The Michigan State University Division of Public Health was chosen from a wide pool of entries to receive the Ragan’s CSR & Diversity Awards in the Video or Visual Design category for its passionate work. The awards celebrate the teams, organizations, and agencies whose work positively impacts communities, whether internally, locally, or globally.
The winners' efforts and Honorable Mentions make the world safer, healthier, more equitable, and sustainable.
The communications team was tasked with creating a video to debut at a virtual media event announcing a $25 million grant from the Charles Stewart Mott Foundation during the height of the Omicron COVID-19 surge in January 2022. The video titled “Flint Proud: Partners for Change” highlights MSU’s unique community-participatory public health model while celebrating the valuable community partnerships.
“Flint community members and public health research teams are the boots on the ground, advocating for Flint and partnering world-class research opportunities to make a lasting and sustainable difference in Flint,” said Jill Vondrasek, manager of public health communications, College of Human Medicine. “Together, we can go farther in addressing health disparities and working to ensure better health outcomes.”
E. Yvonne Lewis, Flint community partner, represented the community voice and introduced the video that focused on three key messages:
- Working alongside Flint partners on community-identified and community-participatory public health solutions
- Building trust in the community
- Making a difference with a grassroots response
“The important work being done in Flint and themes around trust-building and partnership echoed throughout this entire project,” said Sarah Enlow, assistant director of advancement communications, College of Human Medicine. “The honorable mention reflects the college’s deep commitment to listening and responding to community needs—and placed the college front and center among brands and institutions demonstrating creative, intersectional work in the diversity, equity, and inclusion space.”
The project team consisted of Jill Vondrasek, Sarah Enlow, Kevin Epling, and Greg Kohuth. Post-event, the video is utilized to share success around the public health model in Flint (>$87 million in external funding). More than 200 individuals plus media attended the virtual event.
July 20, 2022
