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Community Spotlight: GenUnity – A Community-Based Model of Change
December 19, 2023
Alnylam Pharmaceuticals
The term “health equity” is somewhat of a buzzword in our industry, but what does it actually mean? Many think it is simply about providing everyone with equal access to healthcare; however, it is much more complicated than that.
"Health equity" means that everyone has a fair and just opportunity to live the healthiest life possible, regardless of who they are, where they live, or how much money they have. Unfortunately, there are major disparities in healthcare created by systematic and social inequalities, which create what is known as “health inequity.” For example, in the United States, African Americans represent only 13% of the population, yet they account for almost half of all new HIV infections.
Here in Massachusetts, the Boston Public Health Commission released a report this year highlighting a 23-year life expectancy gap between people who live in Back Bay and Roxbury, two neighborhoods of Boston that are only two miles apart. The lower life expectancy is attributed to the Roxbury neighborhood, which has a higher Black and Latinx population, demonstrating the connection between racial and health disparities. You can read a summary of the report in this news article.
Accepting the Challenge of Reducing Health Inequities
With that brief background on health equity, you may be asking yourself, what can be done to reduce inequity? Here at Alnylam, we believe that companies have an important role to play, which is why we have made a significant commitment to improving health equity through a program called Alnylam Challengers.
Through Alnylam Challengers, Alnylam partners with organizations working to achieve global health equity through entrepreneurship, innovation, community leadership, and more. In addition to our signature Alnylam Challengers partners, we are also working with many smaller nonprofits driving the health equity movement, in particular GenUnity, a nonprofit based in Boston that Alnylam has supported since its inception.
Inspiring Community Action
GenUnity recognizes that each community is different, and therefore change must be shaped by those who are proximal to the issues those communities face. GenUnity’s model unlocks community-centered innovation by bringing together a diverse cohort of 50 residents, including those directly affected by health equity issues, and connects them with experts working in health-related institutions, including insurers, hospitals, and life sciences companies, to learn from each other and drive change.
The cohort residents participate in a 10-week program that consists of 2-3 hours of workshops that create space to enable them to learn from each other’s experiences and unpack the systems and structures shaping local outcomes.
GenUnity’s health equity program is divided into six modules:
1. Kickoff: Begin to build cohort relationships and foundational training on active listening, effective inquiry, and social justice.
2. People: Deepen empathy for individual experiences of community members affected by the issue(s).
3. Systems: Map service provision to individual needs and identify gaps.
4. Power: Unpack how policy and funding shape the status quo and discuss proposed reforms.
5. Change: Reflect on individual and collective power and design an action plan.
6. Embark: Join a lifetime member community and follow through on action plans.
Part of GenUnitiy’s philosophy is that no action is too big or too small. For example, one GenUnity member worked at a local bank, and his action plan outlined a commitment to translate first-time homebuyer documents into different languages to make home-buying more accessible. He also advocated expanding first-time homebuyer courses to demystify the process for those in his community.
Alnylam’s annual capacity-building grants to GenUnity provide the opportunity for one employee to be part of a cohort each year. So far, two of our employees have completed the program and expressed their commitment to practicing what they learned to drive change in their communities.
Measuring Success & Increasing Impact
Over the past three years, GenUnity has continued to gain momentum and expand its programming through new partnerships and an ever-expanding network of community change agents. Here are some of the highlights:
- Brought together over 200 community members and 100 partner organizations since 2020.
- Members have introduced new legislation to combat racial bias in the housing market, reformed insurance policies to expand access to culturally competent care and organized to preserve community spaces threatened by displacement.
- GenUnity’s success has resulted in it receiving larger grants, such as a $300,000 investment from Blue Cross Blue Shield of Massachusetts that will support GenUnity’s Lifetime Community to accelerate change.
GenUnity’s impact and growth have been exciting to watch, and we look forward to its continued success as it works to make our communities healthier. To learn more, you can visit GenUnity’s website and follow them on LinkedIn, Instagram and Facebook.
