« December 2018 Issue

From South Carolina to Obama Administration, 20 Years of Advocacy with Community Catalyst

By: Anton Gunn, Board Member, Community Catalyst

In a way, I joined the Community Catalyst family before Community Catalyst even existed.

When I was in my twenties, I worked as a community organizer for South Carolina Fair Share, a multi-issue grassroots advocacy organization that educated constituents and advanced public policy to improve the health and well-being of South Carolinians.

In August of 1996, my boss sent me to Boston – where I met Rob Restuccia, Sue Sherry, Kate Villers and Marcia Hams – all of whom would soon lay the foundation for Community Catalyst. I was a community organizer at the time. A few years later, I became the executive director of SC Fair Share. In 2008, I attended the first-ever Community Catalyst Southern Health Partners convening. The rest is history.

Two years later, President Barack Obama appointed me to work at the Department of Health and Human Services. As the Affordable Care Act began to take shape, I saw first-hand how Community Catalyst played a central role in advocating for consumers during passage and implementation of the law, which has extended affordable, comprehensive coverage to millions of people across the United States. After I took a fellowship to lecture at the Harvard Kennedy School, I was asked to join the Community Catalyst Board of Directors, and I’ve watched the organization grow its consumer advocacy in the following years.

Social justice is engrained in everything I do. I grew up listening to hip-hop and it made me an activist. Music inspired me to create social change, and when I got into organizing, I saw first-hand how debilitating lack of access to health care could be. I grew up in a home where access to health care was never an issue. But I learned that in the United States, having health coverage is a privilege, and not everyone can afford it. I was angry that some families were denied access. I believe that if you’re healthy in your mind, your body, your spirit, you will live out your God-given potential.

I’m a local organizer first, so while federal policy is exciting, I’m more interested in staying connected to states and local communities. That is why Community Catalyst and I have maintained such a strong relationship over two decades. Many people talk state-based work, but not a lot of people do it, especially not well. Community Catalyst’s staff and board bring diversity of thought to all their work. Since its conception in 1998, the team at Community Catalyst has brought people together from all types of work in health and health care. They are innovators through and through, with the foresight to see what’s coming down the pike and seeking and bringing together new partner organizations as they gear up for the fights ahead.

For instance, the health justice movement is changing to more explicitly address health disparities in communities of color. People of color have always been here, but people in positions of power often make policy changes that don’t improve marginalized communities. We have to better understand unique needs in communities of color, and work to elevate leaders who will address health equity. Many organizations are tap-dancing around health equity, but Community Catalyst addresses it head-on. They work with health systems while challenging health systems.

This year, I had the opportunity to join Community Catalyst at their annual Southern Health Partners convening in Atlanta, Georgia. Connecting with advocates face-to-face showed me the strength that Community Catalyst continues to foster by bringing people together, as they have for 20 years.

News from D.C. can be distracting, and there are many who are discouraged, understandably. But for the last 20 years, Community Catalyst has encouraged its partners to be proactive, reminding them of previous fights they have won in the face of adversity. They keep partners grounded amidst the recent hostility. As Community Catalyst continues to lead the health justice movement, I expect us to capture even more victories and continue to move the conversation toward a more equitable delivery of care and wellness for all.