November 11, 2025 • 26 mins
Linda Goler Blount, MPH, is the President and CEO of Community Catalyst, a national organization dedicated to building the power of people to create a health system rooted in race equity and health justice.
A nationally recognized leader in public health, race equity, and systems change, Linda brings more than 25 years of experience across the public, private, and nonprofit sectors. She most recently served as President and CEO of the Black Women’s Health Imperative (BWHI)—the only national organization solely focused on the health and wellness of Black women and girls.
During her tenure at BWHI, Linda led the organization through a period of significant growth and strategic impact. Under her leadership, BWHI advanced bold policy advocacy, launched evidence-based programs, and developed partnerships that elevated Black women’s health on the national stage—including a landmark collaboration with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). That effort advanced BWHI’s mission to build the power of Black women to take control of their health and advocate for policies that support their well-being, while also shaping national standards for equitable, community-informed care.
Prior to BWHI, Linda held senior leadership roles at the CDC, the American Cancer Society, and in the private sector, where she applied community-based research methodologies to address chronic disease prevention and health disparities at scale. She was a lead contributor to IndexUS, the first data set focused on the health of Black women using an asset-based approach—centered on studying healthy Black women rather than only illness or disease, and was named to Forbes’ 50 Over 50: Impact list for her leadership in public health.
Throughout her career, Linda has been a steadfast advocate for solutions that center the lived experiences of those most harmed by health inequities. Her leadership is rooted in the belief that health is a right, and that people—especially those historically excluded from the health system—should be at the center of shaping the policies and practices that impact their lives.
She holds a Master of Public Health in Epidemiology from the University of Michigan and a Bachelor of Science in Computer Engineering and Operations Research from Eastern Michigan University.
A nationally recognized leader in public health, race equity, and systems change, Linda brings more than 25 years of experience across the public, private, and nonprofit sectors. She most recently served as President and CEO of the Black Women’s Health Imperative (BWHI)—the only national organization solely focused on the health and wellness of Black women and girls.
During her tenure at BWHI, Linda led the organization through a period of significant growth and strategic impact. Under her leadership, BWHI advanced bold policy advocacy, launched evidence-based programs, and developed partnerships that elevated Black women’s health on the national stage—including a landmark collaboration with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). That effort advanced BWHI’s mission to build the power of Black women to take control of their health and advocate for policies that support their well-being, while also shaping national standards for equitable, community-informed care.
Prior to BWHI, Linda held senior leadership roles at the CDC, the American Cancer Society, and in the private sector, where she applied community-based research methodologies to address chronic disease prevention and health disparities at scale. She was a lead contributor to IndexUS, the first data set focused on the health of Black women using an asset-based approach—centered on studying healthy Black women rather than only illness or disease, and was named to Forbes’ 50 Over 50: Impact list for her leadership in public health.
Throughout her career, Linda has been a steadfast advocate for solutions that center the lived experiences of those most harmed by health inequities. Her leadership is rooted in the belief that health is a right, and that people—especially those historically excluded from the health system—should be at the center of shaping the policies and practices that impact their lives.
She holds a Master of Public Health in Epidemiology from the University of Michigan and a Bachelor of Science in Computer Engineering and Operations Research from Eastern Michigan University.
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Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:00):
M and T Bank presents CEOs you Should Know, powered
by iHeartMedia.
Speaker 2 (00:05):
Let's meet Linda Golder Blount. She is the newly named
president for Community Catalyst, a national nonprofit organization focused on
building community power transform the US health system. They work
with advocates, community organizations, and policy makers to ensure that everyone,
especially vulnerable populations, has access to a health system rooted
in race equity and health justice. Before we talk more
(00:28):
about Linda's new role and what Community Catalyst does, I
first asked her to talk a little bit about herself,
where she's from and her origin story.
Speaker 3 (00:34):
Well, I am from a small town in Michigan called Jackson,
and you have to be from Michigan to really know Jackson.
It's not Detroit, but it's about eighty miles west of Detroit.
And spent my wonder years there. Actually went down south
to Clark College and Georgia Tech to do undergrad and
then came back to Michigan to do epidemiology at the
(00:59):
University of Michigan. But I'll tell you I really started
out wanting to go to law school, but my father
and I had a fundamental disagreement about women in the law,
so I ended up doing epidemiology instead and sort of
did the traditional public health path. I was at the
(01:20):
Centers for Disease Control and then had the opportunity to
actually leave the country.
Speaker 1 (01:26):
My husband also was at.
Speaker 3 (01:28):
CDC, and we left the country, and that's where I
sort of got the awareness of differences in health. We
were in a developing country, very poor, but the health
of the people in that country actually was better than
the health of people of color in the US. And
so when I came back, I took a slight detour
(01:48):
and went to work for Coca Cola. But then I
got into the nonprofit space with Cancer Society, with the
United Way, and then as president of the Black Woman's
Health Imperative. I think we have such great opportunity to
improve health here and given what.
Speaker 1 (02:06):
We know about what leads to poor health outcomes.
Speaker 3 (02:09):
When I left the Black Lives Health Imperative, and the
folks that Community catitlists said, we understand the role pricing
and discrimination plays and health. We'd like someone to come
help us bring data to that and policy to that.
And Community Catalyst is an amazing organization and as a
long track record of fighting for those who don't have
(02:32):
access to healthcare, so I was thrilled and honored to
be offered this role, and I'm so looking forward to
what's next.
Speaker 2 (02:38):
Well outstanding, and I appreciate you setting the table, and
I do want to give a little context to our
listeners because you've been Your resume is fantastic, and the
nonprofit work that you've done is led up to this
new job is not even two months old as president
of Community Catalyst, as you were going through everything and
deciding to take on this job, and I'm also curious,
(02:59):
you know exactly why you did besides maybe just digging
the values in what they were doing out there is
a important time of our history right now doing all
those different kinds of jobs as all these different nonprofits.
What kind of experience did they give you as you
led and consider this new gig.
Speaker 3 (03:16):
Well, you know, it's interesting that I mentioned that I
took a slight detour from public health and went to
Coca Cola. But in the end, I think the Coke
job was the best possible thing I could have done
for my public health career because at Coke.
Speaker 1 (03:31):
You know, we sell things.
