By Jennifer Gonzalez, Executive Assistant Information Officer
The most pressing challenges of our time are those that transcend borders. Climate change, food access, housing, violence prevention, and public health are struggles that governments around the globe work diligently to address. But one thing is for certain — these global crises cannot be solved by a single department, agency, or sector.
Established in 2010 through Executive Order S-04-10, the California Health in All Policies (HiAP) Task Force brings together more than 20 state departments to collaborate toward shared goals of improving social, economic, and environmental conditions that affect public health. Through a partnership between the California Strategic Growth Council (SGC) and the California Department of Public Health (CDPH), the HiAP Task Force works to address and connect public health and community resilience through equity-informed decision-making.
For 16 years, the HiAP Task Force has paved the way for government agencies to look beyond individual missions and consider where intersecting goals can lead to advancements in public health policy. In its first 10 years, the Task Force did not have dedicated staffing. Instead, the Public Health Institute, CDPH, and various philanthropic funders coordinated to design and facilitate the Task Force. Under Governor Gavin Newsom, SGC continues to advance this collaborative approach, working across agencies to center health, equity, and community needs in state government. In 2019, the Legislature and Department of Finance approved a three-staff Health & Equity Program at SGC, the state’s first dedicated and permanent HiAP Task Force staff. One of HiAP’s primary goals is to coordinate existing efforts to better serve all Californians.
Solid health public policy means ensuring that every Californian has the opportunity to live in a healthy, safe, and thriving community. Through this initiative, state agencies are working together to address the conditions that shape health and to break down barriers that have left too many Californians behind. By weaving equity and community needs into state policies and programs, we can create lasting change and build a healthier, more inclusive California.
This trailblazing statewide approach centers community input, scientific evidence, and strategic planning to advance government efficiency and transformation, influencing California policies and policymaking.
The first of its kind, the HiAP Task Force has demonstrated the value of cross-agency collaboration, shifting the way that state government approached systems change. As we continue to work toward better decisions to improve health, fairness, and quality of life for all, HiAP remains a powerful approach and tool for government.
HiAP Task Force’s Key Milestones
Expanding Opportunity
The HiAP Task Force has helped create efficiency and transformation in numerous state programs. Many outcomes have helped shape resources the state provides to community across California, including grants. Top-line highlights include:
- Embedded health and equity criteria in nearly $6 billion in state grants reaching 400+ communities.
- Provided more than 160 recommendations to the California Department of Human Resources to address workforce diversity and pay gaps.
- Shared California’s model globally through the World Health Organization and international networks.
California’s Health in All Policies Task Force is among a host of successful initiates across the globe, including in Thailand, Finland, and Australia. On behalf of WHO, I extend our congratulations and appreciation to the many sectors represented on California’s Health in All Policies Task Force for their dedication to advancing health equity, and to the staff and organizational partners for their visionary leadership and commitment to collaboration.
Accessible Data
Founded by the CDPH Office of Health and Equity (OHE), the Healthy Communities Data and Indicators Project provides easy access to reliable metrics on income security, housing, transportation, education, and environmental conditions to inform state and local leaders. Through HiAP’s partnership, this work helps connect public health data with cross-agency efforts to better understand and address the conditions that shape health in communities across California.
HiAP also supported $3 million in tribal climate research and coordinated a Tribal Advisory Group, 46 contracts, 30+ workshops, and 50 interagency and expert meetings for California’s Fifth Climate Change Assessment.
For communities and decision-makers, accessible data can make the conditions affecting people’s health easier to see. By bringing information on housing, transportation, education, environmental conditions and income security together, the project helps leaders better understand how these factors intersect and inform decisions that affect communities.
Advancing Workplace Equity
HiAP established the first state-level implementation of Governments Alliance on Race and Equity. The state-level program is a cohort-based racial equity capacity-building program led by the Public Health Institute for California state employees.
The program has engaged more than 60 agencies and 600 staff, helping build the knowledge and capacity for equity across state government. Its work demonstrates that advancing health and equity is not only about the policies government creates, but also about strengthening the people and institutions responsible for putting those policies into practice.
Improving Food Access
HiAP worked with the California Department of Food and Agriculture’s Farm-to-Fork Office to implement nutritional criteria for state food contracts, which helped inform the California Farm to School initiative. The initiative – which recently secured permanent funding via SB 172, signed by Governor Gavin Newsom in July 2026 – works in tandem with school districts to ensure California students have access to two free, locally sourced, delicious and nutritious school meals.
By connecting food access and student health with California agriculture and local economies, the initiative demonstrates how coordinated government action can advance multiple goals at once — creating healthier communities while supporting a more sustainable future for California.
California is leading the nation in supporting children’s health by serving nutritious, locally grown school meals and providing food education that equips students with lifelong healthy habits. Supporting California farmers, local communities, and the health of California’s children remains a top priority, which is why we have secured permanent funding for California’s nation-leading Farm to School Program.
Addressing Safety
By connecting violence prevention with public health, HiAP created an opportunity for leaders from different fields to approach safety through a broader lens and consider the conditions that influence community well-being.
Planning Improvements
HiAP collaborated across sectors to create guidance for state policies that improve house siting, reduce near-roadway pollution, promote healthy schools, and more. This guidance has informed major statewide tools, including the General Plan Guidelines, aspects of the California Environmental Quality Act, and state transportation planning.
What’s next?
Earlier this year, HiAP launched a new tool designed for state staff to evaluate and improve grant and contract practices to ensure efficient and equitable access for all California Tribes and communities.
The HiAP Grant and Contract Evaluation Tool helps state agency staff assess current processes to give Tribes and communities better access to technical assistance and secure future grant funding for their community-led solutions. Specifically, it helps administering agencies align standards, systems, and processes while reflecting on their current grantmaking and contracting approaches. By simplifying invoicing, reporting, and application requirements, the Tool can make it easier for communities to get access to the resources they need to engage in comprehensive planning and thrive.
The HiAP Task Force was created to address disconnectedness and inefficiency in State government that prevent healthy, thriving communities. The HiAP Task Force – and nationally and globally adopted HiAP approach – has built the partnerships and solutions necessary to create systemic and structural change. HiAP has created a vital space for collaboration and creativity that keeps government solutions innovative, such as expanding opportunities for funding, building capacity, improving safety, and increasing food access. HiAP has proved that partnership across sectors leads to meaningful improvements and innovation within government to meet the needs of all Californians.
To learn more about the HiAP Task Force’s work and accomplishments over the last 15 years, read: Advancing Collaborative Governance: A 15-Year Retrospective on the HiAP Task Force