Thrive Through Civic Health: We Will Vote
Why Organize the Health Sector?
The 2024 election will have lasting impacts on the health and wellbeing of our communities. Despite applauded record voter participation, in 2020 a third of U.S. eligible voters did not cast a ballot and more than half of eligible voters did not vote in 2022. In addition, much of the population served by our health systems are among those most likely to face barriers when voting and are underrepresented at the ballot box. Perhaps most surprising and concerning is that healthcare workers themselves, including physicians, nurses, physician assistants, and dentists are 12-23% less likely to vote than the general population.
The health sector has an opportunity to both tell the story of what is necessary for health and build the collective influence and political will for the policies that support healthy communities. To achieve this aim a paradigm shift focused on building influence and power is required. By embracing a community organizing, base-building approach which includes integrated voter engagement the health sector is poised to serve as an influential advocacy network. The first step is to organize during and between elections and requires several intermediary calls-to-action that aim to build power and leaders.
The health sector is the largest workforce and accounts for at least 22 million workers which represents about 14% of all workers in the United States. The We Will Vote initiative serves as a strategic call to action for the health professional workforce to vote and to also promote voter participation with their colleagues, organizations and the communities they serve. The health sector can play a powerful role in building the public understanding of the critical relationship between voting and health.
It remains clear that to build a bench of health sector champions committed to promoting the policies and systems necessary for a healthy multiracial democracy, we must provide opportunities to develop leaders and take action collectively. The Thrive Through Civic Health: We Will Vote initiative serves as a call to action designed to be taken at the individual, organizational, and field levels and allows for a breadth of leadership development opportunities across the health sector. These opportunities provide an onramp to expand and amplify a shared understanding of the interdependence between healthy communities and a healthy democracy. Health leaders can play an important role in promoting a public commitment to an inclusive, representative democracy.
The Thrive Through Civic Health: We Will Vote (WWV) initiative is a coordinated strategic action lead by Civic Health Alliance, Healthy Democracy Healthy People, and Vot-ER, designed to improve population health by strengthening civic and voter participation across the health sector. WWV serves as an invitation to partner with public health, health care, philanthropy, non-profit, and community organizations to strengthen voter participation commitments.
The focus of the WWV Initiative is to implement a health sector strategy to build awareness, commitment, and momentum and increase voter participation of health sector workers. The WWV initiative serves as a foundation for deepening our commitment to the importance of an inclusive democracy for community health and wellbeing.
The goals of the Thrive Through Civic Health: We Will Vote initiative are to:
- Serve as a strategic call to action for the health sector workforce to vote and to also promote voter participation with their colleagues, organizations and the communities they serve.
- Expand the public understanding of the critical relationship between voter participation and health outcomes.
- Introduce community organizing practices shown to build power and collective influence to the health sector.
- Develop healthy democracy champions prepared to build the public and political will for policies that assure an inclusive, representative democracy.
Join Thrive Through Civic Health: We Will Vote
- Become an Organizational Champion of We Will Vote, Sign the Organizational Commitment Today!
- Become an Individual Champion of We Will Vote, Sign the Pledge to Vote Today!
- For more questions about the We Will Vote initiative, email info@hdhp.us
Are you sharing the pledge to vote with others? Track your impact by email gnora@hdhp.us for a unique link.
