Episode 1: Board President Kristi Pier begins the conversation with Dr, Ruth Thomas-Squance of the Build Healthy Places Network to look at resilience and wellbeing from a societal perspective.

Questions asked:

1. You are here with us today as the Senior Director of Field Building at the Build Healthy Places Network with a rich background research, health equity, and cross-sector collaboration. Tell us a bit about what led you to this point in your career?Probe: What motivated you to start focusing on health and social equity across sectors?2. Your mission at the Building Healthy Places Network is to transform the way organizations work together across the health, community development, and finance sectors to more effectively reduce poverty, advance racial equity, and improve health in neighborhoods across the United States. How is that coming to life through your work with the network?3. What can you tell us about the importance of cross-sector investments in communities and how does that impact equity and resilience?4. Tell us about an outcome you’re most proud of as a result of your work at the Build Healthy Network? 5. What state agencies/sectors have you had the most success working with? What would you say were contributing factors to that success?6. What does building resilience look like to you? How are your programs supporting this?7. What are some of the lessons learned while moving equity work forward with partners? What recommendations for organizations pursuing this work.

Learning Objectives

· Define what makes a resilience-centered program· Identify areas in which organizations and staff can increase resilience in their teams and communities· Apply lessons learned from resilience-focused leaders in public health to current and future programs

The 2022 NACDD Board President’s Challenge Podcast examines how to build resilience at all levels of the socioecological model. In this seven-part series Board President Kristi Pier interviews leaders from across the country who are working in public health at the societal, community, interpersonal, and individual levels to learn promising practices and next steps to building environments supportive of resilience and well-being.