Speaker 3 (03:32):
Yeah, what we do in public health I think is
we don't realize that we have a product to sell,
and we do a.
Speaker 1 (03:40):
Terrible job of selling it.
Speaker 3 (03:41):
W If you talk to somebody like me, I'm an epidemiologist,
we you know, in about five minutes can put you
to sleep because we have to tell you everything about
the issues when what people really want to know is
what do I do? Whether where it's at the Cancer Society,
I have cancer? What do I do? Black women's health impare?
Here are the these incredible political and social and economic barriers
(04:03):
or health?
Speaker 1 (04:04):
What do I do? Well?
Speaker 3 (04:06):
You know, when I was talking to the to the
board and the team at Community Catalysts, they said, look,
we've got private equity that has moved in and priced
people out of the healthcare market. We know the role
that racism plays in health outcomes.
Speaker 1 (04:22):
We have to do something.
Speaker 3 (04:23):
And that's what attracted me to this role because here
was an organization that was focused on actually doing something,
bringing solutions to like talking to people who are in
positions of power to help them understand that if we
are all healthy, you know, then that means the least
of us or those who those of us who have
been ignored for centuries right need to be healthy as well.
(04:46):
In Community Catalysts and its team that the people I
have the privilege of working with have the courage to
stand in that space and do what needs to be done.
Speaker 2 (04:55):
Well that's well said, then you know, you and I
don't have to argue about this one whatsoever. You're coming
in at a very historic time when healthcare seems to
be the news headline all the time right now. So
we'll talk about that, But what I want to do
first is to educate our listeners who haven't heard about
Community Catalyst about mission and vision, which I want to
talk about in just a moment, but also exactly what
(05:16):
you do. And then we'll get into the weeds on
a few things. But if you were to give us
the mission and the vision for Community Catalyst, what is that?
Speaker 3 (05:26):
So you know, I think in a nutshell, we're a
national nonprofit, so we serve people all over and we
have one simple goal to create a health system that
ensures quality care is accessible, affordable and accountable for everyone.
And we are Racism and other forms of discrimination don't
(05:48):
determine our health outcomes, so our work.
Speaker 1 (05:50):
Matters, I think more now than ever.
Speaker 3 (05:54):
We're going to talk about some of these attacks on
our care, but there are people in this country no
matter how hard working they are, simply don't have access
to quality care, and so at Community Canabis, we're trying
to make sure that there's no barrier to people having
what they should have. And frankly, we believe that healthcare
(06:15):
is a right and we should all be able to
enjoy good quality care and know that when we say
evidence based medicine, that evidence applies to people like us
because we were all included in its creation. Right.
Speaker 2 (06:27):
Well, Linda, you're starting to elude this, but if I
could ask you, if you were to give a thirty
thousand foot view of community catalysts and tell people about
what you do, what would you say that you'd actually do.
Speaker 1 (06:38):
So what I would say is we partner with communities.
Speaker 3 (06:41):
We actually invest in communities over the life of the
community helps. We've put tens of millions of dollars in
community based organizations because these are people who know what
the issues are of healthcare in their community. So we
put both human and financial resources in communities.
Speaker 1 (06:59):
We build capacity city, we work with them.
Speaker 3 (07:02):
On programs, on policy to help them bring solutions to
people that are relevant to people in their community. So
we don't come in and say, well, we know what
to do. We work with community partners, so you know,
for example, you know, vaccines were obviously have been in
the news, but are very important. We saw how important
they were well. We worked with communities to take vaccine
(07:25):
education into barbershops, into beauty shops, parking lots in the
Mississippi Delta to make sure that people had access to vaccines,
knew about them, knew how important they were, and weren't
in any way faced with a barrier to protecting themselves
and their families. So we actually work with communities and
we take our lead from community partners so that.
Speaker 1 (07:47):
The people that they serve can get the best possible care.
Speaker 3 (07:51):
We obviously also look at policy issues, and so we're
in Washington, d C. Fighting constantly for the rights of
healthier to make sure that healthcare is affordable, that the
Affordable Care Act stays.
Speaker 1 (08:04):
In place, so that people can continue to have healthcare.
Speaker 3 (08:08):
Know, we cut the uninsured rate drastically years ago when
the Affordable Care Act was an ended.
Speaker 1 (08:15):
We have to protect that, and we're defending Medicaid. You know, Dennis,
I don't know if you.
Speaker 3 (08:19):
Know this, but nearly half of all babies a book
that are born in the US are covered under Medicaid.
If Medicaid goes away, imagine what will happen to those
babies and to those moms. So we're are also every
day at the federal and state level fighting to protect
Medicaid for patients.
Speaker 2 (08:38):
Well, Linda, I'm glad you brought that up, because you've
got at least two fights on your hands. You've got
the one you just talked about, but you also got
the one as far as educating the public. And in
the thirty years that I've been in the media, and
I'm on the sports side, and I do a little
bit news, but sports has been my background, I've never
seen where we are not only in the kind of
debate world that we are in the two different sides,
(08:59):
but what is the real facts? And what are the
second set of facts? And as you taking this new
gig go on, and I know you knew this going
into it, that knowledge is power, And as you try
and get your message out there and as you try
to advocate, you're also fighting that Well, we got a
set of news here that people are saying is correct,
and then the set of news that you know is correct.
(09:20):
And I imagine if you'd like to expound on a
little bit on what that's like to take that on
because its own set of issues, isn't it?
Speaker 3 (09:27):
It really is, And we're constantly fighting disinformation and misinformation,
and there are those who just don't know until we're
always sort of trying to clarify what is really true
and factual around health. And then there are those who
are deliberately trying to change the narrative.
Speaker 1 (09:46):
And so what we spend a.
Speaker 3 (09:47):
Lot of time doing is bringing data and science to
the narrative, uplifting the stories of people in community who.
Speaker 1 (09:54):
Can say, yes, this did actually work for me. I
did face this issue, and because.
Speaker 3 (10:00):
Of the work of community catalysts, I was able to
get care. But we need people to understand what they're
entitled to, So we spend a lot of time helping
them understand what you're entitled to when it comes to
your health care, your insurance, what happens with your employer,
and to interpret what they may be exposed to in media,
(10:20):
social media, mainstream media so that they can make the
best choices for themselves and their family.
