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1 Retreat Meeting Notes Retreat Attendees Frank Acosta, Acosta & Associates Alfredo de Avila, Applied Research Center Dominique Apollon, Applied Research Center Rinku Sen, Applied Research Center Juan Gomez, Barrios Unidos Nane Alejandrez, Barrios Unidos Duane Poe, Black Men and Boys Steve Barton, Black Men and Boys Calvin Freeman, California Black Health Network Ayde Gonzalez, California Endowment Carolyn Ortega, California Endowment Charles Fields, California Endowment Mary Lou Fulton, California Endowment Ray Colmenar, California Endowment Robert Phillips, California Endowment Sandra Davis, California Endowment Sarah Reyes, California Endowment Jim Thrasher, California Teachers Association Cassandra Joubert, Central California Children's Institute Nina Moreno, Children's Defense Fund-California Jorge Ruiz de Velasco, Earl Warren Institute Jakada Imani, Ella Baker Center Robert Perez, Fenton Communications Keith Kelley, Fresno West Coalition James Bell, Haywood Burns Institute Michael Harris, Haywood Burns Institute George Galvis, Intertribal Friendship House Damon Azali Rojas, Jemmott Rollins Group, Inc. Fran Jemmott, Jemmott Rollins Group, Inc. Kafi Blumenfield, Liberty Hill Foundation Vincent Jones, Liberty Hill Foundation Dori Maynard, Maynard Institute Brenda Salgado, Movement Strategy Center Roderick King, Next Generation Consulting Group Martin Reynolds, Oakland Tribune Maria Casey, Partnership for Public Health Joe Brooks, PolicyLink Marc Philpart, PolicyLink Ruben Lizardo, PolicyLink Phil Lee, Results Leadership Group Al Hernandez, Santana Latino Coalition for a Healthy California Brian Contreras, Second Chance Youth Program Ruben Gonzales, Study of Social Policy/Institute for Community Peace
Transcript
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Retreat Meeting Notes Retreat Attendees Frank Acosta, Acosta & Associates Alfredo de Avila, Applied Research Center Dominique Apollon, Applied Research Center Rinku Sen, Applied Research Center Juan Gomez, Barrios Unidos Nane Alejandrez, Barrios Unidos Duane Poe, Black Men and Boys Steve Barton, Black Men and Boys Calvin Freeman, California Black Health Network Ayde Gonzalez, California Endowment Carolyn Ortega, California Endowment Charles Fields, California Endowment Mary Lou Fulton, California Endowment Ray Colmenar, California Endowment Robert Phillips, California Endowment Sandra Davis, California Endowment Sarah Reyes, California Endowment Jim Thrasher, California Teachers Association Cassandra Joubert, Central California Children's Institute Nina Moreno, Children's Defense Fund-California Jorge Ruiz de Velasco, Earl Warren Institute Jakada Imani, Ella Baker Center Robert Perez, Fenton Communications Keith Kelley, Fresno West Coalition James Bell, Haywood Burns Institute Michael Harris, Haywood Burns Institute George Galvis, Intertribal Friendship House Damon Azali Rojas, Jemmott Rollins Group, Inc. Fran Jemmott, Jemmott Rollins Group, Inc. Kafi Blumenfield, Liberty Hill Foundation Vincent Jones, Liberty Hill Foundation Dori Maynard, Maynard Institute Brenda Salgado, Movement Strategy Center Roderick King, Next Generation Consulting Group Martin Reynolds, Oakland Tribune Maria Casey, Partnership for Public Health Joe Brooks, PolicyLink Marc Philpart, PolicyLink Ruben Lizardo, PolicyLink Phil Lee, Results Leadership Group Al Hernandez, Santana Latino Coalition for a Healthy California Brian Contreras, Second Chance Youth Program Ruben Gonzales, Study of Social Policy/Institute for Community Peace

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Veda Ramsay-Stamps, The Ramsay Group Loren Harris, Thinking Man Consulting Gilda Gonzales, Unity Council Paul Flores, Unity Council Joseph West, Westwell Group Gwendolyn Young, Young Communications Group McCrae Parker, Youth Radio Olis Simmons, Youth Uprising

