Room at the Table: A Leader's Guide to Advancing Health Equity and Inclusion

By Renée Branch Canady

What Was Your First Memory of Race?

This opening question is the heart and soul of “Room at the Table.” The word equity is thrown around in multiple media outlets, corporations, and non-profits. Diversity, Equity, Inclusion… Many shy away from these terms, convinced that they already understand. In truth, these concepts are a mystery to most. It’s more important than ever to grasp the vital, far-reaching aim of the equity lens. What does this work look like? What does it sound like? What actions must equity leaders take to turn the future of leadership into a reality?

With public health injustices on the rise, grounded equity leadership can forge the path to a more healthy, understanding, and effective outlook for all of our futures. In her groundbreaking work, Dr. Renee Branch Canady, CEO of the Michigan Public Health Institute, shares through research and candid stories what it’s like to be on the front lines as an equity public health leader. In a culture centered on optics, Dr. Canady brings to light the true act of doing for the sake of change.

Points of focus include:

• The innovative concept of “Leadering”
• Using our outrage to enact change
• Seeing, saying, and doing differently
• Acting courageously in the face of institutional racism
• Leading with authenticity
• Harboring the conviction to move equity work forward, one step at a time

In Dr. Canady’s words, “Health equity leadership is a new leadership in this space that’s predicated by what’s happening at this moment. It hasn’t happened before. Focusing on others, a willingness to be courageous, and a willingness to do something that hasn’t been done before is a grey space in health equity leadership.”

“Room at the Table” addresses this grey space with unflinching honestly and hope.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Advantage Media Group
• Release date: Sep 26, 2023
• ISBN: 9781642256567

Renée Branch Canady

DR. RENEE BRANCH CANADY is the CEO of MPHI, a Michigan-based non-profit public health institute dedicated to working together to center equity, promote health, and advance well-being for all. Dr. Canady is recognized as a groundbreaking leader and researcher in health inequities and disparities, cultural competence, and social justice. She serves on numerous national boards, review panels, and advisory groups for institutions hoping to better understand, internalize, and activate equity justice and change.

Book preview

CHAPTER ONE

Leadering—Equity in Motion

leader:

noun: the person who leads or commands a group, organization, or country. verb: ???

I’m a lover of words, and the term leadering popped into my mind one day. I was reflecting on the words lead, leader, and leading. I thought to myself, Wait! Most words that end in –er suggest action. A helper is someone who is helping, a teacher is someone who is teaching, and a preacher is someone who is preaching. But something distinct happens with the word leader. We don’t often say that a leader is someone who is leading; rather, leader is a label. A professional gets dubbed a leader, and it’s a noun for who they are, not what they’re doing. Being a leader is a fixed term—not in motion—and then it occurred to me that the term leadering is perhaps the action. It’s continuous. Leadering isn’t stagnant. I’m teaching, I’m helping, I’m preaching, or I’m leadering. The equity leader that I am is continuous, and it must hold the same for you.

There’s much to learn about being an effective leader and plenty of books on the subject. How do you hold space in a room? How do you set a culture, climate, and context in which people can be their best selves? My approach to equity leadership suggests, I’m going to hold space with you, I’ll make room at the table, and I will do this continuously. Not because I have a title. Rather, I have a commitment to advancing change and seeing that together we accomplish something. I never get to check the box: I’m a leader. When I’m no longer leadering, I’m no longer fulfilling my position for equity change.

I’m a singer. Whether I’m singing or not at this moment, I’m still a singer. I’m a follower of Christ; no matter where I am, I’m still a follower. I’m a leader; whether I’m leadering or not at this moment, I’m a leader. It is a presence. A leader’s soul has a lens that captures what’s happening all around them. I always peer through an equity lens because what I’ve seen in this life can’t be unseen. My equity lens comprises the conceptual models and practices that shape my worldview and priorities in centering equity to advance change. No one chooses their talent or calling; it often chooses them. My experience and studies, my understanding of history, my view of this world as a Black woman, and my calling and purpose allow me to bring my full self to equity leadership.

The Patriot—the Servant—the Equity Leader

The servant-leader is servant first. It begins with the natural feeling that one wants to serve, to serve first. Then conscious choice brings one to aspire to lead.

—ROBERT K. GREENLEAF

My job isn’t possible without recognizing the impact of power. How do I leverage and apply more effectively the impact of power in alignment with equity principles? This is very different from I’m the boss. My way or the highway. No, how do I use power in respect to others? I’m inspired by the servant-leadership model. Greenleaf’s work is groundbreaking, but it’s just the beginning. You can be a servant leader without attending to the issues of race and oppression. We are focusing on a different model of leadership—the future