For Texas to fully realize its great potential, all Texans must have the ability to thrive. Equity, specifically health equity, is an essential part of that future.
While Episcopal Health Foundation has successfully worked with partners to improve the health opportunities for those who continue to be marginalized by existing systems, there is still much work to be done.
As EHF moves into its new strategic season, it reaffirms its long-term commitment to invest in and promote equity in organizations, communities, and initiatives to accelerate a bold vision that all Texans have a just opportunity to live their healthiest lives.
What we mean by...
EQUITY
Episcopal Heath Foundation defines Equity as the promotion of justice, impartiality and fairness in the procedures, processes, and distribution of resources by institutions or systems. Tackling equity issues requires an understanding of the underlying, root causes of disparities within our society.
HEALTH EQUITY
EHF embraces the definition of Health Equity developed by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation: Health Equity means that everyone has a fair and just opportunity to be as healthy as possible. This requires removing obstacles to health such as poverty, discrimination, and their consequences, including powerlessness and lack of access to good jobs with fair pay, quality education and housing, safe environments, and health care.
EHF's Equity Journey
Over the years, EHF has undertaken various activities to help staff explore and understand the terms diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) and what they mean at the individual level and for EHF’s externally-facing work. In 2019, EHF formed an Equity Workgroup comprised of staff from across the organization to help advance equity as a framework at the enterprise level, support staff in their own journey to deepen their understanding of equity matters, and develop ways in which to more intentionally operationalize our equity values.
The diagram below illustrates EHF’s journey as we leaned in to being more intentional in viewing potential investments through a health equity lens. Although the genesis of much of this work occurred in 2019 or earlier, the timing of these efforts occurred during a nexus point that coincided with the heightened call for racial justice across the country and the increased public awareness of the impact of health disparities made more apparent because of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Equity Workgroup