Ray Intro Workgroup documents will go to Loren Harris to synthesize a strategy and then will

come back to the network. TCE’s plan is about partnership, so what this network will focus on is: what will

happen, what partnerships TCE will need and what partnerships need to exist beyond TCE

Goal of bringing people together is to create synergy and what happens outside of this room will be led by folks in the room

Folks should use this space to think about what they wanna do together Robert Everyone in the room is picked intentionally What we’re focused on here is a policy and systems change component In our experience, to do policy and systems change, there are 5 key components

that we’ve distilled into 3 pieces: 1. Policy advocacy and organizing, coalition management and constituency-

building: it is hard work and art of manage relationships and build collaboration 2. Research, Policy Analysis 3. Communications (Understanding and building will for action)

We need to eliminate the space (daylight) between all of these key components; we all have to have something shared in this to move this along

Resource development: not just TCE, but intellectual resources, relationships, and leadership in general.

Discussant Questions What is your/org’s role in building the infrastructure? Communications Robert Perez

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Helping figure out what we are trying to accomplish, what are our goals, who are the people we need to influence, what are the dominant frames, what are the messages that are needed to reinforce those frames, what are the tactics that are involved to repeat those messages and frames over and over again so that the story begins to sink in the heads of our target audiences. Lastly, what’s the infrastructure that’s needed to implement the strategy? Dori Maynard Broader goal of Maynard Institute is to make sure that the media fairly tells all of our stories. Working with the Oakland Tribune to help people in West Oakland tell their stories. It’s important to influence and expose journalists to nurture perspectives, viewpoints and assumptions that favor telling the authentic stories of people of color. Rinku Sen ARC is a racial justice think tank. General goal is to popularize racial justice ideas. Role of ARC is to focus on the frames (dominant ways of thinking). Analysis of dominant frames (“personal responsibility frame” and “dangerous world frame”), development of new frames and testing those frames in places where they can get the most mileage. Political framing without a racial justice message is focused on pandering to the dominant frames “dangerous world” and “responsibility frame”. Research and Policy Analysis Jorge Ruiz de Velasco The role of researchers is useful. Researchers don’t have us as their audience, but other researchers, their colleagues and institutions that shape the norms of their work. The role of Earl Warren is to bridge the gap between researchers and practitioners. Earl Warren is creating a book. Earl Warren and BMOC are going to take on the task of translating research to the policy values and goals of this group (through policy briefs). Bulk of that work will be done this summer. Role is also to plug researchers into this network so that they are in our rolodex and also so that they have a resources to draw on for shaping their research questions. We need a common language to connect between researchers and policy advocates. We need to figure out what the following groups need in terms of communicating research: 1) policy advocates, 2) communicators, 3) mobilizers. James Bell

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Research shapes opinion. Burns takes the time to reflect on what they learn working in the sites and relate it to policy. Research should not jus beget more researchers. Try to find a blend of a hypothesis that is real for us, and based in reality, and connect that to researchers who are focused on answer the related research questions. Burns role is to shape the questions that researchers ask to get closer to what serves policy advocacy and is thus “ghetto fabulous”. Comment (George Galvis): This has been done before. What are we doing different and why is it going to work this time? Does social action research exist to support what we’re trying to do on the ground? We may want to think of other folks to bring to this table including U.C. Santa Barbara professor, Pinderhughes, and Pedro Noguera. On the question of communications how are we positioning ourself to be rapid responders? Also, we want to create a proactive agenda and this process should yield that. Comment (Olis): We should think about our roles across the three categories and not as pillars. Folks who have project roles in each of those categories should be viewed as a resources to our enactment of our roles across all 3 categories. We should think about our research role (shaping the questions asked), communications role (carriers of messages and providing assistance in frame development), organizing and constituency-building (building relationships and mobilizing). Comment (Cassandra): There are academia models or “engaged institutions” that are connected to the community and can help collaborative shape research questions that are responsive to community needs. Fresno State is one such university among others in the state. Veda also noted that the connections we’re identifying between research and community is too linear since there are practitioners in the field who are closely connected to researchers. Constituency-Building and Advocacy Joe Brooks Form a leadership group across the state to tease out a policy change agenda with network strength and that is connected to community. The challenge for PolicyLink is to align and sequence the PolicyLink leadership network with the BMOC network. The idea is to not start from scratch, but to lift up what is working and connect the various folks across the state in health equity, education, workforce, economic development, juvenile justice and foster care. Steve Barton What do you need to move a policy change agenda at the local level? Who should be at this table in Oakland? Who should be supported? How do you create a model that can be used in other places? Currently vetting what they’ve learned with a small group of

