Public Health for Community Power Coalition

The Public Health for Community Power Coalition (PH4CP), formed in 2024, is a national coalition of non-governmental public health organizations that organize, advocate, and build support for social change. Rooted in the belief that public health organizations should more directly “fight for the public’s health,” the coalition uses its collective voice, resources, and expertise to advance political, social, environmental, and economic transformation alongside community power-building organizations (CPBOs) and national community organizing networks. This work reflects public health’s social justice origins, when the field was deeply connected to movements pushing for broad societal change.

The PH4CP Coalition seeks to address the longstanding gap in public health’s engagement with community power-building efforts. Guided by the priorities identified by CPBOs, the coalition engages in advocacy that strengthens the political, social, environmental, and economic drivers of health equity and racial justice. Recent examples include coordinated federal appropriations advocacy, collective sign-on letters supporting community-driven policy priorities, and shared messaging strategies advancing community power narratives.

Primary activities:

• Steering Committee: Helping shape the coalition’s strategic direction, advocacy priorities, and organizational infrastructure, including decision-making, communications, and coalition visibility.

• Membership & Resource Development Committee: Co-leading member and partner recruitment, philanthropic outreach, and additional resource development efforts to sustain and grow the coalition.

• Make Polluters Pay Campaign Team: Providing leadership for the team’s national strategy in alignment with CPBO priorities, including federal advocacy, narrative and mobilizing infrastructure, and long-term public health sector organizing, while coordinating with state Make Polluters Pay campaigns and coalition subcommittees.