What was the motivation for establishing the Commission?
The Commission builds on the work of Public Health Forward: Modernizing the U.S. Public Health System, an initiative by the de Beaumont Foundation and the Bipartisan Policy Center to develop a five-year roadmap for public health.
The Public Health Forward report offered detailed recommendations for policymakers and public health leaders, shaped by a bipartisan task force of current and former elected officials as well as leaders in the nonprofit, public health, and healthcare spaces.
- Clearly articulate a framework and accountability structure for local public health leadership in every community.
- Define the roles and responsibilities of all sectors within this collective leadership framework that can be activated in any community to address any public health challenge.
- Reach consensus on an effective leadership and policy agenda that can be enacted in all communities to protect public health.
- Develop and activate a dissemination and accountability plan for advancing this agenda among local leaders.
- Adopt a public proclamation to formalize a shared commitment to trust-building and partnership.
- Hold regular, ongoing working sessions to strengthen collaboration and maintain alignment beyond crises.
- Clarify and document roles and decision-making authority to ensure transparency, accountability, and efficient action.
- Build and sustain a multi-sector coalition that includes key community systems (e.g., business, education, transportation, public safety, healthcare, social services, faith organizations, and residents).
- Agree on priority issues for action, including improving localized, anonymized data for decision making and strengthening preparedness for access to personal protective equipment, medicines, testing, and other essential supplies.
- Quick-start guide to initiating partnerships: A practical, research-informed set of tips to help elected officials and public health leaders begin working together, even without an existing relationship.
- Level-setting discussion prompts: Curated questions designed to create a shared vocabulary, surface assumptions, and clarify roles between elected officials, public health leaders, and their partners before high-stakes decisions arise.
- Recommended action on data: A step-by-step framework for using data to move from shared priorities to measurable progress.
- Recommended action on stockpiling and bulk purchasing: Guidance to strengthen readiness for emergencies and routine surges by clarifying how essential supplies (e.g., personal protective equipment, medicines, vaccines, testing materials) are obtained, authorized, stored, and distributed.
The priority actions highlighted in this toolkit — identifying local priorities together, strengthening localized data, and ensuring reliable access to personal protective equipment and other emergency supplies — were intentionally selected because they are:
- Widely agreed upon. They are practical, nonpartisan issues that both elected officials and public health leaders can readily support.
- Fundamental to community health. Each directly affects a community’s ability to prevent harm, respond to crises, and promote long-term well-being.
- Shared responsibilities. None of these issues can be effectively addressed by one sector alone. They require coordination, clarity of roles, and ongoing communication between public health and elected leadership.
- Concrete and actionable. They move partnership from abstract goodwill to tangible collaboration with visible decisions, investments, and accountability.
The Commission was designed to comprise a wide range of backgrounds, expertise, and geographic diversity. Commissioners were selected for this opportunity based on their demonstrated interest in building partnerships between elected officials and the public health sector. This includes both on-the-ground leadership experience and political support for such efforts.