Spotlight Series: Research on Creating and Maintaining a Healthy Society and Healthy Economy

Research on Creating and Maintaining a Healthy Society and Healthy Economy

What do we mean by “healthy”, and what makes us healthy? Many aspects of daily life factor into someone’s ability to maintain a healthy lifestyle or have access to healthy food and a healthy environment. Join us for a discussion on how infrastructure and local entities can work together to support each other for the benefit of society and the economy. The presentation will focus specifically on two examples, one which ensures those who are providing services have the capacity to do their work, and the other focused on a hospital, co-op, and school district created a mutually beneficial collaborative relationship.

Sonia Sarkar, DrPH, MPH, is the Campaign Strategist for Beloved Economies and the Director for Social Homes and Health Equity at the SNF Agora Institute’s P3 Lab at Johns Hopkins University. She also serves as a Social Entrepreneur- in-Residence with Common Future, where she oversees Healing Capital, an initiative focused on supporting BIPOC communities pursuing ownership of the capital and financing necessary for healing and well-being. She has worked as an advisor to The Healthcare Anchor Network, The Health Initiative, Health Leads, Shift Health Accelerator, and several other local and national organizations focused on shifting investments into health. She has previously served as the Baltimore City Health Department’s Chief Policy and Engagement Officer, where she oversaw the design of Baltimore’s Accountable Health Community. She received her DrPH in 2020 and MPH in 2013 from the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health.