California Endowment Grant
The Connecting the Dots Initiative
Advancing Diversity in the Health Professions
A Collaboration of the School of Public Health, UC Berkeley and the Public Health Institute
The Connecting the Dots Initiative is a statewide coordinated effort supported by The California Endowment to provide evidence and strategies to increase diversity in the health professions. Our goals include:
- Through partnerships, catalyze changes in policy, systems and institutions to create more opportunities for members of diverse communities to become health professionals, and
- Significantly increase the number of diverse health professionals in California to address the need for a culturally competent workforce
Our initiative goals include research on the needs, efforts, and opportunities to advance diversity through a comprehensive workforce pipeline. Summaries and seven reports of research findings are available on The California Endowment website.
Currently we are addressing our objectives to collaborate and coordinate with California's state offices, regional and statewide coalitions, and agencies to develop a statewide master plan. Our activities include:
- Partnership with the California State University system to institutionalize diversity efforts
- Development of a public-private partnership in coordination with the State administration
- Partnership with California legislators and advocacy groups to catalyze the design and support of a comprehensive, coordinated master plan
To join the effort to connect the dots please contact the initiative directors:
Kevin Barnett Dr.P.H., M.C.P.
Senior Investigator
Public Health Institute
kevinb@pacbell.net
Jeff Oxendine M.P.H., M.B.A.
Associate Dean
School of Public Health
University of California, Berkeley
oxendin@berkeley.edu