Established in May 2008, the joint use statewide task force (JUST) includes organizations representing health, civil rights, community collaboratives, planners, local elected and appointed officials, park and recreation officials, school board administrators, academic researchers, and a growing list of groups interested in ensuring that all children have a safe place to play and be active within easy reach.

Manal J. Aboelata
Program Director
Prevention Institute

Prevention Institute is a national center dedicated to improving community health and well-being by building momentum for effective primary prevention. “Joint-use of public facilities is important to me because when it’s working well, children, youth and families have access to safe places to exercise, play, dance and come together that might otherwise be unavailable in their communities; plus it is a smart way to maximize use of public resources.”

Jane H. Adams
Executive Director
California Park & Recreation Society

The California Park & Recreation Society, a professional membership organization of 4,000 members, provides education, networking, and resources, and is the public advocate for California park and recreation professionals. “Joint use matters to me because we are missing opportunities to make communities better places to live now and in the future. By opening up schools for play and exercise and for directed and self-directed recreation, we can help lower crime and mischief of our youth, we can have greater social connections, and we can foster human development, the arts, and lifelong learning.”

Peggy Agron
Program Chief
California Project LEAN

California Project LEAN (Leaders Encouraging Activity and Nutrition) (CPL) is a joint program of the California Department of Public Health and the Public Health Institute. CLP leverages youth empowerment, policy and environmental change strategies and community-based solutions to increase healthy eating and physical activity in an effort to reduce the prevalence of obesity and chronic diseases such as heart disease, cancer, stroke, osteoporosis, and diabetes. “Joint use is important for health because it creates safe opportunities for youth and their families to be physically active.”

Ana Carricchi
Director of Policy
Latino Health Access

Using participatory approaches to community health education, Latino Health Access (LHA) trains community health workers to be leaders of wellness and change. LHA assists in improving the quality of life and health of uninsured, under-served people through quality preventive services, educational programs and local/regional advocacy efforts. “Joint use matters to me because children and families deserve to live in communities where open, safe places support life course choices toward healthy living and strong community bonds.”

Maria Casey
Program Director, Healthy Eating, Active Communities (HEAC)
Partnership for the Public’s Health(PPH), Public Health Institute

Partnership for the Public’s Health is the Program Office for the local demonstration component of HEAC, a program of The California endowment, and coordinates technical assistance to the six local community HEAC sites. PPH also coordinates technical assistance for the Central California Regional Obesity Prevention Program (CCROPP) and provides coordination and management of the California Convergence. HEAC works to reduce disparities in obesity and diabetes by improving food and physical activity environments for children. “Joint use matters to me because all children deserve to have safe places to play.  In many California communities school playgrounds and adjoining parks are often the safest places for children to get physical activity and many of them are locked during non-school hours.”

Lisa A. Cirill, M.S., P.A.P.H.S.
Acting Chief
California Center for Physical Activity

The California Center for Physical Activity, a joint unit of the California Department of Public Health and the University of California, San Francisco, creates opportunities for safe, everyday physical activity by connecting partners to active community resources and helping develop more activity-friendly neighborhoods through environmental and policy change. “Promoting joint use facilities is critical to increasing physical activity for people of all ages and abilities, and ensuring social equity and environmental justice in communities throughout California.”

Robin Dean
Technical Assistance Coordinator
Partnership for the Public’s Health

Partnership for the Public’s Health (PPH) forges partnerships among communities, public health departments, and other private and public entities, building their capacity to make environmental and institutional change happen in communities where health inequities are prevalent. PPH has worked with more than 43 communities and 27 public health jurisdictions throughout California. “Joint use is important for health, particularly in rural areas where schools are often the only sites that have available open space in which community members can engage in safe physical activity.”

Susan Elizabeth
Senior Consultant
Capacity Builders, Inc.

Capacity Builders, Inc. is a non-profit consortium of consultants who engage in equity issues in the Central Valley. “Joint use is important to me because it is the only viable solution that I can see to meeting the needs in the small, impoverished communities in the Central Valley for facilities where community residents of all ages can engage in the healthy physical activities that promote wellness.”