Speaker 1 (10:27):
It takes a lot of time and energy to be
because this work never ends.
Speaker 3 (10:31):
There's always some other new bit of misths or disinformation
that we've got to combat against, but we're not going
to stop. We have to make sure people have information
that they need to be as healthy as possible, and
that it is as factual as possible, and that they
can ignore or disregard all of the other attempts to
(10:52):
lead them around along a path that won't result in
their making the best choices for their health care.
Speaker 2 (10:59):
I'd like to circle back to advocation, and I know
that's just a really high priority. Not only Capitol Hill,
but you've got fifty states to work with. Everybody's a
little different. You've got federal and then you've got state laws.
So I imagine there are a lot of moving and
fluid parts for you and your team all the time
of just keeping up with the laws and what's happening.
But as you advocate for what's going on right now,
what's I know you're new into the jobs, so I
(11:21):
get that, and we'll give you a break because I
know you're on a learning curve right now. The new
gig is President of Community Catalysts. But when it comes
to advocating, what does that look like for you? What
are you and your team doing right now?
Speaker 3 (11:32):
Well, first we start with the facts, So what is
in our healthcare system? But I'll tell you one of
the most powerful tools and our advocacy is uplifting the
stories of our community partners. When you're a policymaker at
the state level or at the federal level, and you here,
I'm thinking about a community member of Florida who was hospitalized.
(11:59):
If she's doing level best to be as healthy as possible,
she was hospitalized and then hit with a nearly six
hundred thousand dollars bill. Nobody explained to her that this
is what this is what her care costs, that she
was going to be faced with this bill, what was
she going to do? So we were able to take
stories like hers and others to the state level and
(12:20):
the federal level to say to policymakers, this isn't fair.
Knew nobody could expect a nearly half a million dollar bill.
Nobody could expect that when they showed up at the
emergency department someone they would say, oh, no, we can't
treat you. And then when they go to urgent care
they say, well, we don't take your insurance. So what
we try to make sure people have is the data
(12:43):
that they need so that their policy makers understand the
impact that this is having at the community level. Oftentimes,
when we talk about healthcare costee use really big numbers
like healthcare industry costs two trillion dollars. I don't think
anybody knows what to do with that number. But when
you point to someone who says, I have a medical
bill that's five hundred thousand dollars and I make thirty
(13:06):
five thousand dollars a year, what am I supposed to do?
We're able to get policymakers and leaders and for those,
frankly whose hands are on the levers of power, to
think about the people differently, and that's what this is
all about, you.
Speaker 2 (13:19):
Know, Linda. That also brings up a point I'd like
to talk about just briefly with you, because you're talking
about the micro there, and sometimes you need the micro
story to serve the macro that you're working with on
a federal level and the big picture. But to hear
those individual stories from people and families and the people
from Middle America that are having a tough time it's
paying their bills, I think it's paramount. Could you expand
(13:41):
on that a little bit for us?
Speaker 1 (13:43):
Yeah? You know, I think then that that's everything.
Speaker 3 (13:46):
You know that most of us walking around the street
really aren't thinking about policy.
Speaker 1 (13:50):
We're thinking about our jobs.
Speaker 3 (13:53):
Our families, our homes, how do we stay in them?
You know, what's next feeding our families, you know. And
I think about some of the work that we do,
particularly around medical debt. You know, it is the leading
cause of bankruptcy in this country, and most people don't
know that, but you know, we have so many stories.
(14:13):
I'm thinking of one where a homeowner was faced with
either losing his home or paying medical debt his medical bill. Well,
community catalysts for years work to make sure that a
medical debt didn't show up on your credit score, because
that could then prevent you from buying a home, or
getting a car, or frankly, getting your electricity turned on
(14:34):
in your apartment. And so that's why we bring to
your point these issues down to the individual level, because
this affects how people live. I mean, you know, health
is everything, as we like to say, and if you
can't have access to health, and if you can't afford health,
we're looking at private equity firms buying physician practices and
(14:57):
hospital systems, and then of course they close the hospital
and so we lose access. We have to make sure
that people in community, and that's where our partners come in,
understand the implications of these kinds of decisions, these financial
decisions and policy decisions, so that we can fight against
them and keep people like Terry Belk in his home
(15:18):
and allow people to be able to do things like
get their gas and electricity turned down.
Speaker 2 (15:22):
Well, that is a great segue about being funded. I
know your nonprofit, but as you take a look, and
we'll talk about donations at the end, and also how
to do that and the website for everybody out there,
a lot of our listeners are probably already googled and
checked it out. Well, we'll give that to you in
just a moment. But when it comes to funding, donations,
working with different third parties, how does it all work
for you?
Speaker 3 (15:44):
Well, for community catalysts, because we're a national organization, we're
actually sort of on both sides of this.
Speaker 1 (15:51):
We fund where we put.
Speaker 3 (15:53):
Money, financial and human resources in the communities, but we
also help philanthropy understand what is actually going on so
that we inform philanthropic strategy. So what people sort of
refer to as charity, we actually call investment. If people
support us, whether it's an individual or a foundation. They're
(16:16):
investing in communities so that they understand what they need
to do to be as healthy as possible, and our
partners can advocate for the members in their community. So
what they're actually doing is investing in improving health for
those who have been left out.
Speaker 1 (16:32):
We do both.
Speaker 3 (16:34):
We invest, we allocate resources, We evaluate the issues so
that we help.
Speaker 1 (16:39):
Big philanthropy understands from.
Speaker 3 (16:41):
A strategic perspective where resources need to go, and we
also understand the healthcare funding landscape so that anyone who's
interested in wanting to improve healthcare access can get factual
information from us. So whether we're developing grassroots leadership or
narrative change or innovations and care, it doesn't matter. It's
(17:04):
those partnerships at the community level and at the higher
fundamental level, in alignment with our values and our mission
to make sure that people have access to affordable, quality care,
that matters.
Speaker 1 (17:16):
So we like to say it's not charity, it's impact.
Speaker 2 (17:19):
I like that. I like that a lot. Linda, how
many on staff there?
Speaker 3 (17:24):
I think we are around eighty people now, okay, so
we're pretty good size.
