The Hispanic Center Lehigh Valley and the Lehigh Valley Community Foundation partnered to host the 2019 Health Equity Summit: Census 2020 that was attended by over 100 representatives from nonprofit organizations, governmental agencies, and others. The half-day summit, focused on the importance of the census and the link between hard-to-count communities and health equity in the Lehigh Valley. It was held on Tuesday, November 5, at Lehigh University, Iacocca Conference Center.
The morning included information about the impact of a complete and accurate count on the health of the Lehigh Valley community, as well as the nonprofit sector as a whole. The summit featured breakout sessions for nonprofit staff to learn about hands-on strategies to implement in order to ensure a complete and accurate count for the Lehigh Valley.
The program began with a panel discussion featuring Susan Wild, U.S. Representative (PA -7th District); Norman Bristol Colón, executive director, Governor’s Census 2020 Complete Count Commission; Pennsylvania Department of Community & Economic Development; Rajika Reed, Ph.D., Senior Network Director of Epidemiology & Strategy, St. Luke’s University Health Network; and Bernie Story, CEO & President, Lehigh Valley Community Foundation.
Three breakout sessions followed they include the following:
Erin A. Yasenchak, Partnership Specialist, U.S. Census Bureau, Census 101 focused on the basics of the census including the impact, at-risk areas, and more.
The Hard-to-Count Communities & Interventions That Work session was designed for those who are interested in learning specific strategies on how to successfully engage with hard-to-count communities. The panelists included Pas Simpson, Promise Neighborhoods Lehigh Valley; Antoinette Cavaliere, ProJeCt of Easton; and Victoria Montero, Hispanic Center Lehigh Valley.
Kevin Greene, Chief Operating Officer, FACES International, presented Communication Strategies for Census Outreach, which was a discussion about the current communications campaign for community outreach for the 2020 census and how nonprofits can plug into the outreach efforts.
See all the photos on LVCF’s Flickr page at: Health Equity Summit: Census 2020
You can download the slide decks from the presentations below:
Pennsylvania Talking Points | Census 2020 | Click for PDF
