Moving Upstream

Prevention Institute's Moving Upstream

It’s easy to see the problems in our world: chronic diseases, gun violence, substance misuse, toxic water... What’s often less obvious are the conditions in our communities that help create these problems, and that ultimately point to smart solutions. Moving Upstream tells the stories of people and communities that are finding surprising and inspiring ways to transform these conditions and prevent the problems from happening in the first place.

  1. A Mercy in the Telling: Memory, Story, and Public Health Evidence

    10/22/2025

    A Mercy in the Telling: Memory, Story, and Public Health Evidence

    In this episode of Moving Upstream, Prevention Institute’s Vibhuti Kacholia and La’Quana Williams explore what it means to expand the boundaries of evidence in public health. They discuss UCEE—Uplifting Contextual and Experiential Evidence—a framework that challenges the field’s overreliance on quantitative data, and La’Quana’s narrative case study series A Mercy in the Telling, which positions memory, story, and place as legitimate forms of evidence. Together, they explore how research, lived experience, and art can be interwoven into a more human framework for equity and justice. 🔗 Links & Resources Prevention Institute Frameworks & Initiatives: ➡️ Uplifting Contextual and Experiential Evidence (UCEE) A framework for expanding what counts as evidence in public health—recognizing lived experience, context, and story as critical sources of knowledge. Link: https://www.preventioninstitute.org/projects/uplifting-contextual-and-experiential-evidence-ucee Featured Creative Work: ➡️ A Mercy in the Telling – Case Study Series (1–8) This series uses storytelling to examine how public health systems meet—or miss—people’s lived realities, inviting readers to see the connections between care, evidence, and belonging. Link: https://laquanaq.substack.com/s/a-mercy-in-the-telling ➡️ Case Study 4: Homes Made Thick with Quiet Referenced at [11:40] Link: https://laquanaq.substack.com/p/case-study-4-homes-made-thick-with Framework Referenced: ➡️ Story-Based Evidence Framework (SBEF) Referenced at [18:15] A methodology developed by La’Quana Williams that positions story as rigorous evidence in public health practice. Link: https://open.substack.com/pub/laquanaq/p/the-story-based-evidence-framework?r=5wg4ns&utm_campaign=post&utm_medium=web&showWelcomeOnShare=true ⏱ Timestamps [11:40] Case Study 4: Homes Made Thick with Quiet [18:15] Story-Based Evidence Framework (SBEF) Produced by Prevention Institute’s Moving Upstream series. Views shared are those of the speakers and do not necessarily reflect the views of Prevention Institute or its funders.

    39 min
  2. Advancing a System of Prevention for Racial Justice and Health Equity

    08/01/2024

    Advancing a System of Prevention for Racial Justice and Health Equity

    Over the past three years, Prevention Institute (PI) has worked to strengthen the relevance and effectiveness of public health strategies to advance racial justice and health equity within the field. In this podcast, Director Ruben Cantu talks with PI staff members La’Quana Williams (Associate Program Director) and Alberto Espiricueta (Program Assistant) on their journey to accomplish this goal. The podcast details the tools produced within the grant period, the importance of cultivating partnerships with racial and social justice organizations, as well as the challenges, opportunities, and lessons learned over the last three years. This episode was made possible with support from the W.K. Kellogg Foundation.

    31 min
  3. Community safety through investing in youth: Harris County youth justice community reinvestment fund

    04/15/2021

    Community safety through investing in youth: Harris County youth justice community reinvestment fund

    How do you reduce the incarceration and detention of youth of color, lift up their strengths, and make a community safer? In this podcast, Dr. Assata Richards speaks personally and passionately about how the Redefining Youth Justice Coalition successfully advocated for the creation of a Youth Justice Community Reinvestment Fund in Harris County, Texas, comprised of $2 million in funds redirected from juvenile probation and $2 million from the county's General Fund. Dr. Richards uses the metaphor of making a pot of gumbo—layering ingredients and patiently nurturing the pot—to describe how the coalition brought together impacted youth and families and local and national partners to learn, organize, advocate together, and work through tension points with compassion and care. With a commitment to “power with,” not “power over,” they kept a laser focus on their shared vision and created relationships and resources for a continuum of care that is sure to nourish the community. This podcast was made possible with support from The Langeloth Foundation.

    29 min
  4. #WhyWeCantWait: A New Deal for Youth

    03/11/2021

    #WhyWeCantWait: A New Deal for Youth

    In February, a group of young changemakers partnered with CLASP, the Center for Law and Social Policy, to launch #WhyWeCantWait: A New Deal for Youth (https://www.clasp.org/new-deal-4-youth). A New Deal for Youth calls on leaders in the public and private sectors to support youth-led policy solutions to address the glaring economic and social injustices facing young people today, particularly young people of color. In this podcast, Prevention Institute's Ruben Cantu talks with Dr. Nia West-Bey, a senior policy analyst on CLASP’s youth team, and three New Deal for Youth changemakers—Isabel Coronado of Next100 in New Mexico; Kadesha Mitchell with The Cove/DFZ Adolescent Clubhouse in Maryland; and Connor Kalahiki representing the Center for Native American Youth in Hawaii—about what policies are needed for young people to be able to thrive.

