Project will examine the?unique experiences and struggles among?Asian American & Asian Immigrant (AAAI)?LGBTQ+ adolescents and young adults, as well as their access to and experience in trauma-informed care and mental health services. Drawing from lived experience, cultural and historical contexts, and mental health service expertise, speakers will explore strengths, barriers, and culturally competent practices for trauma-informed care for LGBTQ+ individuals and families of Asian descent. Join →

Beyond Compliance: Equity, Access & the ADA Conference: October 9-10: 9-5pm PT | Cost: $325 | Sacramento, CA. PHI’s Pacific ADA Center hosts an in-person Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) update conference, featuring sessions such as: Understanding the ADA Definition of Disability; Helping Undocumented Immigrants with Disabilities Understand Their Rights Under the ADA; the Intersection of Disability and LGBTQ+ Identities; and more. RSVP →

More from PHI

• Inspiring the Next Generation of Healthcare Workers: Meet Ana Mejia, an alum from PHI's FACES for the Future Coalition, which?provides health care career training to high school students from low-income communities of color. Ana?participated in the original FACES program at Children’s Hospital Oakland (now called CHAMPS) in 2005. There, she found her passion for helping others and an interest in the mental health field—and today, she works as a program director at a nonprofit that provides mental health services to youth and families. "If it wasn’t for FACES, I wouldn’t be where I am," said Ana.?Read more?→
• Kids & Wildfire Smoke: Understanding Risks & Protecting Families: PHI’s Regional Asthma Management and Prevention (RAMP) recently hosted a convening on wildfire smoke?resources for community health workers. Watch the recording for?information on health effects of wildfire smoke, why children are especially vulnerable, how to know if the air is bad and what type of masks and respirators to use.?"Research shows that even extremely low levels of ozone can exacerbate asthma, so we recommend only using mechanical air cleaners, which emit no ozone," said RAMP Director Anne Kelsey Lamb. Watch the recording →
• Study: Disparities in California's Local Cannabis Retail Policies: New research, co-authored by staff from PHI’s Getting it Right from the Start and partners,?examines the racial, ethnic?and neighborhood socioeconomic characteristics of Californians subject to specific local cannabis policies, to identify differences in health and economic outcomes between sociodemographic subgroups.?The study,?published in?Science Direct, is the first on the distribution of cannabis policies using an intersectional approach. One finding: Residents of socioeconomically advantaged neighborhoods were more likely to live in jurisdictions allowing retail cannabis commerce than those in disadvantaged neighborhoods (61.7% vs 54.8%). View the study →
• Healthcare &?Community Development?Partnerships for Climate Justice: Across the country, low-income communities, communities of color and other neighborhoods impacted by divestment?are struggling with devastating effects of climate change.?In a new Crosswalk, PHI’s Build Healthy Places Network highlights how healthcare and community development partnerships can?leverage federal investments to support climate resilience and community health.?“If you want to tackle health, poverty, or climate stuff, you need to work in these communities," said?David Erickson, senior vice president at the Federal Reserve Bank of New York. "And we’d all be better off if we all worked together.” Read the essay →
• New Tool: Tracking California Traffic: Does the area you live feel congested? How many?cars travel through your area each day? Every year? With the?Tracking California Traffic tool,?created by PHI’s Tracking California, users can explore estimated traffic volumes across the state. Using traffic volume estimates from 2019, users can calculate traffic volumes within 1000 meters of a?selected location. The Tool provides Daily and Annual Vehicle Miles Travelled?estimates and Annual Average Daily Traffic statistics for a given buffer distance around the address. Explore?the tool →
• PHI Experts Join Inaugural Cohort of Impact Fellows: Thomas Goetz, co-founder of PHI's Building H, and Dr. Ruth Thomas-Squance, co-executive director of PHI's Build Healthy Places Network, were recently selected to join the inaugural cohort of Impact Fellows at UC Berkeley’s School of Public Health.?The Impact Fellows are a distinguished group of public health practitioners, policymakers and changemakers, selected to work together to?collaborate to create new initiatives, share their expertise with students and more. Read the full story →

We're Hiring

PHI is dedicated to promoting health, well-being and quality of life for people throughout California, across the nation and around the world. Join us:

• Director of Benefits and Payroll: California (Remote). The Director of Benefits and Payroll will plan?and direct?the overall design, implementation, communication and administration of comprehensive health and welfare programs that support PHI’s employees, providing guidance to the functional areas of benefits administration, leave management, payroll administration, employee wellness and employee recognition program.
• Director of Accounting: Remote, USA. This position is responsible for internal control, general ledger account set up and maintenance, general accounting and financial analysis, reconciliations, annual audits, and overall financial reporting.?
• Digital Health Advisor: Washington, DC. The Digital Health Advisor will primarily support the Center for Innovation and Impact (CII) as a PHI Institutional Support Contractor (ISC), helping to?operationalize the new USAID Digital Health Position Paper (2024-2029).

See all current opportunities →

Support Our Work

Your support helps us build community power, advocate for change, train tomorrow’s leaders and share our expertise with the world. Donate today →

This article is a version of our recent PHI newsletter. To receive PHI updates directly in your inbox, sign up here. You can also opt in to receive our additional mailings, including our Job Alerts, Dialogue4Health Web Forum announcements and more.