< Previous8 | TALK MAGAZINE • FALL 2023 Michael Newmuis, Head of Impact, FS Investments Khalid N. Mumin, Acting Secretary, Pennsylvania Department of Education Kenneth Frazier, Executive Chair, Board of Directors, Merck Aaron A. Walton, President, Cheyney University Lorina Marshall-Blake, President, Independence Blue Cross Foundation Larry Hailsham, Executive Deputy Chief of Staff, Governor’s Office Marcel S. Pratt, Managing Partner, Ballard Spahr Tiffany Newmuis, Director, Corporate Admin. & Local Media Develop., Comcast Denise Pearson, Vice Chan. & Chief Div., Equity, & Inclu. Off., PA State Sys. of Higher Ed. Robert Bogle, CEO and President, The Philadelphia Tribune Catherine Hicks, Publisher, The Philadelphia Sunday Sun Evelyn F. Smalls, President and CEO, United Bank of Philadelphia Rachel Ferguson, Chief Innovation & Global Diversity Officer, Visit Philadelphia Douglas I. Oliver, Vice President, Government & External Affairs, PECO Andrea Fields, Director, Western Pennsylvania, Bellevue Strategies Brandi Hunter-Davenport, Senior Associate, Triad Strategies Kadida Kenner, Executive Director, New Pennsylvania Project Dr. Ala Stanford, Surgeon and Advocate, Black Doctors Consortium Keir Bradford-Grey, Partner, Montgomery McCracken Donald Guy Generals, President, Community College of Philadelphia Nicole Fuller, Ex. Dir., Phil. Area Proj. on Occupational Safety & Health Joel Barnett, Sr. VP, Dir. of Commercial Affinity Banking, Fulton Bank Kim Brister, VP & Chief Div., Equity & Incl. Officer, WellSpan Health Jonathan Bowser, CEO, Steel Works Construction Quintin Bullock, President, Community College of Allegheny CountyWWW.TALKMAGAZINEONLINE.COM | 9 Shirley Moore Smeal, CEO, Moore Smeal and Associates Sara Lomax-Reese, President and CEO, WURD Radio Sydney Etheredge, President & CEO, Planned Parenthood of Western PA Tina Nixon, VP of Mission Effectiveness & Chief Diversity Officer, UPMC Central PA Ryan Sanders, Partner, Vice Capital Les Brun, Co-Founder, Chair and CEO, Ariel Alternatives Jazelle M. Jones, Deputy Managing Director and Director of Operations, City of Philadelphia Calvin Tucker, Dir. of Engage. & Advance- ment, Republican Party of PA Regina A. Hairston, Pre. & CEO, African American Cham. of Comm. of PA, New Jersey & Delaware Keith Leaphart, Founder, Philanthropi Gary Horton, President, Urban Erie Community Develop. Corporation Malcolm J. Yates, Dir. of Gov. Relations, Public Health Manage. Corp. Doris Carson-Williams, Pre. & CEO, African American Cham. of Comm. of Western PA Evan Frazier, President & CEO, The Advanced Leadership Institute Robert Collier, Sr., President, Black Clergy of Philadelphia and Vicinity Khari Mosley, Political Director, 1Hood Media Sulaiman W. Rahman, CEO, DiverseForce Joe Watkins, President and CEO, Community Council Health Systems André R. Horton, Erie County Council Member Celeste Trusty, PA State Director, Families Against Mandatory Minimums David K. Arthur, VP & Senior Director, Federal Gov. Relations, PPL Corporation Brandon Flood, Founder, The Lazarus Firm Kathy Barnette, Political Commentator Mark Kelly Tyler, Pastor, Mother Bethel African Methodist Episcopal Church Dr. Margaret Larkins-Pettigrew, Sr. VP & Chief Clinical Div., Eq. & Incl. Officer, AlleghenyBUSINESS NEWS QUARTER PAGE AD – PITTSBURGH HOUSING Dozens of business owners and elected officials gathered at The Enterprise Center to hear more about new rules that would open the door for more small and diverse businesses to prosper. Gov. Josh Shapiro’s new executive order has four strategies to increase the share of state contracts among small, minority, and women-owned businesses across Pennsylvania. For example, it’s more often that a small diverse business will be a subcontractor rather than the main prime contractor on government contracts — which means significantly less revenue for the small business. New rules will require state agencies to award more prime contracts to small diverse businesses instead and there will be a public dashboard that shares progress every six months. Pa. sets aside $43 million in its Small Business Reserve Designated Contracts out of its $4.2 billion spending budget. By contrast, Maryland set aside $430 million out of $5.2 billion in the same fiscal year for its Small Business Reserve Program. State agencies must create a cohesive strategy to buy more goods and services from small diverse businesses. The state is adjusting who qualifies as a small business to account for inflation by increasing the revenue cap from $38.5 million to $47 million because a company could be generating more revenue without growing its business due to higher prices. Plus, a new business advisory board will propose more policy changes soon. There’s also one thing that Gov. Shapiro cannot change with the stroke of a pen — increase the threshold for small business certification from 100 employees to 500 employees — which is the federal definition of a small business. It would require the state legislature to pass a new law. In the meantime, it’s about getting more competition in the market, he said. “So, we’re setting aside more resources, we’re going to qualify more folks,” Shapiro said. But when asked by WHYY