    31 min
  5. Policy priorities for the Biden/Harris Administration

    01/29/2021

    Policy priorities for the Biden/Harris Administration

    On January 20, Joe Biden and Kamala Harris were sworn in as the new president and vice president of the United States. During the election, they spoke out forcefully about public health, health equity, and racial justice, but what will they do now that they’re in office? Prevention Institute’s Ruben Cantu and Sana Chehimi discuss what the new administration should prioritize in the first 100 days and in the long-term to promote thriving, equitable communities. SHOW NOTES: Here is the pre-recorded discussion on Policy & Advocacy to Advance Mental Health and Wellbeing: https://preventioninstitute.org/tools/policy-advocacy-advance-mental-health-and-wellbeing Here are Prevention Institute's policy priorities, and the executive actions undertaken thus far by the Biden-Harris administration: https://preventioninstitute.org/publications/prevention-institute-policy-priorities https://www.whitehouse.gov/briefing-room/presidential-actions/ *Photo by Steffan Limmen on Instagram

    29 min
  6. Mobilizing Action for Resilient Communities (MARC) Podcast Series: Effective Network Leadership

    01/12/2021

    Mobilizing Action for Resilient Communities (MARC) Podcast Series: Effective Network Leadership

    Ruben Cantu of Prevention Institute and Kathryn Evans of Rooted Strategy interview network leaders from Mobilizing Action for Resilient Communities (MARC), an initiative of the Health Federation of Philadelphia that supports cross-sector, community networks using the science of ACEs and trauma to build a just, healthy and resilient world. In this episode, Ruben and Kathryn talk with Joel Fein and Crystal Wyatt, members of the Philadelphia ACE Task Force’s Steering Committee, about effective network leadership. The MARC Podcast Series is a joint production of the Health Federation of Philadelphia and Prevention Institute. For more information about MARC, visit MARC.HealthFederation.org. Funding for the series comes from the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. The series is also supported in part by Cooperative Agreement No. 6 NU38OT000305-02-03 from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). Its contents are solely the responsibility of the authors and do not necessarily represent the official views of the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, the Department of Health and Human Services, or the CDC. Photo credit: Philadelphia ACE Task Force

    34 min
  7. Mobilizing Action for Resilient Communities (MARC) Podcast: The Role of a Backbone Organization

    01/11/2021

    Mobilizing Action for Resilient Communities (MARC) Podcast: The Role of a Backbone Organization

    Ruben Cantu of Prevention Institute and Kathryn Evans of Rooted Strategy interview network leaders from Mobilizing Action for Resilient Communities (MARC), an initiative of the Health Federation of Philadelphia that supports cross-sector, community networks using the science of ACEs and trauma to build a just, healthy and resilient world. In this episode, Ruben and Kathryn talk with Laura Norton-Cruz, former director of the Alaska Resilience Initiative, about the role of an effective backbone organization. The MARC Podcast Series is a joint production of the Health Federation of Philadelphia and Prevention Institute. For more information about MARC, visit MARC.HealthFederation.org. Funding for the series comes from the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. The series is also supported in part by Cooperative Agreement No. 6 NU38OT000305-02-03 from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). Its contents are solely the responsibility of the authors and do not necessarily represent the official views of the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, the Department of Health and Human Services, or the CDC. Photo credit: Laura Norton-Cruz

    41 min
  8. Mobilizing Action for Resilient Communities (MARC) Podcast Series: Using Data to Effect Change

    01/11/2021

    Mobilizing Action for Resilient Communities (MARC) Podcast Series: Using Data to Effect Change

    Ruben Cantu of Prevention Institute and Kathryn Evans of Rooted Strategy interview network leaders from Mobilizing Action for Resilient Communities (MARC), an initiative of the Health Federation of Philadelphia that supports cross-sector, community networks using the science of ACEs and trauma to build a just, healthy and resilient world. In this episode, Ruben and Kathryn talk with Yusuf Ali, Soojin Conover and Suzeth Dunn from Boston’s Vital Village Network about using data to effect change. The MARC Podcast Series is a joint production of the Health Federation of Philadelphia and Prevention Institute. For more information about MARC, visit MARC.HealthFederation.org. Funding for the series comes from the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. The series is also supported in part by Cooperative Agreement No. 6 NU38OT000305-02-03 from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). Its contents are solely the responsibility of the authors and do not necessarily represent the official views of the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, the Department of Health and Human Services, or the CDC. Photo credit: Vital Village

    33 min
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About

It’s easy to see the problems in our world: chronic diseases, gun violence, substance misuse, toxic water... What’s often less obvious are the conditions in our communities that help create these problems, and that ultimately point to smart solutions. Moving Upstream tells the stories of people and communities that are finding surprising and inspiring ways to transform these conditions and prevent the problems from happening in the first place.

Information

  • Creator
    Prevention Institute's Moving Upstream
  • Years Active
    2019 - 2025
  • Episodes
    27
  • Rating
    Clean
  • Copyright
    © All rights reserved
  • Show Website
    Moving Upstream