The Cardiovascular Health (CVH) Council leaders and Members expressed the need for more trainings around data and health equity. In a coordinated effort, NACDD’s Center for Justice in Public Health (CJPH), Center for Public Health Leadership (CPHL), and CVH Team offered a series of trainings to help NACDD members understand the equitable and ethical use of data and practical skills to start improving equity in their organization’s data. This collaboration is in alignment with NACDD’s Social Justice Framework for Public Health Professionals highlighting Reflexivity and Data Processes as a pillar that can inform public health data practices.

A planning team collaborated with We All Count, a project for equity in science, to offer three trainings to NACDD members with an interest in data equity and its application. Trainings will cover topics and skills such as:

• Compelling cases for why data projects are not objective (and why that’s a good thing!);
• Identifying how choice points faced in public health provide an opportunity to embed equity into work;
• Recognizing the benefits of a cohesive system for identifying and addressing equity issues in data; and
• Applying practical, concrete approaches to data equity.

The first session, Data Equity Primer, was attended by 225 NACDD Members, staff, and several CDC participants on March 26, 2024. This training served as an introduction to what data equity is and other core issues. Subsequent training courses include Foundations of Data Equity, which explores the Data Equity Framework, a seven-step approach to data processes that are congruent with equity priorities and will be offered in late April. The final session, Advancing the Data Equity Framework, will provide participants with an even deeper dive into how to apply tools and techniques. Sessions will be scheduled over a five-week period in May-June 2024. NACDD is excited about what members will learn through these trainings and how they will apply lessons learned to their organization’s data processes.