2 EDCAL March 5 , 2018
Connection between health and civic engagement
The following article was written for Power of Democracy by Dr . Anthony Iton , senior vice president for Healthy Communities at the California Endowment .
As a medical doctor and executive at California ’ s biggest health foundation , I often get the question , “ What do we need to do to improve California ’ s health ?” My answer surprises many : empower people .
When I was the director and public health officer for Alameda County , I did a study that looked at the average number of years that people lived in different neighborhoods . We created a map of every neighborhood in Oakland that showed a more than 22-year life expectancy difference between those in the lower-income East and West Oakland flatlands and those in the more upscale Oakland hills .
Most surprisingly , this difference was not caused by violence , drugs or even HIV / AIDS . The difference is a lifetime of disadvantage and lowered opportunity that gets under the skin , causes chronic stress and
changes people ’ s biology . When it comes to your health in this country , your zip code is more important than your genetic code . Living in a poor neighborhood in the U . S . changes your biology and makes you more likely to die early .
In designing the Building Healthy Communities billion-dollar initiative to improve the health of low-income Californians , we looked at the science and it told us that three things matter most to a community ’ s health :
• Having a sense of power or control in your life .
• Feeling valued and having a sense of belonging .
• Being in an environment rich in resources , with few risks .
Training young people to have their voices heard , giving them an opportunity to learn about how our government works and how they can organize and advocate for positive change in their schools and communities is an essential building block for their good health .
Consequently , youth leadership is one of the cornerstones of our efforts .
Civic engagement is like a muscle that needs exercise and offering young people opportunities to develop the skills and habits at a young age will improve their health and the health of their neighborhoods .
Through BHC , youth from some of our state ’ s lowest-income communities are learning deep civic engagement as they work to improve the climate in their schools using Restorative Justice . Restorative Justice , also used in some courts , is an alternative to discipline that emphasizes supporting students rather than suspending or expelling them . Through these efforts , suspensions and expulsions dropped by almost half in the last five years in California , while test scores have increased .
Similarly , students are starting anti-bullying programs and other strategies that make young people feel safe and included . Youth in these 14 communities are changing the narrative to one in which lowincome voices are heard and valued as part of the solution .
California Chief Justice Tani G . Cantil- Sakauye may not know it , but her Keeping Kids in School initiative , www . courts . ca . gov / 23902 . htm , and her Civic Learning Initiative , www . courts / ca / gov / 20902 . htm , which recognizes schools for their efforts in civic education , are a public health strategy that is lengthening the lives of people throughout the state .
Watch Iton ’ s TED Talk on his neighborhood life expectancy study at https :// goo . gl / L18ePJ .
Cooke scholars sought
The Jack Kent Cooke Foundation is in search of students to apply to a fiveyear , pre-college scholarship . Cooke Young Scholars will receive academic and college counseling , funding and more . Deadline is March 21 . Contact scholarships @ jkcf . org for more information .
BIAS
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groups of employers , when shown the exact same résumé , with only the gender of the applicant changed , rated the male applicant as more capable and even offered him a higher starting salary . Similarly , according to online business magazine FastCompany , “ A 2005 study by Madeline Heilman and collaborator Michelle Haynes asked test participants to read a description of investment portfolio work ( read : traditionally male ) performed by a male-female team . In the absence of information about individual contributions to the work , participants rated the women as having been less influential and playing a more minor role .”
Women at the top do not face any less prejudice . The plethora of advice articles from reputable sources with titles like “ How to work for a female boss ,” “ How to treat a female boss ,” and “ Why your boss has queen bee syndrome ,” only reinforce the perception that women in charge tend to be domineering , angry , cutthroat and unwilling to help other women .
Are there bad female bosses out there ? Of course . But it becomes a problem when dozens of articles take the “ bad female boss ” stand , overtly implying that gender in particular makes someone awful at their job . Meanwhile , you will be hard-pressed to find even a few articles on why “ men make
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bad bosses .”
Fighting implicit bias What steps can you take to fight implicit bias against women at work ?
• Challenge yourself to think critically in the workplace – are you judging someone fairly ? Reverse the roles . Would you critique or appreciate their traits in the same ways if they were of another gender or non-binary ?
• Advocate for yourself . If you do a great job , make it known . One great tactic is having a female co-worker who can highlight and point out your accomplishments , while you do the same for her . Behavioral scientist Shannon L . Goodson told Reuters , “ Being able to draw attention to your contributions and competencies at work has become an important part of modern career management , and it is something most women are still unwilling or unable to do as consistently as their male counterparts … they ( tend to ) believe that hard work alone is sufficient to put them on salary and status on par with their male counterparts .”
• Advocate beyond yourself . Be willing to educate yourself and be a true ally to this issue . This is especially relevant if you have not read much about workplace bias , which also varies in the way that it affects women of color , disabled women , trans women , female immigrants and others . Intersectionality means that a combination of marginalized characteristics can compound the bias or lack of respect a person encounters .
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• Invite women or gender non-binary people to speak about their own experiences facing implicit bias , and try to expand the speaker demographic past white women . Learning from others and getting the definitions and nuances of feminist issues out into the open for staff can lead to a healthier workplace culture .
• Lay the groundwork for the next generation . Teach students and children that girls are not “ bossy ” if they happen to speak up , and that they can and should be just as capable , competitive and strong as boys . Try not to reinforce traditional gender stereotypes that pressure children into accepting lifelong roles that do not necessarily fit with who they are or who they will become .
• Expose moments of implicit bias . This can be done gently with a thoughtful conversation over a cup of coffee , or simply asking someone to repeat something awkward , sexist or problematic that they just said . Often , this causes someone to pause and consider the validity of their words . In other cases , a man might repeat and rephrase exactly what you just said – pointing out that you just said it . Another common and odd occurrence is men “ proving ” that they understand the terrible implications of sexual harassment or other issues because they define themselves as a “ brother ” or “ father .” This implies that , if a man has no ties to a woman , he would see her as undeserving of equality and human rights .
• Provide and participate in regular personal development training in areas that will educate staff on the importance of confronting bias and bringing more women
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into positions of power . Forbes magazine reported , “ Organizations that lack gender diversity in leadership … suffer their consequences ( publicly ). They are proving to be far less innovative , far less profitable , and far less successful . While those organizations that do have female executives and female board members are outperforming organizations with all-male leadership by over 53 percent .”
Education leaders must strive to be at the forefront of fixing harmful societal issues and modeling positive , equitable values for students , beginning by examining our own potential biases .
ACSA offers an annual Women in School Leadership Forum , training sessions , including “ Opening Doors for Women in Leadership ,” and ongoing # LadiesWhoLead Twitter chats . ACSA also offers an Exemplary Woman in Education Award , honoring a passionate leader who radiates a commitment to growth and development , gives back through public or community service , and advocates for the value of school administrators .
Regional Women ’ s Leadership Network chapters schedule stellar events throughout the year , including the upcoming Region 2-4 WLN Event , April 23 , 5-8 p . m . at the McClellan Conference Center near Sacramento . Deadline to register is April 13 . Contact Patches Kolb at ( 916 ) 286- 5103 or patches . kolb @ gcccharters . org . Visit www . acsa . org and click on Regions and Charters to find events in your area .
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Who : Emily Agpoon
Job : Communications Coordinator
Emily coordinates and manages ACSA ’ s Statewide Awards Program ; the ACSA website and region websites ; and all printing / mailing / production projects , including EdCal and Leadership .
Interesting note :
Emily is the author of a series of suspense novels - 12 books in all - which she has self-published as ebooks on Amazon Kindle .
ACSA . We work for you .