Public Health Advocates and the Fight Against Diabetes in California

Public health advocate Alicia Procello Maddox leads the Avery Dennison Foundation in Glendale, California. As organization president and vice president of community investment, she oversees grantmaking and employee engagement strategies throughout the Fortune 500 company. Alicia Procello Maddox concurrently serves as a board member of Public Health Advocates, and recently moderated a conference on diabetes prevention for the organization.

Public Health Advocates, previously known as the California Center for Public Health Advocacy, facilitates public health initiatives at the local level. By partnering with neighborhoods and schools, it helps ordinary institutions become positive forces for improving public health in California and beyond. 

In California, more than half of adults are living with diabetes or prediabetes. Public Health Advocates suggests that this is partially because of economic inequalities in the state. Many traditionally low-income areas have limited access to both healthy foods and recreation areas for playing and exercising. 

In order to combat these issues, Public Health Advocates has been listening to concerns from people with diabetes to learn how best to serve their families. This targeted effort began in 2016, and has been working to make diabetes prevention a high priority in California.