Speaker 2 (17:28):
Well, what I want to ask you about because you
mentioned leadership, and in this series, there's a lot of
future entrepreneurs and people that are going to be running
for profit and nonprofits out there, and leadership is always
something I love to talk about with people like you,
especially the extensive resume that you've had in your arena
with nonprofits and eighty people. But it's much larger than that,
because you've talked about, you know, the federal landscape and
(17:50):
the state landscape and all that you do. So there's
a lot of moving parts and I'm curious, especially with
the way we are in history right now, Linda, the
world's on fire. I think we can all agree that,
I know there's a lot of happy people, but there's
also a lot of unhappy people and a lot of
unrest going on right now. And for what you do,
and I know it's very historic what's going on right
now as you lead your team of eighty and more.
(18:14):
You know, I'll give you the analogy because I'm a
sports guy. A coach is there to make sure that
nobody loses their head in the fourth quarter, that you
stay focused and you finish the game plan off to
the best of your ability. Well that said, you know,
you're the same. You're the coach with your eighty staff
and more. And there's a lot of people probably worried
out there, maybe panicking having a really rough day. I
(18:37):
wanted to know what leadership means to you in your
new role and how you deal with all that's going
on on a daily basis.
Speaker 3 (18:44):
You know that is such a good question, Jennis, and
I love your sports analogy. You know my approach is,
you know, yes, at the end of the day, I'm
making the decisions, but the leadership team leads together. I mean,
just a coach, the coach, she has her assistance coaches.
Speaker 1 (19:04):
You know, she's got a whole team around her.
Speaker 3 (19:07):
That helps make get that team to where it needs
to be and successful. But what she does first is
she articulates where she wants that team to go. She's
she's clear on the mission, she's clear on the vision,
and you know what she does is she trusts her
team to deliver against that mission and vision. So she's steering,
but everybody's working, and she makes sure that everybody understands
(19:30):
just how valuable their contribution is. You know, from sports,
you know, if you're let me just pick the knicks
right now, Thibadeau's on his way out, but it wasn't
only him. He's leaving for another reason. But pick a coach.
It's not just one person, it is the team. And
so at community canalysts, we've got a vision, we've got
(19:50):
a mission, we've got strategies to get to what success
looks like, and success is being defined. We have to
be clear on what success looks like so that we
understand it, but we also translate it to our community
partners and then hear from them, well, here's what success
looks like in our community. So we can then bring
our considerable talent, time and treasure to work with our
(20:14):
partners to make sure that they're successful. Because if they're successful,
we're successful.
Speaker 2 (20:19):
That's really well said. And if you could talk about
one more thing, because once again, and this doesn't apply
just to sports, even though that's my background, is culture,
and I think what you were alluding to is culture,
you know, being honest and forthright, not mincing words, but
being appropriately candid and all the things that go with
out of leadership. And you also talked about team, which
is a reoccurring theme in our series of CEOs, presidents
(20:41):
and founders and companies they would be nothing without their team.
But can you talk about culture, especially for where you're
at right.
Speaker 3 (20:47):
Now, Sure, Dennis, I think any CEO knows culture starts
from the top. If you start by trusting your team,
by valuing their team, showing them how you value them,
showing them that you not only want their opinions, trust
that they have the expertise, but act on it so
that they have a clear example of yes, my leader
(21:10):
trusts me. That's how you build a culture, because then
they do that with their teams, and their teams do
that with their teams. I don't think an organization can
success successfully meet any mission or vision without trust, without
valuing the people that they work with.
Speaker 1 (21:28):
Doesn't mean that you all have to be best friends,
as you.
Speaker 3 (21:31):
Know, but you do have to communicate that I believe
that you've got the skill set to do this work.
We've articulated where we want to go, and I'm trusting
all of us to work together in service of this
mission and vision. And whether it's a sports team, whether
it's a for profit or nonprofit, that has to be
the guiding Like we are a team and we trust
(21:53):
each other to have.
Speaker 1 (21:56):
Our mission and vision first. Are people first?
Speaker 3 (22:00):
And that we're committed and showing each other how we
are committed not only to the organization, but to making
sure that each of us can perform to the best
of our abilities.
Speaker 2 (22:09):
That's well said in one final thing that I'll put
on top of this on a word you have and use,
but I'll use for us. And I've heard it into
my industry about myself, and I'm seeing it as I
meet and talk to you. It's passion for what you
do because people feed off of that. I always use
that example, Linda that when you go to a party,
who do you want to hang out with? The person
that has their head down in the corner that's not
(22:30):
talking to anybody, or the person's in the middle of
the room telling a joke and everybody's laughing and surrounding them. Right,
It's all about passion.
Speaker 1 (22:37):
It is all about passion.
Speaker 3 (22:39):
And I have to tell you, I am as CEOs Go.
I am so fortunate that I'm surrounded by people who
are passionate about these issues, passionate about making sure people
can be as healthy as possible. The beauty of community,
cannablyst is everyone there could do something else if it
works someplace else. They have chosen Community Catalysts because of
(23:02):
that passion, because they believe that we all can be
healthy and that health is a right and that they
have a role in making that a reality.
Speaker 2 (23:11):
All right, well, listen, let's do this. I want to
do a recap of what we chatted about, get some
final thoughts from you, and also give the website. It's
a gorgeous website, folks, it's easy to navigate. There's a
lot of information on there. Well, let's do this, Linda,
just what we talked about, some final thoughts from you,
and recap. The floor is yours.
Speaker 3 (23:29):
Okay, Well, thank you so, Denzil, As you said this,
we are in some difficult times. Healthcare is under attack
from a number of different fronts. But the thing that
we know is that our own poling, our own information
shows that the vast majority of people in this country,
over seventy percent, feel that it should be a right,
(23:52):
and they feel that it's too expensive. And so what
we need to do is figure out how to get
healthcare two people who need it, who are being left out,
in a way that is quality and affordable. And that's
what Community Catalyst is about, and to remove those barriers
that would determine our health outcomes in adverse ways, like racism,
(24:13):
like gender discrimination, like economic inequality. So what people need
to know is there's a national organization that's fighting every
single day at the community level, building power at community
at the community level, and at the federal level, helping
to set policy. So if they're interested, and if they
(24:33):
feel like healthcare is right, and if they ever look
at their own families and thought, how we're really having
a hard time taking care of this healthcare issue and
paying all of these other bills, and we're hard working,
we're doing the things that we should do, and yet
it's still a challenge, then go to Community Catalyst dot org,
find out about our work, donate to us, make that
(24:55):
investment in healthcare in this country. It is in the
healthcare of all of us. And pay attention to what
is being said in the media.
