As we head into the summer, we are gearing up and digging into a lot of work ahead. Like most people in our country, our HealthAdvocateX Board has been discussing and grappling with the racial, ethnic, social and economic disparities that impact our family, friends and neighbors. At our strategic retreat, our Board committed to spending time exploring what these issues mean to us and how HealthAdvocateX might take steps to learn, educate, inspire and act.
One specific area that we will be integrating into our HealthAdvocateX practices is including a Land Acknowledgement at the beginning our meetings as a way to help us recognize and celebrate indigenous people of the land in which we live and work. In fact, at our June Board meeting, we all researched the indigenous people of the land where each of us lives and works. It was fascinating to hear how each person found the information and how many of the lands had overlaps of indigenous people.
In addition to our meetings, we will be including the following Land Acknowledgment on our Website:
HealthAdvocateX is headquartered in Seattle, Washington. We acknowledge that we are on the traditional land of the first people of Seattle, the Duwamish People past and present, and honor with gratitude the land itself and the Duwamish Tribe. We invite you to join us in acknowledging and thanking indigenous people for their ongoing stewardship wherever you are located.
Land Acknowledgement Challenge
Will you help us? We invite YOU to research and submit the name of the people, your location and how you would word your own personal land acknowledgement. Our Board will be selecting and reading land acknowledgements from across the country at our Monthly Board Meetings. You can submit it here:
We know that we are at the very beginning of this journey to understand and take action on issues that affect health equity and social justice....we welcome your thoughts, suggestions and your participation as we venture forward.