The Massachusetts Public Health Association (MPHA) is a nonprofit organization that promotes a healthy Massachusetts through advocacy, community organizing, and coalition building. We are leaders in the movement to create health equity by addressing the root causes of health and wellness. We promote policies that impact the major drivers of health outcomes, such as access to healthy food, safe affordable housing, and transportation. We also advocate for equitable public health services throughout the Commonwealth.

In early 2020, MPHA’s board and staff made two public commitments.  MPHA is: 

• Committed to dismantling structural racism; and
• Committed to listening to the voices of people most impacted by health inequities in developing our priorities.

Vision

A Massachusetts of healthy, equitable, just, and thriving communities where racism, poverty, and zip code do not determine our health or lifespan.

Mission

MPHA is a catalyst for community-driven policy change that fosters conditions for people to achieve their full health potential where they live, work, and play. We advocate and organize in partnership to dismantle structural racism and address the other root causes of health inequities.

Putting Our Mission into Action

MPHA seeks to eliminate all forms of structural inequities that impact health. We lead with dismantling structural racism in these efforts. Our analysis and strategy to address structural racism is used as a framework to tackle the intersecting forms of oppression and discrimination that impact health, including classism, sexism, ageism, homophobia, transphobia, ableism, and xenophobia, among others. 

MPHA’s Health Equity Policy Framework is designed to provide a guide to the MPHA board, Policy Council, staff, and partners to operationalize our mission and vision to achieve health equity in Massachusetts.

This graphic depicts our advocacy model, which is focused on state and local policy change:

Values

• Action – Advocating purposefully to solve problems and achieve measurable results
• Collaboration – Achieving systematic change in public health by working together to leverage the resources, time, energy, and ideas of many
• Commitment – Pursuing with tenacity strategic objectives that positively impact public health, both immediate and long-term
• Equity and Social Justice – Working together with communities adversely affected by inequities and promoting policies that contribute to health equity
• Truth – Being an honest and trusted leader in public health, basing decisions, advocacy, and programming on fact-based, scientific evidence