State Authorities' Responsibility to Oral Health Equity
It is important for us to remember that achieving health equity includes addressing the unmet oral health needs in this country and state authorities must be integral partners in this movement.
Akil Reynolds
State Advocacy Manager, Dental Access Project
Akil is a State Advocacy Manager in the Dental Access Program. His time is dedicated to the team’s work with the DentaQuest Partnership and Oral Health Progress and Equity Network (OPEN) working with a national network of state advocates to develop strategic advocacy plans to advance oral health as a health care, race and social justice issue along with consumer identified policy solutions. Akil joined Community Catalyst as a health equity intern through the Health Careers Connection (HCC) program in 2019.
Previously, Akil held numerous leadership positions at the University of Florida, including serving as President of the Black Student Union. He created and facilitated social justice workshops and retreats and provided on-campus behavioral health coaching working as a Wellness Educator. Akil also served as a Health Education Consultant for the Alachua County, Florida Department of Health where he informed families of and empowered them to enroll in the Health Department dental clinic along with other services. Akil holds a bachelor's degree in public health from the University of Florida.
Community Catalyst works to ensure consumer interests are represented wherever important decisions about health and the health system are made: in communities, courtrooms, statehouses and on Capitol Hill.