by Matías Valenzuela, Director, Office of Equity and Community Partnerships 

As the year comes to a close, we’re reflecting on our work and the collaborations that have strengthened and advanced public health in King County. As the Health Equity and Anti-Racism Community Advisory Group (HEARCAG), we’re proud to share a sample of some of the impacts and accomplishments of 2025.  

The Health Equity and Anti-Racism Community Advisory Group in 2025 

HEARCAG has: 

• held space to organize and share information in the face of challenging federal changes. 

• launched a policy committee focusing on three areas: food access and justice, preserving gender affirming care and women’s rights to health, and budget and community power.  

• met with Public Health leadership and informed the department’s 2026-27 budget, plus provided feedback on major components of the Public Health Strategic Plan, such as workforce and community contracting. 

• advocated and made its voice heard with elected leaders. 

• shaped major initiatives to address social drivers that impact health, like the Community Health Improvement Plan. 

• strengthened membership and collective power. 

“We aim to meaningfully co-create and establish power sharing between community and Public Health that includes a firm commitment for ongoing accountability,” said Yordanos Teferi, Co-Chair of the Community Health Board Coalition. “We are also creating initiatives that meet the needs of communities while staying true to the declaration of racism as a public health crisis.”  

Areas of focus for HEARCAG  

The collective recently participated in a national collaborative called Healing Through Policy to address racism as a public health crisis, supported by the deBeaumont Foundation, the American Public Health Association and the National Collaborative for Health Equity.  

“To effectively identify and address health disparities, we need disaggregation of meaningful race and ethnicity data, and we need to tackle policy challenges so we get the changes we need,” said Bereket Kiros, Chair of the Coalition of Immigrants, Refugees, and Communities of Color (CIRCC). 

HEARCAG has also focused on budgets and funding that center the interests and voices of the Black, Indigenous and People of Color communities, supporting investments in health, human services and community development, while decreasing the harms of more punitive systems, like the legal system.  

Starting this last spring, food justice became another area of focus for HEARCAG.  

“Food is a universal basic need, yet many families in our BIPOC communities continue to face food insecurity. This needs to change,” said Rosi Bolatagici, Pasifika Food NETworks Manager at Pacific Islander Community Association of Washington. “I believe we can make intentional progress when we collaborate, learn from each other’s cultures, and break down the barriers that have historically kept us separated. At HEARCAG, our intention is to uplift and amplify the need for access to food that is culturally relevant and naturally healing for our community.”  

HEARCAG has also grown as a space for support and growth for HEARCAG Steering Committee Members and broader community change for the people they serve.  

“I feel empowered being in a safe space for mentorship, growth and dreaming as a collective,” said Tiara Ranson, Research Associate at the Community Health Research Institute at the Tubman Center for Health and Freedom. “We learn about each other’s work, and we strategize on policies and activities that best support my community.” 

Kalika Curry, the Executive Director of Eastside Pathways, added, “In times of great uncertainty like these, I feel incredibly fortunate to be part of HEARCAG so that I can engage in meaningful fellowship and gain early access to information that is helping us support our communities.”  

“Our HEARCAG members are so valuable, and they make me proud,” said Jennell Hicks, Public Health’s Community Partnerships Manager.  “They push us to work upstream, invest to make our communities healthier, and hold us accountable to the needs of our communities.”  

As we reach the end of the year, the group is taking a breath and preparing for challenges that lie ahead, emboldened by past accomplishments. 

Background 

Started in early 2020, the Health Equity and Anti-Racism Community Advisory Group (HEARCAG) acts on Racism is a Public Health Crisis work both internally in Public Health – Seattle & King County and externally with community and across sectors. The group also holds King County, Public Health, and other institutions accountable to their public commitment to work over the long-term in stronger, better resourced, and true partnerships with community to disrupt and dismantle the oppressive, racist systems they have been complicit in maintaining. 

Member organizations: African Americans Reach & Teach Health, African Community Housing and Development, Casa Latina, Center for MultiCultural Health, Coalition for Immigrants, Refugees and Communities of Color, Community Health Board Coalition, Eastside Pathways, Entre Hermanos, Grupo Asesor Latino, Indian American Community Services, King County Library System, Living Well Kent, Maranatha Church, Muslim Community & Neighborhood Association, Open Doors for Multicultural Families, Aging and Disability Services, Pacific Islander Community Association of WA, Puget Sound Educational Service District, Seattle/King County Coalition on Homelessness, Utopia, Renton Technical College, Seattle Central College, Somali Health Board, Surge Reproductive Justice, Tubman Center for Health & Freedom, Urban League of Metropolitan Seattle, University of Washington Center for Anti-Racism and Community Health (ARCH), and WA State Department of Health 

To learn more, visit: kingcounty.gov/hearcag  

Originally posted on December 29, 2025