Dear grantees:

The Wisconsin Partnership Program staff and leadership are reaching out to express our support to our partners and grantees who are working tirelessly to aid their communities, patients and populations, in particular those suffering from the deep impact of racism as well as the significant and disproportionate threats posed by the COVID-19 pandemic.

We stand with you and reaffirm our mission to bring  about lasting improvements in health and well-being and to advance health equity in Wisconsin. To truly improve health and well-being, we recognize that we must advance health equity, which the Partnership defines as "the attainment of the highest level of health for all people through the removal of obstacles to health, such as poverty, discrimination and lack of access to healthcare.”

The events of the past week have underscored how far we are from achieving these goals. We are committed to giving them clarity and  meaning in the following ways:

• Listening to and learning from our grantees whose experiences and perspectives inform our investments
• Implementing strategies to ensure that funding, leadership, staffing, training, engagement and monitoring practices advance health equity
• Joining organizations around the state to declare racism a public health crisis via the Wisconsin Public Health Association's Resolution
• Reaffirming our mission to advance health equity in ways that produce a rapid and attainable response

We will continue to listen and learn and expand this list to demonstrate our understanding that this difficult work requires unwavering commitment. We echo the message from Patrick J. Sims, UW-Madison Deputy Vice Chancellor for Diversity and Inclusion, who said we must "go beyond discussions and committees to a place of finding solutions and commit to meaningful, systemic and substantive change.”

Sincerely,

The Wisconsin Partnership Program