Robert Garcia
Executive Director and Counsel
The City Project

The City Project works with diverse coalitions in strategic campaigns to shape public policy and law — particularly those investing in parks and recreation, playgrounds, schools, health, and transit — as a way to promote justice, human and environmental health, and economic vitality for all communities. “Joint use of parks and schools matters to me because it is the optimal way to make use of scarce land and public resource to help children move more, eat well, stay healthy, and do their best in school and in life.”

Martin Gonzalez
Deputy Executive Director
California School Boards Association

The California School Boards Association is a collaborative group of nearly all of the state’s more than 1,000 school districts and county offices of education. “Joint use matters to me because it’s an effective and efficient way for local governments to collaboratively meet their communities diverse needs.”

Genoveva Islas-Hooker
Regional Program Coordinator
Central California Regional Obesity Prevention Program

The Central California Regional Obesity Prevention Program, an initiative of the California Endowment, leverages eight counties in the Central Valley linking public health departments, community-based organizations and grassroots community members to address healthy eating and active living through environmental and policy change. “Joint use matters to me because it’s a simple low cost solution to create some equity for communities that do not have safe places to be active.”

Jennifer Lopez
Community Lead
Central California Regional Obesity Prevention Program — Kern County

The Central California Regional Obesity Prevention Program, an initiative of the California Endowment, leverages eight counties in the Central Valley linking public health departments, community-based organizations and grassroots community members to address healthy eating and active living through environmental and policy change. “Joint use is important to health because people want safe places they can easily access to be physically active.”

Martin Martinez
Policy Director
California Pan-Ethnic Health Network

California Pan-Ethnic Health Network works to improve access to health care and eliminate health disparities by advocating for public policies and sufficient resources to address the health needs of our communities. “Joint use matters because in some communities — particularly low income, park-poor communities of color — opening school playgrounds might be the only way for our families to have safe places for physical activity.”

Robert Ogilvie, PhD
Program Director, Planning for Healthy Places
Public Health Law and Policy

Public Health Law and Policy, a project of the Public Health Institute, works to help build the capacity of advocates, local public health and planning departments, schools, government attorneys, elected officials, and others to advance their public health goals through policy change. “Joint use matters to me because it is so wasteful, unhealthy and short-sighted not to do it.”

Jeff Vincent
Deputy Director and Co-Founder
Center for Cities and Schools

The Center for Cities & Schools at the University of California-Berkeley works to promote high-quality education as an essential component of urban and metropolitan vitality to create equitable and sustainable cities and schools for all. “Joint use matters to me because, when partnerships are structured effectively, it has the potential to be a promising tool to realize a variety of goals, including efficiently using public dollars, increasing services and amenities to both schools and communities, conserving land, and promoting physical activity.”

Julie Williamson, MPH
Program Director, Partnership for the Public’s Health, Public Health Institute
Project Director, California Convergence

Partnership for the Public’s Health (PPH) coordinates the Healthy Eating, Active Communities program the California Convergence, an effort to build synergy among local leaders and state advocates working to change environments to prevent obesity. PPH promotes learning and synergy among community demonstration programs that are at the cutting edge of shaping how we address obesity in this state and the nation. “Joint use matters to me because I believe every school should be a resource to the whole community, and that every community should have safe and healthy places for children to play and where adults can be physically active.”

Francesca Wright
Consultant
Cities Counties Schools Partnership
Healthy Eating Active Living Cities Campaign

The Cities Counties Schools Partnership is a joint effort of the League of California Cities, California State Association of Counties and California School Boards Association. The Partnership promotes the development of public policies that build and preserve communities by encouraging local collaborative efforts among California’s 478 cities, 58 counties and more than 1,000 school boards and districts the partners represent. Healthy Eating Active Living Cities Campaign, a joint project of the California Center for Public Health Advocacy, the League of California Cities and the Cities, Counties, Schools Partnership, conducts trainings and provides technical assistance to help city officials adopt policies to increase access to healthy food and improve physical activity environments in their municipalities. “Joint use is important to health because it strengthens community and maximizes public access to public resources like gyms, parks, sports fields, playgrounds, pools and performance centers for all ages.”