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folks to help define the agenda and how you grow leadership. Move from just talking about the agenda to action. Paul Flores LMB in Oakland is doing a scan to determine what’s going on with Latino Men and boys in Oakland. Qualitative interviews connected with data that are out there. Work on changing perception of young Latinos in Oakland. Services don’t reach young Latino men and they don’t seek services. Lift up the unique and important issues related to young Latinos like immigration, health, and perception of gangs. Need for more diverse leadership within Oakland. Keith Kelley In Fresno, FWCED is convening and mobilizing young men and boys of color. Forming committees, talking about the issues, and how their work can connect with the Building Healthy Communities work. Comment (Cassandra Joubert: CSU Fresno, Children’s Institute is pulling together researchers and data on Latino and South Asian men and boys. Identify what data exists and what needs to be collected. Comment (Richard Keyes): The research hypotheses around this work are typically based on a “treatment approach’ and not a engagement one. Kafi Blumenfield Liberty Hill wants to “win” by building leadership within communities of color. As we think about moving an agenda, we need to identify where we are unified on places to compromise. Comment (Joe Brooks): What does the economic downturn present for us in terms of our strategy? If we’re trying to get funding as a core part of our strategy, there isn’t really money available. Comment (Nane): We should be aware of how to deal with opposition from our own people in moving this agenda. As researchers, as the Endowment, etc. That is unless we figure out how to bring these folks to the table. Comment (Colin): What would be different about this group? 1) You can’t only be a resource, you have to create an institution. When you have resources, people are expected to come get the resource. 2) Whole action is really important versus individual action. Whole doesn’t mean large. Everyone should be involved, but the action taken doesn’t have to involve the whole agenda.

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Comment (Loren): The most compelling constituency to carry this message are Black and Latino Young Men and Boys of color. We need to make sure young men and boys of color are being trained to be leaders on this agenda. Its an important question for this group to define how young men and boys of color are part of the infrastructure and that we’re creating a pipeline for down the road. Comment (Maria Casey): How does this work connect with the broader Building Healthy Communities Initiative? How does your work connect with others and why is it important? Robert Perez Communications helps to facilitate three key components to move us toward a tipping point moment: 1) What’s gonna cut through the data smog of California’s dismal condition; 2) How do we make sure that we talk about the issue and create a story that is emotionally resonant with our target audience; 3) How do we actually push back against the dominant frame? Fenton’s work does not exist in a vacuum. There are people who are going to continue to push negative frames, so there will be a competition between the extant frames and new frames. Identifying frames that ARC is doing fits neatly within what Fenton is doing. Reaching out to ethnic media, Fenton needs the help of Maynard to do that effectively. Together, they are part of an integrated strategy to create that eco-chamber of a new frame. Rinku Sen An example of a progressive frame challenging the dominant personal responsibility frame is a collective responsibility frame. The specific example that comes to mind immediately, is how immigrants have been framed as “illegal”. Question (Ruben Lizardo): What do we do when a frame catches hold. Schwarzeneggar just said we spend more on building prisons than higher education and how are we taking advantage of breaking opportunities. One thing this may expose is the need for a rapid response team or an “echo chamber” of people who propagate a frame across media environments. Jakada brought this up in the same way in reference to the need for “message discipline”. People have to be willing to carry someone else’s frame and not spin the issues a thousand different ways. Message discipline is the only thing that works to win. Dori Maynard

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We need to understand what folks in communications are capable of doing in this room. Journalists are limited in their ability to advocate. You need to cultivate journalists who can carry the message or otherwise you don’t have a message. The “wilding” example of reporting from the 1980s contributed to the creation of laws based on a fiction. Rinku Sen All of us are really used to leading with data, because the numbers work really well with those who are on our side. But we have to shift how we do the work to get away from letting that practice lead our efforts. Comment (Frank Acosta): California Wellness had a rapid response team and training journalists to inculcate a lexicon about describing issues that over time took hold. Don’t we want to develop the infrastructure for that? Comment (James Bell): There is likely to be something that happens during the next year of this initiative that we all want to get involved/respond to. What is the way we are envisioning that we access this communications part of the BMOC network to respond to those issues? How do we get alignment? Comment (Gwendolyn Young): What is missing is called “rapid response” that allows this infrastructure to address breaking opportunities and sustain new frames over time.