Speaker 1 (25:07):
What is fact, what is fiction?
Speaker 3 (25:09):
And you know, I would just invite people to join
us at the community level or the federal level.
Speaker 1 (25:15):
This is going to take a while.
Speaker 3 (25:16):
This will not be a short fight, Dennis, as you know,
but we're in it for the long haul, and we're
in it to make sure that people have access to
the care that they need and understand what they really
are entitled to.
Speaker 2 (25:29):
All right, well, Linda, thank you so much for your
valuable time. I can see why Community Catalysts chose you
and why you've chosen them. I know you're new into
the role, but your bounty of work speaks for itself,
and I know that good things are going to happen
with a very hard fight ahead of you. Give my
best to the team. Thank you so much. Continued success,
and we really appreciate featuring you on CEOs. You should know.
Speaker 1 (25:49):
Thank you so much, Dennis, it's been my pleasure.
Speaker 2 (25:51):
Our community partner, M and T Bank supports CEOs, you
should know. Is part of their ongoing commitment to building
strong communities, and that starts my backing the businesses within them.
As a bank for communities, M and T believes in
dedicating time, talent and resources to help local businesses thrive,
because when businesses succeed, our communities succeed.
M and T Bank presents CEOs you Should Know, powered
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Speaker 2 (00:05):
Let's meet Linda Golder Blount. She is the newly named
president for Community Catalyst, a national nonprofit organization focused on
building community power transform the US health system. They work
with advocates, community organizations, and policy makers to ensure that everyone,
especially vulnerable populations, has access to a health system rooted
in race equity and health justice. Before we talk more
(00:28):
about Linda's new role and what Community Catalyst does, I
first asked her to talk a little bit about herself,
where she's from and her origin story.
Speaker 3 (00:34):
Well, I am from a small town in Michigan called Jackson,
and you have to be from Michigan to really know Jackson.
It's not Detroit, but it's about eighty miles west of Detroit.
And spent my wonder years there. Actually went down south
to Clark College and Georgia Tech to do undergrad and
then came back to Michigan to do epidemiology at the
(00:59):
University of Michigan. But I'll tell you I really started
out wanting to go to law school, but my father
and I had a fundamental disagreement about women in the law,
so I ended up doing epidemiology instead and sort of
did the traditional public health path. I was at the
(01:20):
Centers for Disease Control and then had the opportunity to
actually leave the country.
Speaker 1 (01:26):
My husband also was at.
Speaker 3 (01:28):
CDC, and we left the country, and that's where I
sort of got the awareness of differences in health. We
were in a developing country, very poor, but the health
of the people in that country actually was better than
the health of people of color in the US. And
so when I came back, I took a slight detour
(01:48):
and went to work for Coca Cola. But then I
got into the nonprofit space with Cancer Society, with the
United Way, and then as president of the Black Woman's
Health Imperative. I think we have such great opportunity to
improve health here and given what.
Speaker 1 (02:06):
We know about what leads to poor health outcomes.
Speaker 3 (02:09):
When I left the Black Lives Health Imperative, and the
folks that Community catitlists said, we understand the role pricing
and discrimination plays and health. We'd like someone to come
help us bring data to that and policy to that.
And Community Catalyst is an amazing organization and as a
long track record of fighting for those who don't have
(02:32):
access to healthcare, so I was thrilled and honored to
be offered this role, and I'm so looking forward to
what's next.
Speaker 2 (02:38):
Well outstanding, and I appreciate you setting the table, and
I do want to give a little context to our
listeners because you've been Your resume is fantastic, and the
nonprofit work that you've done is led up to this
new job is not even two months old as president
of Community Catalyst, as you were going through everything and
deciding to take on this job, and I'm also curious,
(02:59):
you know exactly why you did besides maybe just digging
the values in what they were doing out there is
a important time of our history right now doing all
those different kinds of jobs as all these different nonprofits.
What kind of experience did they give you as you
led and consider this new gig.
Speaker 3 (03:16):
Well, you know, it's interesting that I mentioned that I
took a slight detour from public health and went to
Coca Cola. But in the end, I think the Coke
job was the best possible thing I could have done
for my public health career because at Coke.
Speaker 1 (03:31):
You know, we sell things.
Speaker 3 (03:32):
Yeah, what we do in public health I think is
we don't realize that we have a product to sell,
and we do a.
Speaker 1 (03:40):
Terrible job of selling it.
Speaker 3 (03:41):
W If you talk to somebody like me, I'm an epidemiologist,
we you know, in about five minutes can put you
to sleep because we have to tell you everything about
the issues when what people really want to know is
what do I do? Whether where it's at the Cancer Society,
I have cancer? What do I do? Black women's health impare?
Here are the these incredible political and social and economic barriers
(04:03):
or health?
Speaker 1 (04:04):
What do I do? Well?
Speaker 3 (04:06):
You know, when I was talking to the to the
board and the team at Community Catalysts, they said, look,
we've got private equity that has moved in and priced
people out of the healthcare market. We know the role
that racism plays in health outcomes.
Speaker 1 (04:22):
We have to do something.
Speaker 3 (04:23):
And that's what attracted me to this role because here
was an organization that was focused on actually doing something,
bringing solutions to like talking to people who are in
positions of power to help them understand that if we
are all healthy, you know, then that means the least
of us or those who those of us who have
been ignored for centuries right need to be healthy as well.
(04:46):
In Community Catalysts and its team that the people I
have the privilege of working with have the courage to
stand in that space and do what needs to be done.
Speaker 2 (04:55):
Well that's well said, then you know, you and I
don't have to argue about this one whatsoever. You're coming
in at a very historic time when healthcare seems to
be the news headline all the time right now. So
we'll talk about that, But what I want to do
first is to educate our listeners who haven't heard about
Community Catalyst about mission and vision, which I want to
talk about in just a moment, but also exactly what
(05:16):
you do. And then we'll get into the weeds on
a few things. But if you were to give us
the mission and the vision for Community Catalyst, what is that?
