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This event was co-hosted by the Jordan Institute for Families and the Collaborative for Implementation Practice at the UNC School of Social Work, and The Annie E. Casey Foundation.
The event shined a light on equitable implementation and engaged more deeply with the authors and articles highlighted in the Stanford Social Innovation Review supplement, Bringing Equity to Implementation, that was released in May 2021.
Implementation science is uniquely positioned to address inequities by reducing the gap between research and practice across diverse community, healthcare and social service settings. Making progress toward achieving health equity, however, requires more explicit reflection about the role of structural racism as a fundamental driver of social and health inequities and how to address it. The opening plenary highlighted strategies, frameworks and approaches that can be applied in implementation efforts to more actively address structural racism.
Dr. Rachel Shelton, ScD, MPH is a social and behavioral scientist with training in cancer and social epidemiology, and expertise in implementation science, sustainability, health equity, and community-based participatory research. She is Associate Professor of Sociomedical Sciences at Columbia University’s Mailman School of Public Health, where she is Co-Director of the Community Engagement Core Resource at the Irving Institute for Clinical and Translational Research (CTSA), and leads a new university-wide initiative on Implementation Science. Dr. Shelton has taught a course in implementation science for nearly 10 years and has been a mentor in a number of training programs globally, including TIDIRC, TIDIRH, and the Institute for Implementation Science Scholars. Dr. Shelton has 15 years of experience conducting mixed-methods research focused on advancing the implementation and sustainability of evidence-based interventions in community and clinical settings to address health inequities, particularly in the context of cancer prevention/control; her research program is funded by NIA, NCI, NIMHD and American Cancer Society.
Dr. Prajakta Adsul, MBBS, MPH, PhD is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Internal Medicine at the University of New Mexico and a member in the University of New Mexico’s Comprehensive Cancer Center, within the Cancer Control and Population Sciences Research Program. Dr. Adsul’s research uses implementation science theories, methods and measures, keeping a multilevel perspective. Her research utilizes qualitative, quantitative, and mixed methods to incorporate the complexities of real-world practice and produce meaningful and useful products that are relevant to several stakeholders including fellow researchers and clinicians, community members, and most importantly, individuals that are directly affected by improving clinical and community practice.
Dr. April Oh, Ph.D., M.P.H., is a Senior Advisor for Implementation Science and Health Equity in the Implementation Science (IS) Team in the Office of the Director in the Division of Cancer Control and Population Sciences (DCCPS) at the National Cancer Institute (NCI). She leads efforts to advance the intersection of implementation science and health equity research. Dr. Oh provides scientific leadership for NCI’s Implementation Science in Cancer Control (ISC3) Program which supports the rapid development, testing, and refinement of innovative approaches to implement a range of evidence-based cancer control interventions. Dr. Oh’s research interests in multi-level health communication, implementation science, social determinants of health, neighborhood and policy effects on community health, obesity-related behaviors, and digital health technologies to promote behavior change and cancer prevention and control.
Eight breakout sessions featured conversations with authors of articles highlighted in Bringing Equity to Implementation. Links to each of these articles as well as the recorded conversations can be accessed below.
Blake Strode of ArchCity Defenders and Amy Morris of Amplify Fund discuss how to shift decision-making power to people closest to the problems that funders are trying to solve.
Leonard Burton of the Center for the Study of Social Policy and Elliot Hinkle of Unicorn Solutions LLC discuss how young people helped shape an initiative, Youth Thrive, that addresses the challenges they faced in foster care.
Winsome Stone of the Rhode Island Department of Children Youth and Families and Matthew Billings of the Children and Youth Cabinet of Rhode Island talk about community involvement in Evidence2Success™, a Casey Foundation framework that helps communities make smart investments in evidence-based programs.
Ana Baumann of the Brown School of Social Work at Washington University in St. Louis highlights about the need for a systemic approach to advancing equity across the implementation science field.
William Jackson, Dawn X. Henderson and Denise Page of Village of Wisdom and Black parent researcher Courtney McLaughlin participate in a panel discussion devoted to Village of Wisdom, an effort led by Black parents to develop classrooms into welcoming, equitable learning spaces.
Ruben Parra-Cardona of the Steve Hicks School of Social Work at the University of Texas at Austin and Ofelia Zapata of Austin’s San José Catholic Church participate in a panel discussion that explores the role that faith-based organizations can play in implementing programs within immigrant communities.
