71 OHSU-PSU SCHOOL OF PUBLIC HEALTH Rachael Banks, Public Health Director, Multnomah County Health Department COMMENCEMENT ADDRESS RACHAEL BANKS, MPA, is the Public Health Director for Multnomah County Health Department. As the director of the largest local public health division in the state of Oregon, Rachael oversees strategies to protect, assure and promote the health of over 800,000 people across 6 cities, including Portland. Currently she is leading the unprecedented public health response to COVID-19. She received her Bachelor’s degree in Psychology from Gonzaga University and her Masters of Public Administration from Portland State University. She is a proud mother, dedicated wife and faithful children’s Church teacher. In her professional role, Rachael works with fabulous colleagues to convene brilliant partners to advance policy and systemic strategies to eliminate health inequities and support a community health improvement plan (CHIP) designed specifically to achieve health equity. She leads the Public Health Division’s 300-plus employees in the core areas of environmental health, communicable disease prevention, chronic disease prevention and health promotion. The Public Health Division utilizes research and assessment, health policy, community engagement, culturallyspecific strategies and community-level education as core strategies to promote/ protect the public’s health. During her past 20 years in Public Health, she has led the Multnomah County Health Department’s Healthy Birth Initiative (HBI), Healthy Families and REACH programs. She managed the tobacco policy program while it implemented Oregon’s smokefree workplace law to over 80,000 businesses. She has also led some of the County’s obesity prevention efforts, including the CDC’s ACHIEVE Initiative and components of Communities Putting Prevention to Work, which increased healthy food access for over 60,000 people in faith-based settings, among numerous other outcomes. Rachael leads inclusively with race towards the elimination of health inequities. Under Rachael’s leadership, the County has been awarded nearly 15 million dollars in grant funding specifically allocated to decreasing health inequities in the African American/ Black community. She was the Director of the Equity, Planning and Strategy Division, which partnered with communities to implement culturallyspecific strategies in the Pacific Islander, Native and Indigenous, Latinx and Immigrant and Refugee communities. Additionally, Rachael has worked with Multnomah County’s Board of Health to identify policies that could increase the years and quality of life for every person in the county. In response to COVID-19, Rachael has prioritized Black, Indingenious and People of Color (BIPOC); Multnomah County is working with communities to create and implement culturally-specific strategies, ensuring that all communities have access to what they need to be healthy.
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