In Greater Boston, the average life expectancy for some sections of the Back Bay neighborhood is age 92. Travel two miles to Nubian Square in Roxbury and residents have the shortest average lifespan in Greater Boston, at just 69 years.
In the 2024 Hubie Jones Lecture in Urban Health: Health Equity & The Importance of Zip Codes, Lee Pelton, president, and CEO of The Boston Foundation - one of the nation's first and most influential community foundations - will discuss why where you live has a greater influence on your health and well-being than your genetics. And how a legacy of racial discrimination and land covenants in the United States has contributed to our present-day health equity crisis. This history matters, and Pelton's lecture will demonstrate why we must understand the past in order to create lasting solutions to address the healthcare needs of our most vulnerable communities.
After the lecture, Prof. Darien Alexander Williams of BUSSW will join Pelton in conversation, and attendees will have the opportunity to ask questions.
A reception with light refreshments will follow.
1.5 free CE credits will be available to social workers licensed in the U.S.
Featured Speaker:
Civic engagement, authenticity and a deep commitment to social justice are the cornerstones of Lee Pelton’s career and leadership. He joined the Boston Foundation in June 2021, after serving as president of Emerson College from 2011-2021 and Willamette University from 1998-2011. Pelton has positioned The Boston Foundation, one of the nation's first and most influential community foundations, as an agent for social change by centering equity in its programs, grantmaking and civic leadership. Under his leadership, the Foundation’s defining ambition is to achieve equity, which first involves acknowledging and then seeking to eliminate the structural and underlying causes of outcome disparities for historically marginalized communities.
The Hubie Jones Lecture in Urban Health is an annual symposium hosted by Boston University School of Social Work that addresses vexing health issues, featuring national and international leaders working at the intersection of health and social justice.
Accessibility
Boston University strives to be accessible, inclusive and diverse in our facilities, programming and academic offerings. Your experience in this event is important to us. If you have a disability (including but not limited to learning or attention, mental health, concussion, vision, mobility, hearing, physical or other health related), require communication access services for the deaf or hard of hearing, or believe that you require a reasonable accommodation for another reason please contact the event organizer at bussw@bu.edu at least one week prior to the event to discuss your needs.
Instructions on accessing this webinar will be sent to you via email from alumni@bu.edu once registration is complete. Please check your junk/spam folder for the confirmation. If content from the webinar is available after the event, it will be sent to you directly from the event host at BU School of Social Work. If you have any questions or cannot find the confirmation email in your inbox, please contact alumni@bu.edu.
The webinar will be conducted both in person and on the online Zoom webinar platform. This webinar is open to all members of the BU community including alumni, students, faculty, staff and the public.