whether there was a specific percentage of state contracts that would be a goal — Shapiro said no. “I don’t believe in standing up in front of all these folks here and putting out a number that is a B.S. number just designed to make people feel good. I believe in tangible results and that’s what we’re going to be able to deliver with this policy,” he said. That’s a different strategy than former Gov. Tom Wolf, whose administration set a goal that 26.3% of all state contracts would be awarded to small diverse businesses after conducting a disparity study. In 2020, about 20.2% of state contract spending across Pennsylvania was awarded to small businesses, diverse small businesses, and veteran-owned businesses. Inside that figure, roughly half of that went to diverse small businesses alone. In 2021, that shrunk slightly to 19% which means the state never hit the diversity goal. In Maryland, the state struggled to meet its own minority and women-owned business contracting goal of 29% between 2013 and 2021 under then-Gov. Larry Hogan. Several months ago, Maryland Gov. Wes Moore signed an executive order several months ago to mandate agencies report minority and women-owned business contracting and has made it a focus of his administration. In Philadelphia, The Enterprise Center CEO Della Clark says that too often some communities are left out of the market and that access to capital is the best way small businesses can grow. “I thought that you could train away the pain points for small businesses without capital. I thought you could cohort it away. Or you could incubate it away,” Clark said. “When you need capital and you need contracts, there’s no substitution.” PA Gov. Josh Shapiro signed an executive order in Philadelphia that mandates state agencies to award more government contracts to small and diverse businesses. mean more small diverse businesses can 10 | TALK MAGAZINE • FALL 2023 New PA Rules win government contractsBUSINESS NEWS WWW.TALKMAGAZINEONLINE.COM | 11 A Glenside event celebrated “All Black Everything” by showcasing Black- owned spirits, soul food, and Black vendors. “We’re just promoting Black excellence,” said Khamila “Kitty” Barnes, who is co-curating the event with husband Darnell Barnes. Out of over 2,000 distilleries in the United States, few are Black owned and operated. But Black distillers have been making waves in recent years. Khamila Barnes came up with the idea after taking classes with the Black-owned Ten to One Rum and Uncle Nearest Premium Whiskey distillers. “I was flabbergasted at how there are so many Black- owned distilleries,” Barnes said. And because she’s passionate about “libations education,” she organized the event so she could open others’ eyes to local Black-owned companies. “We make up 2% of the nation’s distilleries, and I want Black people to know that we are in all realms of life, even in spirits,” Barnes said. Many of the spirit companies that Barnes is featuring are based in the tri-state area, including Mishka Premium Vodka of Allentown, which in 2007 became the first and only Black-owned distillery in Pennsylvania. Others include Striped Lion Distilling of Woodbury, New Jersey, TCapri Tequila based in Maryland, Diggs Boys Bourbon (whose owners live in North Wales, Montgomery County), NYAK based in New York, Den of Thieves Whis- key, Ten to One Rum, and beer from West Philly rapper Chill Moody. Barnes will be greeting guests with her specialty cock- tails. She’s a mobile bartender and libations consultant. She got fresh ingredients and gearing up to prepare her drinks and juice fresh fruit, including watermelon and pineapple. The food pairings will have a soulful, southern twist, prepared by Barnes’ auntie, Chef Sherri Washington. The menu includes southern style pickled shrimp paired with whiskey, and a baked apple with sweet potato puree paired with rum. The event space, which doubles as a photography studio, DSQ Photography Studio, run by Darnell, is two-years old. But Khamila has Glenside roots. She grew up in town, graduated from Abington High School and went on to Penn State Abington. This is the couple’s third annual Black-owned spirits showcase. Khamila also runs regular liquor tastings, where she pairs tequilas and whiskeys. Barnes said she just “loves every- thing liquor.” RIVERS CASINO – QUARTER PAGE Glenside business celebrates Black-owned spirits, and promotes ‘Black excellence’ The event spotlights Black-owned spirits from the tri-state distilleries. By Emily Rizzo WWW.TALKMAGAZINEONLINE.COM | 11LATINO NEWS The economic engine of Pennsylvania’s Latino population rivals that of some world nations. A new study ranks the economic output by Pennsylvania’s Latino population among the top 10 highest among states. Moreover, the U.S. Latino Gross Domestic Product is in line with the fifth largest economy in the world, according to the study by the Latino Donor Collaborative, a non-prof- it organization that specializes in research on Latino issues. Nationwide, Latinos in 2021 generated a $3.2 trillion economic output, rivaling that of countries like Germany and India. In Pennsylvania, the Latino economic engine neared about $50 billion dollars, just behind that of