For Dr. Tony Iton, we have to understand the past before we can shape the future. Our history of racism and exclusion laid the foundation for poor health in America. The way out is not simply delivering more and better services – it is building the voice and power of communities. Tony led the California Endowment’s nearly $2 billion and decade-long investment to test this approach.

He shares his journey from Canada to the US to attend medical school and his eye-opening awakening to the stark disparities in Baltimore that led him to coin the phrase “your zip code is more important than your genetic code in determining health.”. 

We discuss:   

• The ABC’s of health equity in California: agency, belonging and fundamental conditions

• The power of narrative to shape policy choices towards either belonging or exclusion

• How California communities applied this framework to dramatically change school climate and reduce suspensions

Tony calls on public health to move away from medicine and towards its community-oriented roots:

“[Public health has] essentially tried to mimic the healthcare delivery system. And it doesn't belong on that stage, it's a very different kind of entity. Where  public health actually proves itself to be authentic, is when it's in direct partnership with community. And it's about bringing the people who are closest to the pain into these decision making processes, so that we get true equity, we get solutions that are grounded in an understanding of how these things play out in people's lives. That's where public health is operating at its best and highest purpose.“