Speaker 3 (05:26):
So you know, I think in a nutshell, we're a
national nonprofit, so we serve people all over and we
have one simple goal to create a health system that
ensures quality care is accessible, affordable and accountable for everyone.
And we are Racism and other forms of discrimination don't
(05:48):
determine our health outcomes, so our work.
Speaker 1 (05:50):
Matters, I think more now than ever.
Speaker 3 (05:54):
We're going to talk about some of these attacks on
our care, but there are people in this country no
matter how hard working they are, simply don't have access
to quality care, and so at Community Canabis, we're trying
to make sure that there's no barrier to people having
what they should have. And frankly, we believe that healthcare
(06:15):
is a right and we should all be able to
enjoy good quality care and know that when we say
evidence based medicine, that evidence applies to people like us
because we were all included in its creation. Right.
Speaker 2 (06:27):
Well, Linda, you're starting to elude this, but if I
could ask you, if you were to give a thirty
thousand foot view of community catalysts and tell people about
what you do, what would you say that you'd actually do.
Speaker 1 (06:38):
So what I would say is we partner with communities.
Speaker 3 (06:41):
We actually invest in communities over the life of the
community helps. We've put tens of millions of dollars in
community based organizations because these are people who know what
the issues are of healthcare in their community. So we
put both human and financial resources in communities.
Speaker 1 (06:59):
We build capacity city, we work with them.
Speaker 3 (07:02):
On programs, on policy to help them bring solutions to
people that are relevant to people in their community. So
we don't come in and say, well, we know what
to do. We work with community partners, so you know,
for example, you know, vaccines were obviously have been in
the news, but are very important. We saw how important
they were well. We worked with communities to take vaccine
(07:25):
education into barbershops, into beauty shops, parking lots in the
Mississippi Delta to make sure that people had access to vaccines,
knew about them, knew how important they were, and weren't
in any way faced with a barrier to protecting themselves
and their families. So we actually work with communities and
we take our lead from community partners so that.
Speaker 1 (07:47):
The people that they serve can get the best possible care.
Speaker 3 (07:51):
We obviously also look at policy issues, and so we're
in Washington, d C. Fighting constantly for the rights of
healthier to make sure that healthcare is affordable, that the
Affordable Care Act stays.
Speaker 1 (08:04):
In place, so that people can continue to have healthcare.
Speaker 3 (08:08):
Know, we cut the uninsured rate drastically years ago when
the Affordable Care Act was an ended.
Speaker 1 (08:15):
We have to protect that, and we're defending Medicaid. You know, Dennis,
I don't know if you.
Speaker 3 (08:19):
Know this, but nearly half of all babies a book
that are born in the US are covered under Medicaid.
If Medicaid goes away, imagine what will happen to those
babies and to those moms. So we're are also every
day at the federal and state level fighting to protect
Medicaid for patients.
Speaker 2 (08:38):
Well, Linda, I'm glad you brought that up, because you've
got at least two fights on your hands. You've got
the one you just talked about, but you also got
the one as far as educating the public. And in
the thirty years that I've been in the media, and
I'm on the sports side, and I do a little
bit news, but sports has been my background, I've never
seen where we are not only in the kind of
debate world that we are in the two different sides,
(08:59):
but what is the real facts? And what are the
second set of facts? And as you taking this new
gig go on, and I know you knew this going
into it, that knowledge is power, And as you try
and get your message out there and as you try
to advocate, you're also fighting that Well, we got a
set of news here that people are saying is correct,
and then the set of news that you know is correct.
(09:20):
And I imagine if you'd like to expound on a
little bit on what that's like to take that on
because its own set of issues, isn't it?
Speaker 3 (09:27):
It really is, And we're constantly fighting disinformation and misinformation,
and there are those who just don't know until we're
always sort of trying to clarify what is really true
and factual around health. And then there are those who
are deliberately trying to change the narrative.
Speaker 1 (09:46):
And so what we spend a.
Speaker 3 (09:47):
Lot of time doing is bringing data and science to
the narrative, uplifting the stories of people in community who.
Speaker 1 (09:54):
Can say, yes, this did actually work for me. I
did face this issue, and because.
Speaker 3 (10:00):
Of the work of community catalysts, I was able to
get care. But we need people to understand what they're
entitled to, So we spend a lot of time helping
them understand what you're entitled to when it comes to
your health care, your insurance, what happens with your employer,
and to interpret what they may be exposed to in media,
(10:20):
social media, mainstream media so that they can make the
best choices for themselves and their family.
Speaker 1 (10:27):
It takes a lot of time and energy to be
because this work never ends.
Speaker 3 (10:31):
There's always some other new bit of misths or disinformation
that we've got to combat against, but we're not going
to stop. We have to make sure people have information
that they need to be as healthy as possible, and
that it is as factual as possible, and that they
can ignore or disregard all of the other attempts to
(10:52):
lead them around along a path that won't result in
their making the best choices for their health care.
Speaker 2 (10:59):
I'd like to circle back to advocation, and I know
that's just a really high priority. Not only Capitol Hill,
but you've got fifty states to work with. Everybody's a
little different. You've got federal and then you've got state laws.
So I imagine there are a lot of moving and
fluid parts for you and your team all the time
of just keeping up with the laws and what's happening.
But as you advocate for what's going on right now,
what's I know you're new into the jobs, so I
(11:21):
get that, and we'll give you a break because I
know you're on a learning curve right now. The new
gig is President of Community Catalysts. But when it comes
to advocating, what does that look like for you? What
are you and your team doing right now?
Speaker 3 (11:32):
Well, first we start with the facts, So what is
in our healthcare system? But I'll tell you one of
the most powerful tools and our advocacy is uplifting the
stories of our community partners. When you're a policymaker at
the state level or at the federal level, and you here,
I'm thinking about a community member of Florida who was hospitalized.
(11:59):
If she's doing level best to be as healthy as possible,
she was hospitalized and then hit with a nearly six
hundred thousand dollars bill. Nobody explained to her that this
is what this is what her care costs, that she
was going to be faced with this bill, what was
she going to do? So we were able to take
stories like hers and others to the state level and
(12:20):
the federal level to say to policymakers, this isn't fair.