Scenario Planning Key Take-aways:

1. What happens when we push the BMOC agenda and its get blocked by our

progressive allies and unions? Recurring Themes: Let’s set an agenda and it doesn’t have to include everything. Scenario #2 Scenario (Richard Keyes Group):

1) What does the reality look like in terms obesity?

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Change in land use towards healthy food Development of mixed use housing Change the policies of schools and workplaces to promote healthier

activities and eating Healthy eating and activity are part of the fabric of the culture Grassroots based mental health support

2) How did we get here for obesity?

Changed public opinion Changing market forces to change food consumption patterns

3) What does the reality look like in terms of Health?

School-based center Health care with a public option

Scenario (Paul)

1) What does this reality look like?

Fully functioning and accountable education system instead of test-based school-to-prison pipeline.

The desire and vision of one-stop health centers in schools Economic development that includes more micro-businesses and more

opportunities for people to be owners of businesses Community development includes economic social responsibility

2) How did we get here?

Limiting liquor store proximity in neighborhoods Intervening in the gubernatorial race, which included responsive

politicians School-board being held accountable to community and youth voice

Comment (Olis): We have to know how to run the political gauntlet, in addition to the 3 components that are essential for making change. How and who will play the inside game? Comment (Gilda): There are people outside this room that are going to have to be part of this conversation and the broader agenda

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Comment (Greg Hodge): The California state government is likely to change substantially as a result of government reform around the state in terms of the legislature, budget and broader constitutional convention, redistricting, etc. Comment (Jorge): Race to the Top Grant and School Improvement grants that relate to “Turnaround Schools” may offer an opportunity for tying turnaround school accountability provisions for this funding to BMOC priorities around obesity, school attendance, violence reduction, etc. [New accountability provisions that are responsive to the BMOC agenda]. Questions that Need to be Answered for Participants to engage in this work believing we will succeed: 1) How are we going to connect the formal and “legitimate” to the informal and

illegitimate? 2) Are we willing to take ownership of our own participation in government’s

dysfunction? 3) If the California Endowment’s money went away, would this group still be sitting

here over time? 4) How do I sustain this (financial, spiritual, energy) and stay authentic? 5) Can we have space to think about what’s been tried before and the lessons to be

learned? 6) How we build a common language, common set of goals that allows us to operate

consistently and effectively? 7) How will we get the skills and tools to help the majority community to see that this is

a benefit for them as well as for us? 8) Do I have the support and leverage in the network to take advantage of time-limited

opportunities, or should I conserve my resources for other things? (trust) Sharing the costs of our collective enterprise? (free-riding, public goods issue)

9) Is this group open to think about the range of issues associated with masculinity including sexual identity?

10) How come TCE didn’t bring in church as the base and if so, when? 11) Can’t we take advantage of the broad-based displeasure with the rule of economic

elites to articulate a vision that incorporates our communities? 12) How long are we going to wait to have community voices engaged? 13) Are we going to connect members of communities to have them talk to each other? 14) Are youth going to be engaged in this work and conversations? 15) Are we going to be able to find the mechanisms and take the time for us to get to

know each other and advance this work forward? Does the foundation have the patience to support this process of making the sausage?

16) What needs to be clarified for this group to go public with its effort and what needs to be verified for it to be covered?

17) What is the verifiable common ground that binds us together and to this work?

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18) What is the process for this group to put on the table the capacity challenges that the constituency that they represent have so we can come to grips with the capacity challenges that have to be addressed to create authentic voice?

19) If we’re going to talk about the plight of young men and boys of color to older white folks, how are we going to do that without talking about segregation and racism and still do it in a way that’s effective?

20) What is the best way to keep people engaged who don’t have this issue on their radar?

21) What is the indicator that marks our progress in this BMOC network so that we have an objective way (or at least metaphorical way) of assessing how far we’ve come against to where we’re trying to get?

