Rules of Engagement

Partnering to Improve the Health of all Minnesotans

As Minnesota's Commissioner of Health, Dr. Brooke Cunningham is responsible for directing the work of the Minnesota Department of Health, the state's lead public health agency, responsible for protecting, maintaining, and improving the health of all Minnesotans. Dr. Cunningham is a general internist, sociologist, and assistant professor in the University of Minnesota’s Department of Family Medicine and Community Health and a primary care provider at the University’s Community-University Health Care Clinic.  Her research focused on developing strategies to reduce racial disparities in health, including addressing the adverse impacts of exposure to racism. Dr. Cunningham and podcast host UROC Executive Director Makeda Zulu will discuss how the state’s health priorities dovetail with UROC’s mission and how partnerships are a way to move forward.

The Link Between Finances and Family Resiliency

Tonia Brinston and Sharon Powell are widely recognized financial educators who help individuals and families gain control over their lives by creating a budget, improving their credit scores, and paying down debt. Their UROC supported “Voices of the Future: Linking Historical Trauma, Ambiguous Loss, and Financial Decision Making Among African American Families” project helps families understand how systemic racism has affected their current financial well-being and equips participants with information and tools so they can make better financial decisions going forward.

Disrupting the Sex Trafficking Network in Minnesota and Beyond

Disrupting sex trafficking networks in Minnesota and beyond Description: Lauren Martin and her work with UROC in researching and disrupting the sex trafficking industry has received national and international attention. Her breakthrough Mapping the Demand: Sex Buyers in the State of Minnesota and her team’s work serve as a national model understanding the market structure behind trafficking.

Liberty Community Church and Northside Healing Space

North Minneapolis’s Liberty Community Church has been a steadfast partner and loyal advocate of UROC’s for more than a decade. Hear how the University of Minnesota through UROC works with the local faith community and its leaders and learn about Liberty’s Northside Healing, a community-driven solution to healing the trauma of North Minneapolis residents.

Getting to the Root Cause of Inequity

UROC Research Agenda awardee and nationally recognized community-engaged scholar Rachel Hardeman is leading a major research project titled Multidimensional Measures of Structural Racism. The project explores the measurement of the impact of structural racism in urban communities and documents the ways that Black communities have been and are currently systemically disenfranchised. In particular, structural racism disadvantages Black birthing people before, during, and after pregnancy, leading to heartbreaking health inequities for them and their babies.