RMHF is excited to announce a new, year-long feature series that will run on our website through 2025. Through candid interviews, this series will provide a space to hear from a diverse group of elected officials, nonprofit leaders, partners, and others from all across the Region.
By posing the same five questions to each interviewee, we hope to capture a thought-provoking array of perspectives on the central role health and racial equity play in our community.
Our first interview features Ali Faruk, a newly-elected member of the Richmond City School Board, representing Richmond’s 3rd District. He is also a Senior Policy Analyst at the Department of Medical Assistance Services (DMAS) and a proud RPS parent.
As both a longtime advocate for children and families and a professional serving in the healthcare and public education spaces, Ali has a unique perspective on the challenges and opportunities facing the Richmond region.
Pursuing health and racial equity is central to RMHF’s mission. As such, we will begin each entry in our series by posing the same question to our interviewee: “how do you define health and racial equity, and what does it look like in practice?”
According to Ali:
“Health and racial equity means that someone’s race does not affect their access to health or their health outcomes. In practice, it means we wouldn’t see huge disparities in health outcomes among different racial/ethnic groups.”
In his role as a Senior Policy Analyst at DMAS, Ali regularly reads the latest public health reports, articles, and research on health equity. Ali focuses specifically on Medicaid-specific news as a way to identify ways the Medicaid program can improve equity and increase both provider enrollment and member engagement.
As a school board member, Ali believes that by advocating for equitable policies and resources, we can create an environment that ensures all children have the opportunity to succeed academically, mentally, and physically.
While there are many challenges that can impede progress towards achieving health and racial equity, Ali specifically identified several issues, including the lack of a living wage, a general lack of commitment to achieving true equity, a lack of political will to pursue systemic changes, and a siloed and fractured non-profit system.
Without coordination, Ali states, “There’s constant infighting for shrinking dollars.”
In the realm of public education, Ali cited cycles of poverty and trauma as long-standing challenges that complicate health and racial equity progress.
And yet Ali has also witnessed progress when it comes to health and racial equity.
“From our schools to our healthcare system, education and awareness about what equity actually is has improved,” Ali answered. “We’ve seen leaders publicly commit to specific equity related goals, and we’ve also witnessed some systemic changes in the public health sphere to improve outcomes and reduce disparities. I’m specifically thinking about the Medicaid changes that provide doula benefits and expand the 12-month postpartum coverage.”
If there was one thing that could be changed in Richmond to improve health and racial equity outcomes, Ali’s answer was clear and succinct: a living wage for all.
Ali closed with his assessment of what we must do to accomplish the goal of true health and racial equity:
“Whether we’re discussing public education or public healthcare, the question remains the same: Can we reduce barriers to access? I believe we can, and I believe we’re seeing some of the right steps in that direction. But there are also significant, systemic impediments we continue to see, and it will take ongoing, concerted efforts, leadership, and funding across all sectors to get us where we need to be as a community.”