Amplified learnings and accomplishments from two community of practice-based initiatives, deepening our support of community power-building.

As we wrapped up the Built Environment Policy Advocacy Fund (BEPAF) initiative, we celebrated the work of six Los Angeles-based grantees who advanced health equity and racial justice by improving public infrastructure through a series of video profiles. These community groups advocated for policies and procedures to increase access to parks and open spaces, safe walking and biking routes, public transit options, healthy food, and resources for children and families living in historically divested communities. After completing the four-year Intersections Initiative, we focused on analyzing and reflecting on the policy advocacy lessons and accomplishments from the seven California-based community partnerships—including a blog post to coincide with Grantmakers in Health’s annual conference and facilitating a panel at the Orange County Grantmakers conference. More findings from the initiative will be released in early 2023, followed by a video series and podcast. Funders: BEPAF was supported by the First 5 Los Angeles & The Rosalinde and Arthur Gilbert Foundation; the Intersections Initiative was supported by the St. Joseph Community Partnership Fund. Photo by Team Friday, depicting Margarita Gonzalez, fellow/member-leader of Community Power Collective, an ACT-LA coalition partner.