By Paj Nandi
Vice President of Equity & Multicultural Communications
Organizations in the public and private sectors are working to understand how changes at the federal level will affect their funding and ability to continue creating positive social change.
One of our partner agencies in the IPREX network offered a perspective. The TASC Group, based in New York City, does incredible work to create social change on a national level.
Jennifer Lawrence
Director, The TASC Group
In recent weeks, many of our clients have asked whether they should roll back DEI and health equity initiatives, even going so far as erasing mentions of them on their websites. These concerns come after a wave of sustained political attacks on DEI and restrictive executive orders by the new administration. We fully understand these fears and recognize the unprecedented historical moment we’re in as a country. However, we believe we can’t let public health initiatives become victims of the war on wording.
We need to make policy leaders understand what we mean by public health inequities and unequal access to resources and who is impacted by these inequities. Maintaining positive public perception and engaging policymakers are crucial in times of fiscal restraint. This can be achieved through a communications strategy that highlights your mission and underlines real-world examples of health inequities and how they play out in various communities.
The most effective tools you have are these real-world stories. Elevate community voices and utilize social and traditional media channels to amplify impact stories to maintain public awareness. By standing strong behind your mission and leveraging examples to underscore the importance of your work, you can stand up for your community, fight against the defunding of equity initiatives, and potentially find new sources of funding along the way.
Inclusive campaigns drive better outcomes in public health.
Jennifer’s perspective shows up in TASC’s work — and in our public health and other work at DH.
Time after time, we’ve shown that partnering directly with communities and audiences to create campaigns yields better outcomes. That applies to suicide prevention, fentanyl awareness and harm reduction, healthy aging, vaccination and other public health campaigns. When credible voices from within communities serve as campaign message carriers, it naturally builds trust and long-term buy-in.
When audiences — no matter who they are or where they live — can see themselves in campaigns, we are in fact centering equity in communications. So, even as the principles of diversity, equity and inclusion are under attack, we’re counseling clients to embrace the built-in values of equity-centered strategies. They work.
If you want to talk about navigating uncertainty and change, feel free to reach out. I’m always happy to talk.