Building an Ecosystem at the Intersection of Health & Wealth For Black New Orleanians

New Orleans is a tale of two cities. With each disaster including Hurricane Katrina and the BP oil spill of 2010, Black residents have constantly been left behind and left out of the city’s recovery efforts, with six times as many Black households living in poverty than white households. Now – in the midst of a new disaster – the COVID-19 pandemic has illuminated large gaps in health outcomes and increased unemployment especially for the city’s Black community. In response, New Orleans’ Office of Economic Development and the Health Department are working together to build an ecosystem at the intersection of health and wealth through innovative pilots led by FUSE Executive Fellows Shaun Randolph and Maria Moore. In this panel, Shaun Randolph and Maria Moore discuss how these pilots incorporate key pillars for systemic change in the Black community, and whether a model for inclusive capitalism is possible.