Hosted on April 9 by the Rutgers Equity Alliance for Community Health (REACH), this University-wide symposium features keynote speaker, Matthew Desmond, the Pulitzer-prize-winning author of Poverty, by America.
The event, Poverty, Equity, and their Influencing Factors, which includes remarks by Rutgers President Jonathan Holloway, will take place in New Brunswick and be live-streamed to in-person, facilitated sessions at Rutgers-Newark and Rutgers-Camden.
Rutgers Center on Law, inequality and Metropolitan Equity (CLIME) at Rutgers-Newark will be a co-sponsor to the event, along with the Edward J. Bloustein School of Planning and Public Policy, the Rutgers-Camden Division of Diversity, Inclusion and Community Engagement and the Rutgers-Health Office of Population Health.
Attendees can look forward to candid conversations around various topics, including:
- Using Research and Policy to Address Housing Instability
- IInnovative Approaches to Health Equity
- What is a Livable Wage?
- Collaborative Solutions: Building Community Partnerships
- The Role of Education in Alleviating Poverty
- Economic Mobility
- Food Insecurity and Adequate Access
- The Role of AI in Sustainable Employment
Rutgers faculty and researchers, community leaders, and others will lead the day's discussions and presentations. The topics will center around the interconnectedness between racial justice, poverty, and health.
This event is part of a university-wide initiative to create long-term changes in the three communities where Rutgers resides: New Brunswick, Newark, and Camden. Participants in Newark and Camden can expect facilitated conversations, networking opportunities, lunch, and an autographed copy of Dr. Desmond's book.
REACH emphasizes community-engaged scholarship focused on five social determinants of health: education, employment, food access, housing, and population health. One of REACH's goals is to help shape policy in New Jersey. "These social determinants are the broader concepts underlying persistent issues," said Halley Hadfield, communications director for REACH. "How do we mobilize the community resources available in Newark, Camden, and New Brunswick and use the resources we have at the university to leverage them?"
REACH brings together researchers from Rutgers and connects them with community experts to promote finding collaborative, sustainable ways of closing gaps in health outcomes," she added.
Registration is free but limited.
