{"id":566,"date":"2021-06-18T18:29:16","date_gmt":"2021-06-18T18:29:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/jaguarviber.com\/?p=566"},"modified":"2022-12-26T15:12:10","modified_gmt":"2022-12-26T15:12:10","slug":"leading-at-the-intersections-of-health-and-freedom","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/jaguarviber.com\/index.php\/2021\/06\/18\/leading-at-the-intersections-of-health-and-freedom\/","title":{"rendered":"Leading at the intersections of health and freedom"},"content":{"rendered":"

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The idea of freedom means different things to different people.\u00a0At Blue Cross<\/span>\u00a0and Blue Shield of North Carolina<\/span>\u00a0NC<\/span>, we\u00a0believe\u00a0that true freedom means the ability to live a life where barriers to health and wellness no longer exist\u00a0\u2013 especially those barriers rooted in discrimination.\u00a0When people are free to show up as themselves and\u00a0have access to all the things they need to thrive, everybody wins.\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

I am particularly thrilled that\u00a0<\/span>this week<\/span>, President Biden signed the Juneteenth bill<\/span>.\u00a0<\/span>However, the original intent of my writing this blog was to\u00a0<\/span>discuss our work,<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>because celebrating the significance of Juneteenth<\/span>\u00a0or Pride<\/span>\u00a0without taking action for equity is ineffective.<\/span><\/p>\n

With everything going on in the world from the\u00a0continued movement for Black Lives,\u00a0standing against Asian\u00a0American and\u00a0Pacific\u00a0Islander\u00a0hate, and staunch reminders of the importance of LGBTQ+ allyship,\u00a0some days it feels like\u00a0there is so much more work to do so that everyone can truly be and feel free.\u00a0In the midst of\u00a0it all, and with very\u00a0real challenges facing\u00a0our\u00a0members, communities and our\u00a0own\u00a0workforce,\u00a0we must maintain hope, stand in our successes and take time to reflect on how far we have come.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

One of the things I\u2019m most proud of in being a part of Blue Cross NC<\/span>\u00a0is our 15 years of strong diversity culture and our deepened commitment to\u00a0<\/span>Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DEI<\/span>)<\/span>.\u00a0We<\/span>\u2014<\/span>along with our rich, diverse communities<\/span>\u2014<\/span>hold the solutions to our biggest challenges.\u00a0While there is certainly more work to do, the beauty of\u00a0reflecting\u00a0and envisioning\u00a0success is that it propels us to do more instead of being complacent or giving up. Shifting our mindset\u00a0to growth and\u00a0opportunity helps us\u00a0get comfortable\u00a0being\u00a0uncomfortable so that we can stretch, grow and\u00a0take meaningful action.\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

During this celebratory month of both Pride and\u00a0<\/span>Freedom<\/span>, we\u2019re\u00a0continuing to\u00a0stand with\u00a0the\u00a0LGBTQ+\u00a0and\u00a0Black\u00a0communities\u00a0and all those most impacted\u00a0by\u00a0the many ways\u00a0people\u00a0are experiencing\u00a0multiple, compounding effects of\u00a0unjust\u00a0treatment and discrimination.\u00a0We don\u2019t have to look too far back to understand this notion of intersectionality.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Intersectionality is a\u00a0concept coined nearly 30 years ago by law professor Kimberle\u2019 Crenshaw.\u00a0This concept\u00a0helps us see how social justice issues like racism, sexism, heterosexism, and transphobia\u00a0are often overlapping at multiple levels. Think of all the ways that being a person of color, a young person, a person\u00a0living\u00a0with\u00a0different abilities, and\u00a0who identifies as\u00a0transgender today can\u00a0lead to\u00a0unjust challenges that are not overcome by solutions focused\u00a0on a single\u00a0aspect\u00a0of life.\u00a0Picture that person in your mind.\u00a0Our solutions\u00a0<\/span>co-created with<\/span>\u00a0them and so many\u00a0must be\u00a0multi-pronged, multi-level and\u00a0broad enough to address\u00a0systemic inequities\u00a0in multiple forms.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

