ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

Safe States Alliance’s strategic priorities encompass a central challenge to the organization of leading and elevating the field of injury and violence prevention (IVP) through an anti-racism and health equity lens. To help meet that challenge, Safe States has taken several significant actions, including:

Launching an Anti-Racism and Health Equity Work Group with the purpose of engaging a core leadership team of diverse members and partners in a unified approach toward achieving equitable opportunities and positive health outcomes for all marginalized groups; Conducting an IVP Health Equity Scan to explore how injury and violence prevention professionals advance health equity and racial equity in their programmatic work; Hosting an Injury and Violence Prevention Network (IVPN) Equity Convening to identify opportunities for the IVP field to collectively realize a vision for addressing inequities through partnership and policy activities; Developing an Equity in Injury and Violence Prevention Vision and Call to Action inclusive of recommendations for community engagement, partnership activities, and policy initiatives; and Expanding non-traditional partnerships with equity-focused organizations.

As a thought leader providing guidance to state health departments, Safe States disseminates the most recent data and strategies that promote diversity, equity, and inclusion across the IVP field. This resource is intended to serve as a guide to incorporate a health equity lens into the IVP “Core Components” for state health departments as defined in Building Safer States, 2013 Edition. Building Safer States defines and expands on a set of essential “core components” –foundational elements of a model state-level IVP Program.

This resource document was developed with contributions from the Anti-Racism and Health Equity Work Group, a group comprised of Safe States members with cross-sector backgrounds in IVP programs, policy strategies, epidemiology, research, evaluation, and coalition building. The editorial process for this report was overseen by Richard Hamburg, MPA, Safe States Executive Director and Sharon Gilmartin, MPH, Safe States Deputy Director. Technical writing and research for this resource were provided by Safe States staff: Ina Robinson, MPH, Senior Manager for Programs and Health Equity, Deltavier Robertson, MPH, Manager of Programs and Health Equity, Taylor Mayberry, MPH, Health Equity Fellow, and Christine Anyanwu, Health Equity Practicum Student.