Act for Public Health 2025 Briefings
Navigating the Impact of Federal Actions on Public Health Practice.
Public health practitioners and policymakers need to stay informed amid the shifting legal landscape brought about by recent federal activities. The Act for Public Health partners are hosting a new forum for timely conversations that explain and interpret the impact of federal action on state and local public health practice. Join us biweekly for 30-minute informal discussions between speakers with topical expertise. We’ll cover federal actions on subject areas such as immigration; LGBTQ+ communities; diversity, equity, inclusion, and accessibility initiatives; and more. Each session will focus on a different topic.
These webinars are for public health professionals at the state and local level, nonprofit organizations, academics, researchers, attorneys, and those with a stake in federal actions affecting public health.
Briefings will be held at the same time every two weeks, at 11am PT / 2pm ET, on the following Wednesdays:
- May 14
- May 28
- June 11
- June 25
- July 9
- July 24, Thursday at 11am PST
Briefing 1: Navigating the Impact of Federal Actions on Public Health Practice
In Briefing 1, Sabrina Adler, vice president of law at ChangeLab Solutions, and Joelle Lester, executive director at Public Health Law Center, provided an overview of the Act for Public Health briefing series, explored the effects of a range of executive actions, and discussed strategy for the current moment. Watch the May 14 briefing.
Briefing 2: Federal Actions & DEIA Initiatives
Katie Hannon Michel, senior attorney at ChangeLab Solutions, and Donya Khadem, Equal Protection Initiative counsel at the NAACP Legal Defense Fund provided an overview of executive orders attacking diversity, equity, inclusion, and accessibility (DEIA) initiatives and explored how federal agencies have begun to implement them. They also discussed ongoing legal challenges to these orders, as well as strategies and considerations for public health practitioners as they navigate federal actions and their fallout. Watch the May 28 briefing.
Briefing 3: Federal Actions & LGBTQ+ Communities
Wesley Hartman, senior attorney at ChangeLab Solutions, and Christy Mallory, Roberta A. Conroy Interim Executive Director and legal director at the Williams Institute shared an overview of executive orders attacking LGBTQ+ communities and explain the impacts of other federal actions, such as cuts to Medicaid and SNAP. They’ll also discussed legal challenges to many of these actions, along with strategies to help public health practitioners navigate the federal landscape. Watch the June 11 briefing.
Briefing 4: Federal Actions & Vaccine Policy
Allison Winnike, director of the Western Region at the Network for Public Health Law, and Dorit Rubinstein Reiss, professor of law at UC Law San Francisco, provided an overview of recent federal actions assailing vaccines and described their impact on vaccine access, infectious disease rates, and emergency preparedness. They also discussed current legal challenges to these actions, and shared strategies and considerations for public health practitioners. Watch the June 25 briefing.
Briefing 5: The Courts
Wendy E. Parmet, professor of law at Northeastern University School of Law and faculty director of the Center for Health Policy and Law, and Thomas Pryor, lead senior staff attorney at the Public Health Law Center at Mitchell Hamline School of Law discussed several recent Supreme Court cases that have important ramifications for public health, as well as ongoing litigation relating to executive branch actions. They also suggest how listeners can keep abreast of public health litigation and how they can respond to legal threats to public health. Watch the July 9 briefing.
Briefing 6: Public Health Surveillance & Data Collection
Join us on Thursday, July 24 at 11 am PT/2 pm ET for the last briefing in our summer series on Navigating the Impact of Federal Actions on Public Health Policy. Manel Kappagoda, senior staff attorney at the Public Health Law Center, and Cody Venzke, senior policy counsel at the ACLU, will provide an overview of Executive Order 14243, “Stopping Waste, Fraud, and Abuse by Eliminating Information Silos,” directing the consolidation of data across federal agencies. They will discuss related legal challenges to data consolidation by federal agencies and share strategies and considerations for public health practitioners.