Gilberto Perez Jr. of Bienvenido Community Solutions and Linda Callejas of the University of South Florida introduce the Bienvenido program, which engages Latino communities to better understand their mental health concerns and develop programming that better meets their needs.
Paris Davis of Total Resource Community Development Organization and JD Smith of the Feinberg School of Medicine at Northwestern University talk about leveraging strategic partnerships involving trusted organizations and community members to reduce mortality in communities experiencing cardiovascular health disparities.
The closing plenary explored ten recommendations for advancing equitable implementation and how they can be put into action. Read more about these ten recommendations in Equitable Implementation at Work.
Iheoma U. Iruka, PhD, is a Research Professor of Public Policy and Founding Director of the Equity Research Action Coalition at Frank Porter Graham Child Development Institute at The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Dr. Iruka is engaged in projects and initiatives focused on how evidence-informed policies, systems, and practices in early education can support the optimal development and experiences of children from low-income and ethnic minority households, such as through family engagement and support, quality rating and improvement systems, and early care and education systems and programs. She has been engaged in addressing how best to ensure excellence for young diverse learners, especially Black children, such as through development of a classroom observation measure, examination of non-traditional pedagogical approaches, public policies, and publications geared toward early education practitioners and policymakers.
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LACY DICHARRY, MS, MS, MBA
Lived experience. Academic rigor. Professional triumph.
Some of the world’s most successful speakers, leaders, and coaches rely on just one of these credentials in their work. Lacy Dicharry combines all three to deliver empowerment and actionable insight to every audience she reaches.
A survivor of childhood trauma and the trials of the foster care system, Lacy’s story of personal strength and resilience began at a young age. Resulting battles with mental health and addiction were to follow. To some, a story of perseverance. For Lacy, a journey to becoming the person she was meant to be.
Lacy has earned designation as a Master of Business Administration, a dual Master of Science in both Counseling Psychology and Leadership and Human Resource Development and is actively completing her PhD in Philosophy, Leadership and Human Resource Development. Her research centers on the same objective that forms the foundation of her career as both a speaker and workforce champion: revolutionizing leadership.
Lacy’s approach to leadership development fosters an environment where culture and collaboration flourish, creating a workplace where every voice is represented. She has been instrumental in transforming corporate environments, youth engagement efforts, and advocacy programs. She has worked across the U.S. and internationally in a variety of high profile roles, bringing innovative solutions to high stakes challenges.
In concepts including transformational leadership and healing-centered leaders, Lacy Dicharry lives to empower others to transform the way they live, the way they lead, and the world around them.
Lacy has dedicated her life to becoming a force for positive change in organizations around the world. Lacy is a fearlessly authentic leader, speaker, and individual. By sharing her challenges, her experiences, and her transformation with the world, Lacy connects with her audiences in a way nobody else does, because she brings to her work what nobody else can.
Marita Brack is the Associate Director for Psychology within NHS Education for Scotland, and has worked as a Clinical Psychologist for 25 years. Her clinical work has principally been within specialist mental health services for children, young people and their families, both in Scotland and Australia. Marita has also worked within university settings in relation to the training of Applied Psychologists, and was the Clinical Practice Director on the MSc in Applied Psychology for Children and Young People, delivered in partnership between the NHS and the University of Edinburgh. Marita joined NES in 2010 as the Head of Programme for the Parenting and Infant Mental Health workstream, within the Psychology Directorate, and through this role has led on the development and implementation of several strands of work, including the Psychology of Parenting Project (PoPP), the NES Infant Mental Health training plan, the Early Intervention Framework, and most recently Marita has been co-leading on the implementation of the Enhanced Psychological Practice-Children and Young People certificate level course that has been created within NES. Marita has a long-standing interest in early intervention and prevention approaches to strengthening mental health and wellbeing, evidence-based parent-child relationship interventions and public health.
Category A – The UNC School of Social Work is approved by the American Psychological Association to sponsor continuing education for psychologists. The UNC School of Social Work maintains responsibility for this program and its content.
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UNC SSW, #1406, is approved by the Association of Social Work Boards (ASWB) Approved Continuing Education (ACE) program. Organizations, not individual courses, are approved as ACE providers. State and provincial regulatory boards have the final authority to determine whether an individual course may be accepted for continuing education credit. UNC-SSW maintains responsibility for this course. ACE provider approval period: 8/10/2022 to 8/10/2025. Continuing education activities vary in the number of social work hours awarded based on the length of the program. See individual programs for specific CE credit information.