I am writing to let you know that Manal J. Aboelata is leaving Prevention Institute to take on the role of Managing Director, Inclusive Community Development at The California Endowment, and help guide this aspect of TCE’s “Beyond 2020” strategic plan. This is an exciting opportunity for Manal to advance work that is at the core of achieving health equity in California.
Manal has been at Prevention Institute for more than 20 years; she began her tenure as our first program assistant and is ending it serving as our first deputy executive director. Over this time and through multiple roles, Manal has contributed significantly to our growth and development. One of her first projects was injury prevention training across California. From there, she transitioned to playing a pivotal role in our healthy eating and active living work, the Strategic Alliance for Healthy Food and Activity Environments, which won legislation taking junk food out of California schools, creating baby friendly hospitals, and providing new resources for safe routes to school and physical education.
Manal has played a leadership role in advancing the understanding of the links between place and health. Partnering with others, she launched the Healthy Equitable Active Land Use network in Los Angeles and helped to secure resources for park-poor neighborhoods there. She was not deterred by those who didn’t see or prioritize park equity as a health issue. Instead, she and her team laid the groundwork for and then launched a major national initiative to advance park equity—People, Parks, and Power—with support from the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation and the Doris Duke Foundation.
Manal’s vision for place-based work also resulted in our establishing an office in Los Angeles. Under her leadership, this space has provided a launch pad for our work in Southern California to flourish, and our presence there has strengthened our internal work, allowing us to explore new strategies and further ground innovative practices. Manal intentionally selected our location in historic Leimert Park—a dynamic cultural hub for Los Angeles’ African-American community, and an epicenter for community activism, artistic expression and social exchange.
From leading commissions, to overseeing multiple portfolios of our work, to her leadership on building bridges between health equity and racial justice, to co-leading us through an organizational transition and assuming the role of deputy executive director, to working collaboratively to consistently raise funds to support the organization’s programming and operations, Manal’s impact has been as profound externally as internally. Through facilitation, supervision, coaching and mentoring, Manal has helped to build our collective capacity as individuals, teams, and an organization, and has been a valued colleague to so many of us. Manal has helped build the organization, and as she leaves, she also leaves an indelible mark on Prevention Institute. The organization will continue to grow on the foundation which she has collaborated with so many others to develop.
Manal’s last day with us will be Tuesday, February 7. We will miss her deeply. At the same time, I am filled with gratitude for all Manal has done to build Prevention Institute and advance prevention and health equity, and I am excited for the next leg on her journey. Please join me in wishing Manal all the best as she transitions to this next opportunity.
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