"Imagine a group of people of different heights, ages, and abilities standing behind a tall fence. Equality is giving everyone the same size box to help them see over the fence. Equity is giving each person what they need to see over the fence — a shorter person may need two boxes, whereas a taller person may need no boxes. Our goal is to go beyond this and remove the fence altogether."

— Elena Mendez-Escobar, co-executive director of the Health Equity Accelerator

Did you know? In Boston...

 

Black residents have a 4.1 time higher rate of infant mortality? Black residents are 1.5 times more likely to die from premature cancer? Hispanics are 2.2 times more likely to get infected with covid 19?

 

The Health Equity Accelerator at Boston Medical Center is working to transform healthcare to eliminate gaps in life expectancy and quality of life among different races and ethnicities. We've started working in five clinical areas where we see major disparities.

Pregnancy

Cancer

Infectious Diseases

Chronic Conditions

Behavioral Health

See what we've achieved in just one year

Hear from our co-executive directors on how we are advancing our Equity in Pregnancy program, hiring new equity-focused team members, fueling economic growth in the community, and learning lessons along the way that are driving the next phases of the Accelerator.

Help us reach our goal

Our goal is that by 2035 we will have made a demonstrable impact on racial health equity and built a model that other healthcare institutions can replicate to advance health equity across the U.S.

Help support us by amplifying our message and staying connected to the work we do.

 

Partner with us

Get in touch with our team about how you could partner in our mission to achieve racial health equity.

Contact Now

Spread awareness

Spread the word about the Accelerator and our mission in your networks.

Read more about the Accelerator

Meet our leadership team

Thea James, MD, MPH

Thea James, MD, MPH

Executive Director of the Health Equity Accelerator and Vice President of Mission & Associate Chief Medical Officer

Elena Mendez-Escobar, PhD, MBA

Elena Mendez-Escobar, PhD, MBA

Executive Director of Strategy and the Health Equity Accelerator

Sponsors

Boston Medical Center’s Health Equity Accelerator was made possible through seed funding from two of our longstanding and dedicated corporate supporters: John Hancock and the MassMutual Foundation.

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