Frequently Asked Questions

Our work:

• Address inequities in our community by driving policy, institutional, and resource and investment changes.
• Create change efforts where decision-making and power are shared among populations impacted by inequalities and local government, nonprofits, philanthropy, and businesses that want to support them.

 Our approach:

• We will develop a shared Agenda as our roadmap for change. The initial work of Health Action 2.0 will be the creation of an “Agenda for Action” informed by the Portrait of Sonoma County 2021 Update report findings and guidance from communities most impacted by inequities. We will develop an equity-centered process where affected communities outline goals, priorities, and actions to reduce disparities. The Agenda for Action will serve as a roadmap to direct institutional, political, philanthropic, and community-based efforts and resources. Health Action 2.0 will use this roadmap to focus its efforts.
• We will focus collective action on system interventions, one priority area at a time. Shifting the systems that produce inequalities is outside the purview and capacity of any one entity. It requires multiple stakeholders working together across sectors to focus investment and efforts. We will use the Agenda for Action to identify the priorities where collective action is needed to transform systems and reduce inequities. We will prioritize one system-level effort at a time. We will align partners, build political and institutional commitment, and activate change, embracing the unique roles of multiple stakeholders. When that effort becomes embedded in the community, we will move on to the next priority area.
• We will scale grassroots and local-level action. Support for communities closest to the issues and the CBOs serving them will be a priority. Communities hardest hit by inequities are the experts in their local needs, preferences, and strengths. Health Action 2.0 will support local action groups in charting their course to launch new efforts and strengthen existing efforts.

The County of Sonoma established the Health Action Council as an advisory body to the Board of Supervisors in 2008 as a venue for cross-sector collaboration among stakeholder leaders committed to addressing health disparities. Health Action has successfully served as a local catalyst for breaking down silos and collaborating across sectors to improve health and well-being in Sonoma County. However, many people recognized that this legacy structure of HA 1.0 cannot sufficiently address the magnitude of inequities we face today in Sonoma County. They saw the need for a new approach that focuses on equity, centers community in design and decision-making, and addresses the systemic causes of many compounding issues.

These are the reasons for proposing a new structure for Health Action 2.0 as an independent  entity. County government and other institutional leaders must continue to be part of this work, but community members must also be part of the leadership table and must hold equal power and decision making authority to achieve authentic, systemic change. As part of establishing Health Action 2.0 as a new, separate entity with a new leadership structure, the existing Health Action structure and governance must sunset.

Health Action 2.0 is now under fiscal sponsorship by Community Partners.

Current Health Action 2.0 Interim Board members as of April 2022:

• • Adriana Arrizon, Executive Director, Sonoma Connect | Sonoma Unidos
  • Dan Blake, Managing Director, Education Support Services, Sonoma County Office of Education
  • Oscar Chavez, Assistant Director, Sonoma County Human Services Department
  • Cathryn Couch, Chief Executive Officer, Ceres Community Project
  • Jason Cunningham DO, Chief Executive Officer, West County Health Centers
  • Alegria De La Cruz, Director, Sonoma County Office of Equity
  • Karin Demarest, Vice President for Community Impact, Community Foundation Sonoma County
  • Becky Ennis, Executive Director. SOS Community Counseling
  • Nora Mallonee-Brand, Interim Board Lead, Health Policy, Planning, and Evaluation Manager, Sonoma County Department of Health Services
  • Evette Minor, Community Advocate, Santa Rosa Health Action Chapter Lead

Members of the Health Action Transition Team and Portrait of Sonoma County Leadership Team came together in early 2022 to explore how to engage the community in creating a new Agenda for Action in response to the Portrait of Sonoma County 2021 Update report. These conversations made clear the need to merge these projects and led to consensus for Health Action 2.0 to lead this work. Two local partners committed seed funding to this effort. At the same time, Health Action 2.0 needed to establish an advisory board of directors as part of transitioning to nonprofit status under fiscal sponsorship.

Members of both leadership teams developed the interim governance structure for Health Action 2.0, identifying the need for a combination of representatives from the Health Action Transition Team, Portrait of Sonoma County Leadership Team, grassroots/local action groups, County government, and other institutions. Building board membership is still in progress. The Interim Board is assessing current gaps and seeking recommendations for additional members.

As the interim leadership for Health Action 2.0, the Interim Board is focused right now on standing up a new organization. Every person involved on the Interim Board understands and agrees that the new organization’s governance must reflect and embody the shared values of equity at the center, upstream focus, community led, integration and collaboration, and striving for shared outcomes. Long-term governance will be decided by a work group made up of Interim Board members, Health Action 2.0 staff, and other partner and community members as informed by the Agenda for Action.