Georgia, New Jersey and Illinois. “Our Commonwealth is home to over a million Latinos who make Pennsylvania a richer and more vibrant place every day,” said Olga Negron, executive director of the Governor’s Latino Affairs Commission. “Their growing economic footprint is just one example of the important impact Latinos have in our Commonwealth and across our country.” In fact, there are almost 1.1 million Latinos in Pennsylvania – the fastest growing ethnic group. The Latino population in the state is comparatively young: the median Pennsylvania resident is 41 years old; the median age of a Latino Pennsylvanian is 27. The so-called 222 Corridor, which gets its name from Route 222, and encompasses Easton, Bethlehem, Allentown, Lancaster, Lebanon, York, Harrisburg and Gettysburg - is home to more than 50% of the state’s Latino population. “It’s abundantly clear that if we want to grow our economy and strengthen our communities, we must continue to expand opportuni- ties for Latinos,” Negron said. “Gov. Shapiro knows this – and it is why he is working to create jobs and make Pennsylvania a leader in economic growth.” The Census Bureau estimates there were roughly 64 million Latinos in the U.S. in 2022 - totaling 19% of the nation’s population. According to the study, the top-10 states with the highest economic contribution by Latinos ranked in order are: California, Tex- as, Florida, and New York with Latino Gross Domestic Incomes of $682 billion, $465 billion, $240 billion, and $186 billion respec- tively. The Latino economy in California alone is comparable to the world’s 21st largest economy, between Poland and Switzerland. Pennsylvania ranks among the states where the Latino population has grown quickly over the past decade, ranking alongside Georgia, Washington and Ohio. Even as the pandemic hit Latino communities disproportionately harder than others, the U.S. Latino buying power and economic output grew by more than 14% in the past few years, the study showed. “A major trend today is that global economic growth is slowing, due in large part to the effects of the Chinese economy,” Sol Trujillo, CEO of the Latino Donor Collaborative said in a letter released with the study this week. “So the big question is, ‘Where is the oppor- tunity today for improved margins and sustained growth for the next few decades?’ The answer is, the U.S. Latino cohort, which is the 5th largest economy in the world embedded inside the United States of America.” OTHER KEY FINDINGS IN THE STUDY INCLUDE: • Latino income in the U.S. amounted to $2.5 trillion • Latino purchasing power measured $3.4 trillion • Income among Latinos grew at a real annualized rate of 4.7% compared to 1.9% for non-Latinos IN THE WORKFORCE: • Out of 1.6 million new jobs in Florida, Latinos filled 58% of the total • Latinos in Texas occupied 1.2 million out of 2 million new jobs • A staggering 87% of the new jobs in California were filled by Latinos • In Washington, a hub for cutting edge tech, Latinos filled 160,000 new jobs (out of a total of 480,000) • In Arizona, Latinos filled 60% of 520,000 new jobs Count husband and wife restauranteurs, Manuel Ambrocio and Maria Ramirez, among the legions of Latinos who are fueling a $3.2 trillion economic output among Latinos in this country. Their Swatara Township restaurant - El Rancho Restaurante y Pupuseria - is part of the economic output that contributed about $50 billion dollars into Pennsylvania's economic engine. Dan Gleiter | dgleiter@pennlive.com By Ivey DeJesus | idejesus@pennlive.com Latino Economic Output in PA Among Highest in U.S.: Study 12 | TALK MAGAZINE • FALL 2023LATINO NEWS by Joyce M. Davis | jdavis@pennlive.com Norman Bristol Colon, Pennsylvania’s Chief Diversity Officer, shared some surprising statistics when he met with PennLive’s Editorial board recently. They show a quickly growing community that has both good and bad news to share. HERE’S SOME OF THE GOOD NEWS: • Of the 12 states with at least 1 million Hispanics, the Latino population grew the fastest in Pennsylvania in the last decade. • More than 50 percent of Latinos live in what is called the “222 Cor- ridor,” the regions of Easton, Bethlehem, Allentown, Lancaster, Lebanon, York, Harrisburg, and Gettysburg. • In 2020, Latino voter turnout in Pennsylvania was among the highest of any community. • 1 million Latinos turn 18 every year in the United States, meaning their political clout is large and growing throughout the nation. • While there are 11 million undocumented Latinos in the United States, most Latinos in Pennsylvania are here legally. • These facts are worthy of celebration, as hard-working, talented, entre- preneurial Latinos have the potential to boost Pennsylvania’s economy and assume leadership roles in both business and government. And many Lati- nos in Pennsylvania were born in Puerto Rica and are American citizens. They have a right to live anywhere they want in the United States. BUT COLON SHARED SOME OTHER STATISTICS THAT ARE NOT SO ROSY: • For every $1 a white male earns in Pennsylvania, a Latina mothers makes 54 cents. • Households led by Latina mothers are among the poorest in the state, many even poorer than those run by