Resources to Expand our Collective Impact
Communications Toolkit
This toolkit is meant to serve as a comprehensive content guide to support your work amplifying key campaign moments. The toolkit includes monthly content from August through November:
- Template slide for presentations
- Sample social media posts
- Downloadable graphics
- Newsletter templates
- Email signature banners
We Will Vote | Field Guide
There is a wealth of resources to support your work in promoting nonpartisan civic and voter participation. The Thrive Through Civic Health: We Will Vote team put together a comprehensive set of materials and resources to guide you through your voter education initiatives including:
- Foster an organization-wide commitment to voting by scheduling a presentation with our team
- Making Your Organization Voter Friendly
- Remind your organizational members and community to vote
Organizing for Power Toolkit
We are stronger when we join with others to organize towards collective action. This toolkit provides templates and resources to:
- Connect with colleagues about collaborating on nonpartisan voter education and registration efforts
- Support a core team of individuals who are ready to promote civic and voter participation
- Share the initiative in organizational meetings or class lectures
- Develop a team of colleagues to lead a campaign with easy-to-use templates
Storytelling Toolkit
Personal stories are a powerful way to create change and support health sector voter participation. This toolkit is meant to guide you in sharing your story about why democracy matters to you and the health of your community. Included in this guide are:
- Tips on how to share and submit your story
- A few template social media posts and captions you can use to share your story and inspire others to make voting commitments this year.
- A template to kick off your conversation within your organization
Want to track your organization’s impact? Email gnora@hdhp.us for a trackable link for the story submission and pledge to vote.
Current We Will Vote Organizational Champions
The We Will Vote Organizational Champions represent over 120,000 health professionals across the country. Join the movement and commit to promoting nonpartisan voter participation across the health sector by signing the organizational commitment today!
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Advocates for Better Health
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American Public Health Association
- Indiana Public Health Association
- Iowa Public Health Association
- Kansas Public Health Association
- Michigan Public Health Association
- Minnesota Public Health Association
- Nevada Public Health Association
- Pennsylvania Public Health Association
- Southern California Public Health Association
- Utah Public Health Association
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American Medical Women's Association
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Association of Schools and Programs of Public Health
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Big Cities Health Coalition
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Blue Cross Blue Shield Minnesota
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California Primary Care Association
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Center for Health Interprofessional Programs (CHIP), U of MN
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City of Milwaukee Health Department
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Civic Health Alliance
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CUNY Graduate School of Public Health & Health Policy
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Division of Public Health, Central Michigan University
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Doctors for America
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Ecumen
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Engaging Communities to Change Health Outcomes (ECCHO)
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Eta Sigma Gamma
- Eta Chapter
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Frey Evaluation LLC
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Grantmakers In Health
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Healing the Vote
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Health Begins
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HealthPartners
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HealthPartners Institute
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Health Policy Institute of Ohio
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Health Professionals for a Healthy Climate Minnesota
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Healthy Democracy Healthy People
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Hennepin Healthcare System
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Human Impact Partners
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ITest Health
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Michigan Chamber for Reproductive Justice
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Michigan Organization on Adolescent Sexual Health
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Minnesota Academy of Family Physicians
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Minnesota Alliance on Problem Gambling
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Minnesota Doctors for Health Equity
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Minnesota Organization of Leaders in Nursing
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Minnesota State University, Mankato - College of Allied Health and Nursing
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National Disability Rights Network
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National Network of Public Health Institutes
- Hawaiʻi Public Health Institute
- Louisiana Public Health Institute
- Public Health Institute of Oklahoma
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Network for Public Health Law
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Ohio Academy of Family Physicians
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Oklahoma Turning Point
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Open Pixel Studios
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Oregon Health and Science University’s Richmond Community Clinic
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Society for Public Health Education
- Great Lakes SOPHE
- Minnesota Society for Public Health Education
- Utah Chapter of the Society for Public Health Education
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Positive Aging Sourcebook
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Public Health Accreditation Board
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Public Health Awakened-Michigan Chapter
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Santa Cruz Community Health
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Skyview Family Medicine
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Tanya Honderick Consulting, LLC
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Transition Health
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Tricounty Health Department, Missouri
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Trinity Health
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University of Minnesota Health Emergency Response Office
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University of Minnesota Boynton Health
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University of Wisconsin Population Health Institute
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Unruhly Medicine
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Vitalyst Health Foundation
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Vot-ER
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Winona State University – College of Nursing & Health Sciences
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Woods Family Medicine
Led by Civic Health Alliance, Healthy Democracy Healthy People, and Vot-ER