The Health Action 2.0 Interim Board is guiding  Health Action’s transition to an independent nonprofit with public and private sector partners. Health Action stakeholders who served on the Transition Team and Portrait of Sonoma County Leadership Team members make up this board. These two leadership groups merged to carry forward the task of implementing Health Action 2.0 and the next steps in response to the Portrait of Sonoma County 2021 Update report. Both efforts are being informed and shaped through extensive community and stakeholder input. One of the first tasks of Health Action 2.0 is planning and leading the development of a new Agenda for Action in response to the Portrait’s updated findings about disparities in health and well-being in Sonoma County.

Health Action 2.0 will establish a permanent governing board to oversee and manage the public-private entity. Health Action 2.0’s shared values of equity at the center, upstream focus, community-led, integration and collaboration, and striving for shared outcomes will be central to determining the leadership structure of this new entity. This process is under development, will be informed by the Portrait of Sonoma County and Agenda for Action, and will center the experiences of our most impacted communities.

One initial and critical way for community groups and members to be involved is through the development of a new Agenda for Action in response to the Portrait of Sonoma County 2021 Update report findings. Health Action 2.0 is launching an equity focused, community engaged process to develop the new agenda that will guide the focus areas for HA 2.0 and support grassroots and local-level action. Sign up for information about creating the new Agenda for Action and updates about Health Action 2.0 by emailing HA2.0SonomaCounty@gmail.com.

There are several ways partners can contribute to this work, which will lead to determining who is part of the Health Action 2.0 decision-making table:

• Participate in the development of the Agenda for Action in response to the Portrait of Sonoma County 2021 Update and commit to sharing accountability in activating the new Agenda for Action, which will shape the initial focus of HA 2.0. Stipends will be available to support community members participating in this process. More details about this are coming soon.
• Take advantage of multiple engagement opportunities that will be offered during the transition from HA 1.0 to HA 2.0 to provide as a means of giving input and gaining insight for HA 2.0 decision making. These include existing bi-monthly HA Council meeting dates/times (first Friday morning every other month in April, June, and potentially more dates in 2022) and open sessions with the HA 2.0 Interim Board for advice and input.
• Participate in HA 2.0 ad hoc action teams forming around these work areas:
  • Secure Startup and Implementation Funding
  • Develop the Agenda for Action
  • Hire and onboard Health Action 2.0 Executive Director
  • Design Health Action 2.0 long-term governance structure
  • Create Health Action 2.0 brand and communications strategy

Contact Health Action 2.0 leaders through to HA2.0SonomaCounty@gmail.com tell us how you would like to be involved!

It is essential for those who have been part of Health Action 1.0–including those with power and influence–continue their participation, buy-in, and sense of accountability to ensure Health Action 2.0 does more to reduce inequities and reverse years of disinvestment.

Many community-based groups in Sonoma County are doing impactful work with communities most impacted by inequities. Because these groups are highly trusted and understand different communities’ needs, they hold important knowledge about how we might change the conditions and decisions that have led to gaps and inequities. Historically these groups and communities have not been meaningfully included in institutional and government efforts to improve health, well-being, and equity—including Health Action 1.0. Too often local institutions make decisions without the critical input of impacted communities because those institutions lack the mechanisms to solicit and listen to the experiences and recommendations of people with lived experience.

Health Action 2.0 will  bridge the gap between on-the-ground trusted community groups and local institutions in the following ways:

• Developing the Agenda for Action with recommendations led by those who are systematically and structurally marginalized.
• Ensuring inclusivity and diversity of community members involved in developing the Agenda for Action.
• Ensuring a diverse makeup of the Health Action 2.0 Governing Board.
• Gaining buy-in and commitment from the community, policymakers, institutions, and decision-makers to endorse and share accountability in implementing the Agenda for Action.

The leadership and members of existing Health Action committees and initiatives are exploring options for continuing their important work separately yet aligned with Health Action 2.0. This FAQ will be updated once these explorations are concluded.

Standing committees of Health Action 1.0:

• Cradle to Career continues to convene as a multi-sector partnership focused on educational attainment. An ad hoc group of Cradle to Career members are meeting to explore C2C’s future structure and options for staffing and financial support to continue important work focused in the areas of kindergarten readiness, academic success, and college and career readiness. Currently, C2C is moving towards a blended backbone structure with multiple organizations responsible for different backbone functions.