That\u2019s\u00a0because\u00a0our members,\u00a0our workforce\u00a0and the communities we serve\u00a0are\u00a0increasingly\u00a0representative of multiple social\u00a0identities.\u00a0One of the most revered women leaders of our time was Audre Lorde.\u00a0A self-described \u201cBlack, lesbian, mother, warrior, poet,\u201d Audre Lorde dedicated both her life and her creative talent to confronting and addressing injustices of racism, sexism, classism, and\u00a0heterosexism.\u00a0In 1982, she described intersectionality when she said, \u201cThere is no such thing as a single-issue struggle because we do not live single-issue lives.\u201d<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

That\u2019s\u00a0why\u00a0we\u2019re\u00a0working and investing at the intersections of health equity and economic mobilit<\/span>y. We\u2019re\u00a0<\/span>being\u00a0intentional about addressing\u00a0Drivers of Health\u00a0such as\u00a0<\/span>food security<\/span>, housing, and social isolation<\/span>,<\/span>\u00a0in communities most impacted by long-standing forms of bias and discrimination<\/span>s<\/span>. We\u2019re building a coalition of organizations willing to work with us to tackle these issues. And we’re creating <\/span>a Health Care Equity Index to\u00a0establish\u00a0measures\u00a0and to show reduction in disparities over time\u00a0among our members\u00a0and\u00a0North\u00a0Carolinians\u00a0as a whole.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Our Employee Networks partner together to promote a more inclusive workforce by\u00a0identifying, exploring, and supporting common identities. An example of these efforts\u00a0is\u00a0this month during Pride, our LGBTQ+A Network is leading a conversation\u00a0on intersectionality\u00a0about\u00a0ways\u00a0different\u00a0identities within the community can\u00a0work together and\u00a0be supported.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

We\u2019re\u00a0holding ourselves to the highest possible standards and working to ensure our actions make diversity,\u00a0equity\u00a0and inclusion an even higher priority for our employees<\/span>.<\/span>\u00a0W<\/span>e know that in order to best serve North Carolina, our employees must reflect our members and communities. We\u2019re prioritizing increasing employee representation of senior professional roles throughout the company through recruitment, hiring, promotion and retention for people of color, women, people of all abilities, and veterans.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

And to do this work at the intersections, we have to build on our foundation and critical awareness in order to get to meaningful conversation and action. Examples of this include requiring all people leaders to participate in racial equity learning and the development of resources such as our DEI Glossary and Style Guide. The key to freedom and belonging is that we must get to the root causes of the issues we hope to solve to create sustainable, equitable change. <\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

As I recently read the full presentation that Audre Lorde made in 1982, I learned that she went on to say, \u201cWe are not perfect, but we are stronger and wiser than the sum of our errors.\u201d In dealing with these difficult issues, we know that we are not perfect, we\u2019ve already made some mistakes, and we won\u2019t always get it right.<\/span><\/p>\n

But, if we stand together in solidarity and lead through empathy and an intersectional lens that leverages our differences, our common experiences, and our connection to humanity, we will improve the health and well-being of our customers and communities.<\/span><\/p>\n

That\u2019s why Blue Cross NC proudly celebrates <\/a><\/span>Junete<\/span>enth<\/span>\u00a0and\u00a0Pride Month\u00a0and the\u00a0freedom of\u00a0all\u00a0people\u00a0to\u00a0celebrate who they are and have full access to the care they need for their\u00a0best health.\u00a0We won\u2019t stop until health care is better for all!<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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The post Leading at the intersections of health and freedom<\/a> appeared first on Point of Blue<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The idea of freedom means different things to different people.\u00a0At Blue Cross\u00a0and Blue Shield of North Carolina\u00a0NC, we\u00a0believe\u00a0that true freedom means the ability to live a life where barriers to health and wellness no longer exist\u00a0\u2013 especially those barriers rooted in discrimination.\u00a0When people are free to show up as themselves and\u00a0have access to all the things they need to thrive, everybody wins.\u00a0\u00a0 I am particularly thrilled that\u00a0this week, President Biden signed the Juneteenth bill.\u00a0However, the original intent of my writing … Continue reading “Leading at the intersections of health and freedom”<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":568,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[11],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/jaguarviber.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/566"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/jaguarviber.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/jaguarviber.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/jaguarviber.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/jaguarviber.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=566"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/jaguarviber.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/566\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":571,"href":"https:\/\/jaguarviber.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/566\/revisions\/571"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/jaguarviber.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/568"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/jaguarviber.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=566"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/jaguarviber.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=566"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/jaguarviber.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=566"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}