Knew nobody could expect a nearly half a million dollar bill.
Nobody could expect that when they showed up at the
emergency department someone they would say, oh, no, we can't
treat you. And then when they go to urgent care
they say, well, we don't take your insurance. So what
we try to make sure people have is the data
(12:43):
that they need so that their policy makers understand the
impact that this is having at the community level. Oftentimes,
when we talk about healthcare costee use really big numbers
like healthcare industry costs two trillion dollars. I don't think
anybody knows what to do with that number. But when
you point to someone who says, I have a medical
bill that's five hundred thousand dollars and I make thirty
(13:06):
five thousand dollars a year, what am I supposed to do?
We're able to get policymakers and leaders and for those,
frankly whose hands are on the levers of power, to
think about the people differently, and that's what this is
all about, you.
Speaker 2 (13:19):
Know, Linda. That also brings up a point I'd like
to talk about just briefly with you, because you're talking
about the micro there, and sometimes you need the micro
story to serve the macro that you're working with on
a federal level and the big picture. But to hear
those individual stories from people and families and the people
from Middle America that are having a tough time it's
paying their bills, I think it's paramount. Could you expand
(13:41):
on that a little bit for us?
Speaker 1 (13:43):
Yeah? You know, I think then that that's everything.
Speaker 3 (13:46):
You know that most of us walking around the street
really aren't thinking about policy.
Speaker 1 (13:50):
We're thinking about our jobs.
Speaker 3 (13:53):
Our families, our homes, how do we stay in them?
You know, what's next feeding our families, you know. And
I think about some of the work that we do,
particularly around medical debt. You know, it is the leading
cause of bankruptcy in this country, and most people don't
know that, but you know, we have so many stories.
(14:13):
I'm thinking of one where a homeowner was faced with
either losing his home or paying medical debt his medical bill. Well,
community catalysts for years work to make sure that a
medical debt didn't show up on your credit score, because
that could then prevent you from buying a home, or
getting a car, or frankly, getting your electricity turned on
(14:34):
in your apartment. And so that's why we bring to
your point these issues down to the individual level, because
this affects how people live. I mean, you know, health
is everything, as we like to say, and if you
can't have access to health, and if you can't afford health,
we're looking at private equity firms buying physician practices and
(14:57):
hospital systems, and then of course they close the hospital
and so we lose access. We have to make sure
that people in community, and that's where our partners come in,
understand the implications of these kinds of decisions, these financial
decisions and policy decisions, so that we can fight against
them and keep people like Terry Belk in his home
(15:18):
and allow people to be able to do things like
get their gas and electricity turned down.
Speaker 2 (15:22):
Well, that is a great segue about being funded. I
know your nonprofit, but as you take a look, and
we'll talk about donations at the end, and also how
to do that and the website for everybody out there,
a lot of our listeners are probably already googled and
checked it out. Well, we'll give that to you in
just a moment. But when it comes to funding, donations,
working with different third parties, how does it all work
for you?
Speaker 3 (15:44):
Well, for community catalysts, because we're a national organization, we're
actually sort of on both sides of this.
Speaker 1 (15:51):
We fund where we put.
Speaker 3 (15:53):
Money, financial and human resources in the communities, but we
also help philanthropy understand what is actually going on so
that we inform philanthropic strategy. So what people sort of
refer to as charity, we actually call investment. If people
support us, whether it's an individual or a foundation. They're
(16:16):
investing in communities so that they understand what they need
to do to be as healthy as possible, and our
partners can advocate for the members in their community. So
what they're actually doing is investing in improving health for
those who have been left out.
Speaker 1 (16:32):
We do both.
Speaker 3 (16:34):
We invest, we allocate resources, We evaluate the issues so
that we help.
Speaker 1 (16:39):
Big philanthropy understands from.
Speaker 3 (16:41):
A strategic perspective where resources need to go, and we
also understand the healthcare funding landscape so that anyone who's
interested in wanting to improve healthcare access can get factual
information from us. So whether we're developing grassroots leadership or
narrative change or innovations and care, it doesn't matter. It's
(17:04):
those partnerships at the community level and at the higher
fundamental level, in alignment with our values and our mission
to make sure that people have access to affordable, quality care,
that matters.
Speaker 1 (17:16):
So we like to say it's not charity, it's impact.
Speaker 2 (17:19):
I like that. I like that a lot. Linda, how
many on staff there?
Speaker 3 (17:24):
I think we are around eighty people now, okay, so
we're pretty good size.
Speaker 2 (17:28):
Well, what I want to ask you about because you
mentioned leadership, and in this series, there's a lot of
future entrepreneurs and people that are going to be running
for profit and nonprofits out there, and leadership is always
something I love to talk about with people like you,
especially the extensive resume that you've had in your arena
with nonprofits and eighty people. But it's much larger than that,
because you've talked about, you know, the federal landscape and
(17:50):
the state landscape and all that you do. So there's
a lot of moving parts and I'm curious, especially with
the way we are in history right now, Linda, the
world's on fire. I think we can all agree that,
I know there's a lot of happy people, but there's
also a lot of unhappy people and a lot of
unrest going on right now. And for what you do,
and I know it's very historic what's going on right
now as you lead your team of eighty and more.
(18:14):
You know, I'll give you the analogy because I'm a
sports guy. A coach is there to make sure that
nobody loses their head in the fourth quarter, that you
stay focused and you finish the game plan off to
the best of your ability. Well that said, you know,
you're the same. You're the coach with your eighty staff
and more. And there's a lot of people probably worried
out there, maybe panicking having a really rough day. I
(18:37):
wanted to know what leadership means to you in your
new role and how you deal with all that's going
on on a daily basis.
Speaker 3 (18:44):
You know that is such a good question, Jennis, and
I love your sports analogy. You know my approach is,
you know, yes, at the end of the day, I'm
making the decisions, but the leadership team leads together. I mean,
just a coach, the coach, she has her assistance coaches.
Speaker 1 (19:04):
You know, she's got a whole team around her.
