H2HC 2025 Fall Summit: Advancing Health Equity through Innovation and Partnerships

The 2025 Fall Summit, Advancing Health Equity through Innovation and Partnerships, convened thought leaders from 17 states and D.C. – a diverse community united around food, nutrition, and health equity. It was a day of powerful conversations on the changing landscape of nutrition and health equity; innovative, cross-sector solutions; policy pathways shaping healthier futures; and real stories illuminating barriers and breakthroughs.

2025 Summit Calls to Action

1. Sustainability

• Invest in sustainable infrastructure.
• Think generationally about impact.
• Create collaborative investments for flexible funding capacity.

2. Partnership

• Reframe expertise and authority.
• Build and strengthen coalitions and partnerships.
• Practice accountability in program design.
• Deliberately address power imbalances.

3. Policy

• Prioritize state-level action while federal policy remains uncertain.
• Leverage state and local innovation.
• Advocate persistently.
• A policy win is just the beginning.

4. Creating change

• Support indigenous-led equity work.
• Embed equity in daily work.
• Center community voice and lived experience.
• Support community-based organizations.
• Treat poverty as a health crisis.

Agenda

Nutrition and Health Equity: Framing the Landscape
Priscilla Wang, MD, Associate Medical Director of Primary Care Health Equity, Mass General Brigham

Shifting the Landscape of Nutrition and Health Equity
Moderator: Priscilla Wang, MD, Mass General Brigham
Natalie Haynes, Executive Director, Vitamix Foundation
Gina Plata-Nino, SNAP Director, Food Research & Action Center
Richard Sheward, Director of System Implementation Strategies, Children’s HealthWatch

Innovative Cross-Sector Solutions
Moderator: Julie Meyer, Founder, Connection151
Melissa Monbouquette, Executive Director, The BUILD Health Challenge
Kim Prendergast, Vice President of Policy and Strategy, Community Care Cooperative (C3)
Daniel Riff, Head of Government and Nonprofit Operations, DoorDash Project DASH

Policy Notes from the Field
Moderator: Nicolene Hengen, Executive Director, H2HC
Emily Bell McCormick, Executive Director, The Policy Project
Abbie Watts, Director of School Food Advocacy, Community Food Advocates

The BMC StreetCred Client Experience
Moderator: Rachel Sagor, MD, Boston Medical Center and Medical Director at StreetCred
Yvenord and Lourdia Beauvoir with children Elohimson and Jehohwehkim

Combating Wealth Inequality for National Well-Being
Moderator: Erika Hanson, Clinical Instructor, Center for Health Law and Policy Innovation (CHLPI), Harvard Law School
Katy Crosby, Chief of Community Engagement and Institutional Accountability, National Community Reinvestment Coalition (NCRC)
Priya Fielding-Singh, Director of Policy and Programs, Global Food Initiative, George Washington University
Angela Odoms-Young, Nancy Schlegel Meinig Associate Professor of Maternal and Child Nutrition, Cornell University

Health Equity in Action
Moderator: Emily Yu, Chief Partnerships and Program Officer, Newman’s Own Foundation
Kelley Lê, Executive Director, Grades of Green
Mackenzie Sehlke, Executive Director, Boulder County Farmers Markets
Neely Snyder, Executive Director, Dream of Wild Health
Ralph Wolfe, Director of Indigenous Stewardship, Central Council of Tlingit and Haida Tribes of Alaska