Related initiatives:

• Equity in Education Initiative
• StriveTogether
• The Committee for Healthcare Improvement is working to improve health and well-being to ensure access to better coordinated, person-centered health care. CHI is exploring a new structure and affiliations to sustain health and social care collaboration in Sonoma County into the future.
• Hearts of Sonoma County (HSC) is a multisector health initiative of the Committee for Healthcare Improvement focused on preventing heart attacks and strokes, reducing premature death and disability, and improving health equity in Sonoma County. Along with all major clinical provider organizations, Hearts of Sonoma County members include non-clinical community-based partner organizations addressing a range of strategies including nutrition education, food and nutrition security, physical activity, and strategies for linking patients to community resources.
• Accountable Communities for Health/CACHI Health Action has participated in the California Accountable Community for Health Initiative since its inception in 2016. CACHI has provided funding, technical assistance, collaborative learning, and resources to support communities like Sonoma County in building and sustaining the critical elements for our community to become healthier, more equitable, and resilient. Accountable Communities for Health equip communities to work together toward equitable change through multi-sector collaborations, community voice, and active alignment. What is an ACHI? Learn more here. Health Action 2.0 is the manifestation of all that partners have learned collectively through CACHI about becoming an authentic Accountable Community for Health. This learning can only be put into action through an independent, transformed Health Action.

Existing Health Action Chapters are not part of the governance structure of Health Action 2.0.  Health Action Chapters are absolutely needed and essential to the work of Health Action  2.0 as they bring local, collaborative, grassroots experience and expertise that is essential to reduce inequities and impact our health and well-being.

Health Action Chapters are not leaving their communities and will continue to serve for the betterment of Sonoma County. You can get in contact with your local chapter to learn more about their work via their related websites below. If there is no website for the chapter of interest, please contact Michael Tinoco to get connected with the appropriate representative.

• Cloverdale Health Action Chapter
• Corazon Healdsburg
• Russian River Area Resources and Advocates (RRARA) - Lower Russian River Area
• Community Health Improvement of the Petaluma Area (CHIPA) - Petaluma and Penngrove
• Gravenstein Health Action Coalition (GHAC) - Sebastopol, Graton, Occidental, Bodega, and Bodega Bay Area
• Sonoma Valley Collaborative
• Santa Rosa
• Windsor Wellness Partnership

That is up to  individual Health Action Chapters to decide. Several existing chapters have expressed a desire to continue to work together and to align with and support the collective work of Health Action 2.0.

Throughout the Health Action transition process, one clear message from stakeholders and community members emerged: institutions created to serve the public too often make decisions without the critical input of impacted communities, without being informed by those with lived experience of the most intractable inequities in Sonoma County.

That is why Health Action 2.0 will act as a catalyst in the following ways:

• Align commitment, resources, and effort around a shared Agenda for Action that will serve as a guide to address inequities identified in the Portrait of Sonoma County report. The Agenda for Action will build recommendations around the aspirations and assets of local communities.
• Support and empower action at the grassroots level, cultivating a network of local action groups working together toward their communities’ aspirations and goals.
• Focus cross-sector collaborative interventions at the system level, identifying and removing the systemic obstacles that prevent progress and perpetuate inequities.
• Bridge the gap between trusted community groups and systems-driving institutions.

Health Action 2.0 will support the growth, spread, and scale of grassroots local action. The Agenda for Action is the roadmap for the work of HA 2.0  HA 2.0 will focus on one issue at a time and form collaborations around each identified issue among local groups, community-based organizations, government, and institutions where collective action is needed to change the system.

HA 2.0 will cultivate and support a network of cross-sector local action groups implementing strategies and aspirations related to Agenda for Action priorities. In some cases, local action teams could  be existing Health Action Chapters, or community-based organizations, initiatives, and community groups that are already working in the focus area. Sometimes new local action groups may need to form to address gaps.

All of this will depend on Agenda for Action recommendations as these decisions will be made at the grassroots level about who wants to participate, how they want to participate, and what the focus needs to be.

Join our mailing list to learn more about this and to receive other updates and announcements about Health Action 2.0 by emailing HA2.0SonomaCounty@gmail.com.

All of those involved in implementing the transition to Health Action 2.0—Interim Board members, staff, and consultants—recognize that the County of Sonoma’s continued partnership and financial support for HA 2.0 is essential. Built into the Board of Supervisors’ action to sunset the original Health Action structure are commitments for County leadership to serve on the Health 2.0 governance board and to significantly invest in launching and sustaining HA 2.0. Representatives from the Department of Health Services, Office of Equity, and the Human Services Department are participating in the interim governance structure of HA 2.0. These County departments have also committed in-kind staffing support for HA 2.0.

Health Action 2.0 has secured initial seed funding through Peter E. Haas Jr. Family Fund and is currently seeking matching startup funds from other philanthropic foundations, as well as other partners and funding sources.

The HA 2.0 Interim Board is working on developing an investment and sustainability plan for HA 2.0. More information about this is coming soon.

If you are interested in helping to fund or support fundraising for Health Action 2.0, you can contact Health Action 2.0 leadership by emailing HA2.0SonomaCounty@gmail.com.