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Blog Archives

Culture Change Sustains and Thrives In Buffalo

By Joanne Lee on September 22nd, 2016

One of the many privileges of being part of the Active Living By Design (ALBD) team is forming long-standing relationships with community partners, learning from their experiences, and celebrating their […]

Does Your Learning Style Support a Culture of Learning?

By Joanne Lee on July 6th, 2016

A Culture of Learning is one of six Essential Practices in Active Living By Design (ALBD)’s Community Action Model. In order to create meaningful and sustained community change, we believe […]

Embrace Discomfort to Achieve Health Equity

By Joanne Lee on April 27th, 2016

To “embrace difference to achieve health equity,” we must pay attention to the various factors that converge in individual communities and uniquely impact the people that live within them. Doing […]

Embrace Difference to Achieve Health Equity

By Joanne Lee on April 20th, 2016

Health equity is gaining prominence in public conversations about community well-being. While not a new concept in the field, it is invigorating to see health equity as an integral part […]

It’s the Thought that Counts in Sustaining Healthy Communities

By Joanne Lee on December 18th, 2015

  The holiday season is a time of traditions. Across families, cultures and beliefs, customs connect us to one another and the past. They can provide a sense of comfort […]

Partnership is the Heart of Systems Change

By Joanne Lee on October 21st, 2015

The term “systems change” can raise impersonal and institutional connotations, particularly when used within the context of models and theories. Through Active Living By Design (ALBD)’s work and experience in […]

Community Traditions and Childhood Obesity

By Joanne Lee on September 9th, 2015

Visits to my childhood home in Hawai’i offer opportunities to reflect. I grew up as an overweight child, and my parents and I struggled to find practical and sustainable solutions. […]

Pucks and Partnerships: Learning Lessons from an Unexpected Place

By Joanne Lee on July 1st, 2015

When I reflect on what makes healthy community partnerships successful, sports analogies often spring to mind. Common comparisons reference sports like football and baseball, in which the efforts of a […]

Pilot Projects Are a Runway for Policy Launches

By Joanne Lee on April 10th, 2015

The need to improve access to healthy food is not a new issue in North Carolina; the nearly 350 food deserts across 80 counties impact 1.5 million North Carolinians. The […]

Growing Food and Planning Connections

By Joanne Lee on November 12th, 2014

Ten years ago, professional planners and nutritionists rarely sat at the same table, let alone shared a common vision. The recent release of the Growing Food Connections (GFC) Policy Database […]