African American single mothers. • Latinos rank number one among people without healthcare insurance. Another statistic is also daunting. The League of United Latin Amer- ican Citizens says there are serious problems for Latinos in the American criminal justice system. “Discrimination under the law is not a new phenom- enon for Latinos,” LULAC says, noting, “Latinos and African Americans are disproportionately represented in the prison industrial complex and have been greatly affected by mass incarceration.” continued on page 28 Statistics on Pennsylvania’s Latino Communities Reveal Both Good and Bad News | Social Views Left: Caravan encouraging Puerto Rican community members to vote moves west on Tilghman Street in Allentown. The National Puerto Rican Agenda Pennsylvania Chapter held a caravan for Latino voters on Saturday, Oct. 24, 2020. Donna Fisher | lehighvalleylive.com contributor WWW.TALKMAGAZINEONLINE.COM | 13HEALTH NEWS Racial disparities in health care and health outcomes have been perniciously difficult to eradicate despite local, regional, and national efforts to address them over the past several decades. Strategies have primarily focused on increasing health care access (e.g., Medicaid expansion, the Affordable Care Act) and quality (e.g., patient-centered care), with recent efforts promoting the integration of social care (i.e., addressing patients’ social needs such as food insecurity) into comprehensive treatment plans.1 Increasing the number of physicians who are racial and ethnic minority individuals has been another strategy to improve clinical care delivery and health outcomes among minoritized racial and ethnic populations. The evidence associating physician race with patient health outcomes has primarily been limited to research interventions and/or clinical settings. For example, Cooper al² found that Black patients in racially concordant physician relationships had higher levels of positive physician affect, were more satisfied with their health care, and rated their physicians as more participatory in decision-making. Saha et al³ reported that Black patients who had Black physicians were more likely to report having preventive care services and “all needed medical care” during the prior year. However, the association between Black physicians and the health of minoritized racial groups and health disparities at the population level has not been previously evaluated. In JAMA Network Open, Snyder et al4 used longitudinal data at the discrete time points of 2009, 2014, and 2019 from 1618 US counties that had at least 1 Black primary care physician (PCP) and measured the associations between the representation of Black PCPs and the mortality and survival rates both within counties and between counties. The authors’ definition of Black PCP representation is important because it is accurate regardless of changes to the size of the physician workforce or the population being served. The authors defined Black PCP representation as the ratio of the proportion of PCPs who identified as Black divided by the proportion of the population who identified as Black. The authors’ evaluation of between-county differences and within-county differences allowed the research team to explore variations that may be more likely due to changes over time (within-county variation) compared with inherent differences in place (between-county variation) that reflect infra- structure and resources needed to support healthy communities. The authors found that a 10% increase in Black representation was associated with a 30.61-day increase in life expectancy for Black individuals (95% CI, 19.13-42.44 days), a reduction in all-cause mortality among Black persons by 12.71 deaths per 100 000 (95% CI, −14.77 to −10.66), and a 1.17% reduction in the Black/White disparity in all-cause mortality (95% CI, −1.29% to −1.05%). The associations with life expectancy were strongest in counties with high rates of poverty. During a given year of heightened Black representation within counties (vs their average), there were reduced mortality rates among Black populations (−35.34 [95% CI, −58.86 to −11.81] deaths per 100 000 ) and smaller Black/White disparities in all-cause mortality (−2.44 [95% CI, −3.65 to −1.23]). This study’s findings are important for several reasons. First, they demonstrate that at a popula- tion level, mortality and life expectancy among Black individuals are improved when there is greater representation of Black PCPs within the community—a representation that aligns more closely with that of the population. These health outcomes are not exclusively related to health care delivery and use. While there is evidence to support potential mechanisms by which Black physicians working within the health care system can improve health outcomes for Black patients (e.g., increased shared decision-making and patient-centered care, culturally concordant care, increased quality of care), there is also evidence that Black physicians are more likely than physicians from other racial or ethnic groups to engage in health-related work outside the health care system—that is, Black physicians are more likely to provide health-related expertise to