Day #2 (1/22)

Health Home Root Causes First Choices:

1) Lack of health insurance for all youth ages 6-25* 2) Lack of insurance that is complete (dental, mental: comprehensive) 3) Health security policy doesn’t include unmarried, childless adults and other

vulnerable populations 4) Lack of knowledge and sense of ownership of current health system (esp. mental

health) 5) Insurance does not ensure utilization/access because of cultural considerations

and stigma 6) Electoral politics prevents health care for everybody

Second Choice:

7) Lack of access to mental and behavioral health care

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8) Quality and scope of existing health coverage is not sufficient 9) Lack of access based on number of providers and number of cultural

competence 10) Lack of access to health care for certain groups (e.g. immigrants) 11) Lack of trust, lack of respect for traditional healing practices and lack of cultural

competence 12) Paperwork and eligibility barriers 13) Need to promote health-seeking behaviors

What are the 3 most powerful directions to go in in terms of changes to policies, practices and systems—that would work to “turn the curve” of the indicator for the result (one that is no/low cost or opportunistically leveraging an opportunity we should piggy-back on). Root Cause: 4 and 5

1) Civic Education (lack of knowledge and utilization) Health service providers assigned to every school (could be costly) Scale up policies that already exist

2) Policy around pre-existing conditions (exclusion) with services, confidentiality practices

3) Community norming and removal of stigma for seeking mental health services Root Cause: 3

1) Universal health insurance 2) Changing medi-cal eligibility 3) Increase school sites as community resources

Root Cause: 13

1) Linking to healthy start 2) Overcoming stigma and increasing male health providers workforce pipeline 3) Running a public education campaign to build ownership, demand and public will

Root Causes: 1, 6, 12

1. Support for single-payer 2. Removal of eligibility barriers that are based on documentation, barriers for the

children of immigrants and other barriers such as pre-existing conditions (looking at both government and private insurance eligibility barriers)

3. Eliminating the barriers to enrollment in public insurance programs (creating a presumption in favor of eligibility rather than the reverse); increase enrollment outreach by community organizations

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Root Cause: 2

1. Focus on K-20 coverage for all students 2. Expansion of funding for school-based clinics; restoring funding for CARE at UC

and community college level 3. Promentoras

Root Cause:

1. Health provision for children not in education system 2. Co-locate health services in different places (unemployment places) 3. Stretch health care service dollars to co-locate preventative health services in

other places (take the lock up dollars and use it on mental health services and a whole range of services, Bloomberg policy in New York)

Root Cause: 9 and 11

1. Make cultural competency part of licensing of providers 2. Create a pipeline for cultural competent providers 3. Legislation to streamline the certification of foreign-educated providers

Root Cause: 4 and 5

1. A Health for America similar to Teach for America (service program focused on health services in communities)

2. Pipeline program to using a fellowship to lead to trainers (cultural competency and training on traditional medicine)

3. A community-run clinic with folks from the community (especially men) to guide what services would be

Root Cause: 10

1. Integrated health benefit card (WIC, S-CHIP, etc.) 2. No questions, no paperwork health clinic (walk-in) 3. Race and gender impact analysis on new health legislation

One Policy Direction that:

1. Will have the greatest impact on the “curve” of the indicator 2. Feasible?

Policy Target Implementation Infrastructure/Collaboration

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Exercise: School-based health centers converted to community health resource centers serving people outside of schools State-Level Legislative Effort with an electoral strategy as plan B

1. Communications, Organizing and Policy Advocacy

Build on success of CHC for “Sane and safe” Target audience Clear and measurable goal Frame to build support Messengers? Creating “echo chamber”

2. Coalition and Alliance Building

Power analysis

3. Policy Research and Analysis Power analysis and build on what already exists—state association run by

Serena Clayton as an example (also identify who opposition will be): what could we win (permissive vs. mandatory?)

How it benefits boys and young men of color Gaps: What’s not on this list that would need to be here for this work?

1) Campaign structure for management: people who have experience in all 3 areas who can figure out how and when to onboard people and coordinate activities

2) How do we work with and coalesce with groups out there working on this? What is the function?

3) Financing and Funding 4) Opposition research and enrolling our automatic opponents early on in the

conversation to see new possibilities 5) Need to know strategic decision-making process 6) What are the other power assets in this network that need to be brought to bear

beyond TCE


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