Message from the President: Traveling the Road Ahead

As we look forward to the rest of 2022 and enter our thirtieth year, I want to take a moment to summarize some reflections about the road we’ve traveled at the Alliance, share with you our growth plans, and emphasize the values that will guide us as we advance.

The past several years have been dynamic and action-packed as we have sought to meet the need for unbiased, timely information during an extraordinary time in our nation’s history. But our days have also been full of introspection. We have been reflecting on our role as an evidence-based, ‘honest broker’ in a country that increasingly believes different sources of truth; about the imperative to effectively address health equity in our programming; and about how we can best serve as an inclusive forum for constructive dialogue in a way that informs effective solutions to the many pressing health policy challenges facing our country.

These are big questions, and to chart our path forward in the face of so much complexity, we realized we had to start with an Alliance-specific, clear set of values. These values, which we developed collaboratively and with our Board, are constant touchstones that clearly and accurately distill what is core to the Alliance:

• Collaborative learning, grounded in evidence and informed by experience: We promote a shared understanding of the facts and real-life experiences that affect health and health care in America.
• Constructive and proactive problem solving: We come to every conversation ready to bring out the best ideas for solving problems.
• Inclusive, equitable and respectful dialogue: We include diverse perspectives in consequential conversations and are committed to creating an environment where people can hear each other across differences.
• Discernment and integrity: We are committed to navigating complex issues with good judgment and in good faith.
• Responsiveness and accountability: We serve as a reliable and approachable source of excellent information for the health policy community.

Our next step in examining our role has been to hear from our community: We’ve held many listening sessions and conversations with our policymaker audience, our Board, and our partners. We’ve learned about areas where the Alliance offers unique value and areas we can strengthen.

• First, we have heard through our audience survey and listening sessions that, true to our core purpose, our audience continues to value the Alliance as a trusted resource for high-quality, timely information on current issues, as well as a convener and connector – and that the topics we have covered continue to align with those our audience finds most important.
• Secondly, our conversations reaffirmed that while trusted, solid information has remained a core part of what our audience needs from us, things have changed over 30 years, most dramatically in the last two, and that the Alliance must meet the moment. Today’s environment requires more of us. It’s not enough to be a source of information – we must also do more to create spaces in which people with different experiences and perspectives can better understand one another. We will do this by bringing forward more foundational education, meaningful opportunities for connection, listening-based approaches, and actionable, solution-focused dialogue.

Equipped with clear values and these important learnings, we are now taking on the task of building our team. Many of you have contributed invaluable input, incisive questions, and creative ideas as we have shaped a set of roles that will help us take our work to the next level. I am so excited that we’ll be bringing on new colleagues who will be an essential part of amplifying our mission in the years to come.

The past two years have left no doubt that the field of health policy – and how we choose to handle the multifaceted, interconnected challenges that touch the lives of every American – will be integral to the future of our health as a nation. I am so grateful for our team, Board, the phenomenal speakers and engaged audience members who join us from across the health policy community, and our supporters from across the health care spectrum for being part of our mission. Each of you strengthens my own resolve to push forward, expand our horizons, and deliver a stronger Alliance for years to come.

∼ Sarah Dash, President and CEO, Alliance for Health Policy