Recent Events
2022 Spring Awards Breakfast
MPHA held our 20th Annual Spring Awards Breakfast on June 3, 2022 in Boston. Mayor Michelle Wu and Boston Public Health Commission Executive Director Dr. Bisola Ojikutu provided the keynote remarks and received a special MPHA award, the Catalyst for Justice Award. Together, Mayor Wu and Dr. Ojikutu have championed transparency, reliance on clear data benchmarks, and a commitment to health equity in the city’s response to COVID-19. They have also focused on achieving more equitable health outcomes by working to improve the social conditions in which Boston residents live, including access to healthy food and stable affordable housing.
MPHA’s highest honor, the Paul Revere Award for Lifetime Achievement, was given to to Ashish Jha, MD, MPH, in recognition of his outstanding impact on public health in the Commonwealth. Dr. Jha is a physician, health policy researcher, and a global expert on pandemic preparedness and response as well as on health policy research and practice. He served as the Dean of the Brown University School of Public Health until appointed by President Biden as the national Coordinator of the COVID-19 Response.
We presented the first-ever Local Public Health Leadership Award to Phoebe Walker, Director of Community Services at the Franklin Regional Council of Governments (FRCOG). In addition to her dedication to addressing the public health needs of the communities she serves, Ms. Walker has played a leadership role in the multiyear statewide advocacy effort to reform Massachusetts’ inefficient and inequitable local public health system.
The Lemuel Shattuck Award was presented to Chien-Chi Huang, Executive Director of Asian Women for Health, a peer-led, community-based network dedicated to advancing Asian women’s health and wellbeing. In addition to founding Asian Women for Health, Ms. Huang has been a persistent advocate for the collection, analysis, and reporting of race and ethnicity data for Asian Americans, because without such data, health inequities among different Asian populations will never be visible nor effectively addressed.
Thank you to our Sponsors!
Platinum Plus
Gold
Silver

