Health Equity Advisory Committee (HEAC)

Committee members provide technical and professional expertise and lived experience to assist with the allocation of funding for the most effective ways to address health equity and chronic disease associated with sugary drink consumption. Specifically, the committee’s purpose is to:

• Help define desired outcomes and key indicators that should be tracked to measure success;
• Provide recommendations on what existing city and community programs could be expanded with additional funding;
• Provide recommendations on what existing and new city and community programs could be funded in future years; and
• Provide input on effective strategies and programs to engage residents most affected by health disparities and lack of access to health services.

The City of Boulder’s Health Equity Advisory Committee (HEAC) is a seven-member committee appointed by the city manager to review Health Equity Fund proposals and make recommendations to staff and the city manager for programmatic funding. The role of the committee is advisory and technical, not political in nature, and members do not serve in an advocacy role for either agencies or issues.

• Bernardo Padilla, Self-Employed, Our Family Cleaning LLC.
• Carmen Pacheco-Borden, Mechanical Engineering Lecturer, University of Colorado - Boulder
• Heidi Halpern, Director of Finance & Operations, Friends School
• Kenneth Epstein, Physician, Estes Park Health
• Ravi Goyal, Mathematica Policy Research; Harvard School of Public Health
• Suinya Mindiola, Resident Services Manager, Boulder Housing Partners
• Tracy Kirkland, Sociology Instructor, University of Colorado - Boulder