local community organizations (e.g., school boards, local media); to be politically involved in health-related matters at the local, state, or national level; and to encourage medical organizations to advocate public health (e.g., air pollution, gun control, increased literacy, substance abuse prevention).5 This community involvement and advocacy by Black physi- cians may change the social drivers of health for the populations most vulnerable to their health effects. Second, the study’s mortality associations were more pronounced in counties with higher rates of poverty. In addition to factors noted above, this finding may also reflect that Black physicians dispro- portionately care for patients that are uninsured and underinsured compared with their non-Hispanic White counterparts. In a study of factors associated with PCPs’ decisions to accept new Medicaid patients under Michigan’s Medicaid expansion, Tipirneni et al6 found that Black physicians had an ad- by Monica E. Peek, MD, MPH, MSc1 14 | TALK MAGAZINE • FALL 2023 continued on page 28 BLACK PRIMARY CARE PHYSICIANS Increasing Representation of A Critical Strategy to Advance Racial Health EquityHEALTH NEWS WWW.TALKMAGAZINEONLINE.COM | 15 by Mylynda Massart, M.D., assistant professor of medicine at University of Pittsburgh and the director of the UPMC Primary Care Precision Medicine clinic During the last year we have taken a tour of precision medicine research and the importance to the African American and Black community. I would be remiss to not cap off this year with a discussion about breast cancer in African Amer- ican Women and precision medicine, especially on the heels of National Breast Cancer Awareness month in October. The numbers paint a concerning picture when it comes to disparities in breast cancer out- comes among the African American and Black population compared to the European ancestry population. In the United States, breast cancer remains the most common cancer after non-melanoma skin cancer and is the second leading cause of all can- cer deaths, according to the American Cancer So- ciety. Despite significant advances in science and an overall 43% decline in breast cancer deaths over the last three decades, African American and Black women are also at higher risk for develop- ing breast cancer earlier in life as compared to White women. Black women under 35 get breast cancer at two times the rate of white women and die at three times the rate. Black women of all ages have a 31% breast cancer mortality rate, the highest of any US racial or ethnic group. One reason for this is that Black women are 58% more likely than white women to have already developed metastatic breast cancer at the time of diagnosis. For this reason, Black women have the lowest 5-year survival rate of any race or ethnicity -- 81% compared to 91% for white women. In addition, Black women have three times higher odds of being diagnosed with triple negative breast cancer than white women. Triple negative breast cancer means that the cancer does not possess estrogen, progesterone or HER2 re- ceptors, which are major targets for the treatment of other types of cancer. Triple-negative breast cancer is associated with worse prognoses, early relapse after treatment and a high frequency of metastasis to lung, liver and brain, with low overall survival rates compared to other types of breast cancer. Additionally, Black women are just as likely to have a hereditary breast cancer mutation as white women, yet their participation in genetic counseling and testing is lower. There are many social and structural reasons contributing to this ongoing disparity including a gap in access to care and insurance. Environ- mental and comorbid risk factors for developing cancer such as diabetes, heart disease, obesity also play a role. As was mentioned in the August article about Black maternal-child health, the cumulative effects of chronic stress have an impact on health through epigenetic influences, wherein environmental stress can travel down to the cellular level and affect gene expression. How can precision medicine technologies help the fight against breast cancer? Breast cancer risk overall is a combination of inherited genetic risk as well as environmental exposures and lifestyle impact, the very definition of precision medicine. There are several emerging and existing tech- nologies available to help detect and fight breast cancer. Many of us have heard about the BRCA genes and their association with breast and ovarian cancer. Hereditary genetic cancer testing can be done for patients with a family history of breast cancer or other cancers or as a popula- tion screening, even in the absence of a family history of cancer. The first step is often to meet with a genetic counselor to discuss the risks and benefits of genetic testing and how to interpret the results in the context of your personal history. Testing can be done on blood or saliva samples and it typically takes just a few weeks to get results. Having a hereditary cancer predisposition does not mean that someone will get cancer in African American and Breast Cancer Dedicated to PP: my breast cancer hero. continued on page 28Next >