Bronze
Alosa Health
American Heart Association
Association for Behavioral Healthcare
Baystate Health
Beacon Health Options/Massachusetts Behavioral Health Partnership
Beth Israel Lahey Health
The Boston Foundation
Boston Medical Center
Cambridge Health Alliance
Dana-Farber Cancer Insitute
Department of Family Medicine and Community Health at University of Massachusetts Medical School
Fenway Health
Lachlan Forrow
Liberty Mutual Insurance
Gilead
Greater New Bedford Community Health Center
Health Foundation of Central Massachusetts
Health Resources in Action
Home Health Foundation
John Snow, Inc.
Justice Resource Institute
Liberty Mutual Insurance
Tufts University School of Medicine, Public Health Program
Benefactor
Boston Healthcare for the Homeless
Boston University Henry M. Goldman School of Dental Medicine
Health Equity Partnership of North Central Mass Inc. (CHNA9)
Massachusetts Association for Mental Health
Massachusetts Health and Hospital Association
Massachusetts Medical Society
Massachusetts Nurses Association
Neil Maniar & Ami Bhatt
Tufts University School of Dental Medicine
Patron
AAFCPAs
Alfred DeMaria Jr.
Cynthia A. Tschampl
Ralph Fuccillo
Deborah & Paul Walker
Massachusetts Association of Health Boards
Northeastern University Bouvé College of Health Sciences
Organizational Members
Alliance of Massachusetts YMCAs
American Heart/American Stroke Association
Association for Behavioral Healthcare
Blue Cross Blue Shield of Massachusetts
Boston Children’s Hospital
Brookline Public Health Department
Casa Myrna
Citizens for Juvenile Justice
City of Lawrence Mayor’s Health Task Force
Conference of Boston Teaching Hospitals
Cooley Dickinson Hospital
Dana Farber Cancer Institute
DOVE, Inc.
Fenway Health
Greater Lowell Health Alliance
Groundwork Lawrence
Harvard Catalyst
Health Equity Partnership of North Central Mass, Inc. (CHNA 9)
Health Foundation of Central Massachusetts
Health Resources in Action
Heywood Hospital
John Snow, Inc.
Justice Resource Institute
Lowell Health & Human Services
Mass Peace Action
Massachusetts Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics
Massachusetts Association of Health Boards
Massachusetts Association of Public Health Nurses
Massachusetts League of Community Health Centers
Massachusetts Organization for Addiction Recovery
Massachusetts School Nurse Organization
Metrowest Health Foundation
MLPB
Needham Board of Health
New Bedford Health Department
Northeastern University Bouvé College of Health Sciences
Planned Parenthood League of Massachusetts
Project Bread
Public Health Institute of Western Massachusetts
Revere on the Move
Tufts University School of Medicine
University of Massachusetts Amherst School of Public Health and Health Science
Women’s Lunch Place
Worcester Division of Public Health
2021 Annual Conference & Meeting
Thank you to everyone who attended MPHA’s virtual Annual Conference & Meeting: Creating Health Equity by Building Community Power on November 16! By working together and sharing best practices, we are helping to create a healthier and more equitable Massachusetts where everyone can thrive.
Keynote Speaker
Our keynote speaker was Xavier Morales, Executive Director of the Praxis Project, who discussed the new Social Determinants of Public Health framework recently developed by the Praxis Project, as well as their focus on community power building as a strategy for achieving health equity.
While many traditional SDOH frameworks lack the explicit naming of systems of oppression that cause disparities in health determinants. Praxis’ framework aims to incorporate systems of oppression and to highlight the root causes of these determinants from a justice and community power perspective.
Xavier is a longtime advocate for community-driven initiatives to achieve health equity and environmental justice. Taking an expansive view of what constitutes good health and community wellness, he works in partnership to enable opportunities across the social determinants of health.
Panel: Power Building on the Ground
Inequity is rooted in the imbalance of power – who has power and who is able to use that power. Knowing that, how can we build community power, in order to address these imbalances and create a more equitable society? How can that work translate into achieving greater health equity? This was the focus of our panel, Power Building on the Ground. Panelists included Project Director Megan Gaydos of Human Impact Partners (HIP) and Executive Director Dwaign Tyndal of Alternatives for Community & Environment (ACE), two organizations that are leading in this area. They shared insights and lessons learned from HIP’s Power-Building Partnerships for Health project and ACE’s work organizing residents of Boston’s Roxbury neighborhood around environmental justice issues, including air quality and transportation.
Workshop: The Power of Student Activism
How can students become more active as participants in the movement for greater health equity? How can colleges and universities facilitate this work? These questions were explored at our workshop on The Power of Student Activism, cohosted by Neil Maniar, President and Associate Chair, Department of Health Sciences at Northeastern University; and Craig Andrade, Associate Dean of Public Health at Boston University. Additional panelists included students/alumni, who shared their own experiences as activists.
Sponsors

Harvard Pilgrim Healthcare & Tufts Health Plan
Pioneers


Mobilizers
- Health Leads
- Massachusetts Councils on Aging
- Massachusetts Nurses Association
Benefactors
- Boston University School of Public Health
- Greater Lowell Health Alliance
- Quinsigamond Community College
Educators
- Massachusetts College of Pharmacy and Health Sciences
- Regis College, School of Health Sciences, Undergraduate Public Health Program
- Master of Healthcare Administration, Sawyer Business School, Suffolk University
- UMass Amherst School of Public Health & Health Sciences
- UMass Lowell Department of Public Health
Community Supporters
- Bay State Community Services
- Elder Services of Merrimack Valley
Organizational Members
Visionaries

Catalysts





Stakeholders
- Association for Behavioral Healthcare
- John Snow Inc.
- Metrowest Health Foundation
- Planned Parenthood League of Massachusetts
Past Events
Click here to view past MPHA events
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