Speaker 3 (19:07):
That helps make get that team to where it needs
to be and successful. But what she does first is
she articulates where she wants that team to go. She's
she's clear on the mission, she's clear on the vision,
and you know what she does is she trusts her
team to deliver against that mission and vision. So she's steering,
but everybody's working, and she makes sure that everybody understands
(19:30):
just how valuable their contribution is. You know, from sports,
you know, if you're let me just pick the knicks
right now, Thibadeau's on his way out, but it wasn't
only him. He's leaving for another reason. But pick a coach.
It's not just one person, it is the team. And
so at community canalysts, we've got a vision, we've got
(19:50):
a mission, we've got strategies to get to what success
looks like, and success is being defined. We have to
be clear on what success looks like so that we
understand it, but we also translate it to our community
partners and then hear from them, well, here's what success
looks like in our community. So we can then bring
our considerable talent, time and treasure to work with our
(20:14):
partners to make sure that they're successful. Because if they're successful,
we're successful.
Speaker 2 (20:19):
That's really well said. And if you could talk about
one more thing, because once again, and this doesn't apply
just to sports, even though that's my background, is culture,
and I think what you were alluding to is culture,
you know, being honest and forthright, not mincing words, but
being appropriately candid and all the things that go with
out of leadership. And you also talked about team, which
is a reoccurring theme in our series of CEOs, presidents
(20:41):
and founders and companies they would be nothing without their team.
But can you talk about culture, especially for where you're
at right.
Speaker 3 (20:47):
Now, Sure, Dennis, I think any CEO knows culture starts
from the top. If you start by trusting your team,
by valuing their team, showing them how you value them,
showing them that you not only want their opinions, trust
that they have the expertise, but act on it so
that they have a clear example of yes, my leader
(21:10):
trusts me. That's how you build a culture, because then
they do that with their teams, and their teams do
that with their teams. I don't think an organization can
success successfully meet any mission or vision without trust, without
valuing the people that they work with.
Speaker 1 (21:28):
Doesn't mean that you all have to be best friends,
as you.
Speaker 3 (21:31):
Know, but you do have to communicate that I believe
that you've got the skill set to do this work.
We've articulated where we want to go, and I'm trusting
all of us to work together in service of this
mission and vision. And whether it's a sports team, whether
it's a for profit or nonprofit, that has to be
the guiding Like we are a team and we trust
(21:53):
each other to have.
Speaker 1 (21:56):
Our mission and vision first. Are people first?
Speaker 3 (22:00):
And that we're committed and showing each other how we
are committed not only to the organization, but to making
sure that each of us can perform to the best
of our abilities.
Speaker 2 (22:09):
That's well said in one final thing that I'll put
on top of this on a word you have and use,
but I'll use for us. And I've heard it into
my industry about myself, and I'm seeing it as I
meet and talk to you. It's passion for what you
do because people feed off of that. I always use
that example, Linda that when you go to a party,
who do you want to hang out with? The person
that has their head down in the corner that's not
(22:30):
talking to anybody, or the person's in the middle of
the room telling a joke and everybody's laughing and surrounding them. Right,
It's all about passion.
Speaker 1 (22:37):
It is all about passion.
Speaker 3 (22:39):
And I have to tell you, I am as CEOs Go.
I am so fortunate that I'm surrounded by people who
are passionate about these issues, passionate about making sure people
can be as healthy as possible. The beauty of community,
cannablyst is everyone there could do something else if it
works someplace else. They have chosen Community Catalysts because of
(23:02):
that passion, because they believe that we all can be
healthy and that health is a right and that they
have a role in making that a reality.
Speaker 2 (23:11):
All right, well, listen, let's do this. I want to
do a recap of what we chatted about, get some
final thoughts from you, and also give the website. It's
a gorgeous website, folks, it's easy to navigate. There's a
lot of information on there. Well, let's do this, Linda,
just what we talked about, some final thoughts from you,
and recap. The floor is yours.
Speaker 3 (23:29):
Okay, Well, thank you so, Denzil, As you said this,
we are in some difficult times. Healthcare is under attack
from a number of different fronts. But the thing that
we know is that our own poling, our own information
shows that the vast majority of people in this country,
over seventy percent, feel that it should be a right,
(23:52):
and they feel that it's too expensive. And so what
we need to do is figure out how to get
healthcare two people who need it, who are being left out,
in a way that is quality and affordable. And that's
what Community Catalyst is about, and to remove those barriers
that would determine our health outcomes in adverse ways, like racism,
(24:13):
like gender discrimination, like economic inequality. So what people need
to know is there's a national organization that's fighting every
single day at the community level, building power at community
at the community level, and at the federal level, helping
to set policy. So if they're interested, and if they
(24:33):
feel like healthcare is right, and if they ever look
at their own families and thought, how we're really having
a hard time taking care of this healthcare issue and
paying all of these other bills, and we're hard working,
we're doing the things that we should do, and yet
it's still a challenge, then go to Community Catalyst dot org,
find out about our work, donate to us, make that
(24:55):
investment in healthcare in this country. It is in the
healthcare of all of us. And pay attention to what
is being said in the media.
Speaker 1 (25:07):
What is fact, what is fiction?
Speaker 3 (25:09):
And you know, I would just invite people to join
us at the community level or the federal level.
Speaker 1 (25:15):
This is going to take a while.
Speaker 3 (25:16):
This will not be a short fight, Dennis, as you know,
but we're in it for the long haul, and we're
in it to make sure that people have access to
the care that they need and understand what they really
are entitled to.
Speaker 2 (25:29):
All right, well, Linda, thank you so much for your
valuable time. I can see why Community Catalysts chose you
and why you've chosen them. I know you're new into
the role, but your bounty of work speaks for itself,
and I know that good things are going to happen
with a very hard fight ahead of you. Give my
best to the team. Thank you so much. Continued success,
and we really appreciate featuring you on CEOs. You should know.
Speaker 1 (25:49):
Thank you so much, Dennis, it's been my pleasure.
Speaker 2 (25:51):
Our community partner, M and T Bank supports CEOs, you
should know. Is part of their ongoing commitment to building
strong communities, and that starts my backing the businesses within them.
As a bank for communities, M and T believes in
dedicating time, talent and resources to help local businesses thrive,
because when businesses succeed, our communities succeed.
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