We are: people-centered, action-oriented, equity-focused.
A Word from Dr. Vinu Ilakkuvan
I suspect you’ve had experience losing sight of the forest for the trees, but have you ever lost sight of the ground for the sky?
I have.
Both my engineering and public health training embedded in me the idea that problems – and their solutions – operate at a systems level.
And I spent years trying to advance systems-level solutions at a 30,000 foot level. I dove into the research, conducted expert interviews and convenings, and wrote comprehensive public health policy reports.
And yet - I felt completely disconnected from the communities on the ground where this work was taking place. Your experiences weren’t reflected in my reports and my reports weren’t helping you make change in your communities.
It’s not possible to develop effective solutions for community health without communities being in the driver’s seat. And it’s not possible for communities to transform health without a systems lens and a framework for action.
Enter PoP Health.
I created PoP Health to bridge the 30,000 foot gap between where systems-level solutions are developed and where they are put into action - on the ground, in communities like yours.
Since 2017, I have worked directly with community coalitions and multisector groups to help them transform health in their communities through policy and systems change. Together, we listen deeply, plan strategically, act purposefully, and improve continuously.
I bring a unique lens to this work, informed by:
my engineering, communications, and public health training;
my commitment to participatory facilitation, collaborative planning, and actionable strategy; and
my passion for advancing public health, health equity, and racial and social justice.
Over the past 10+ of working in community health, I have:
Crafted community input gathering and meeting facilitation strategies that center and elevate the voices of community members;
Created tools and templates that enable meaningful and collective brainstorming, prioritizing, and strategic planning;
Synthesized vast amounts of information from varied sources to produce actionable insights;
Combined clear and compelling writing with effective visuals that leave readers with a clear sense of what to do next and how to do it.
Our Values
All our work is built on the foundation of our core values - we are:
People-centered: putting communities in the driver’s seat through innovative community ownership and input gathering strategies.
Action-oriented: emphasizing both feasibility and impact in the processes we undertake as well as in the goals and actions we help coalitions develop.
Equity-focused: engaging voices that are not usually heard and maintaining a focus on upstream, root causes of health inequities.
For more on our approach to solving health problems through systems changes, check out Dr. Ilakkuvan's TedX talk:
The PoP Health Team
Dr. Vinu Ilakkuvan
Founder and Principal Consultant
Anne Ekedahl (De Biasi)
Senior Policy Consultant
Kat Lynch
Project Administrator
Amy Schlotthauer
Collaborating Consultant
Collaborating Consultants: We have an incredible team of collaborating consultants we can draw on depending on the needs of a particular project.
Learn with us!
Subscribe to the Community Threads newsletter for tools and strategies your coalition can put into action today.
