At a moment when U.S. politics have rarely felt so divided, Washington state — not Washington, D.C. — might offer a model worth watching. That’s according to Lisa Cohen, founder and executive director of the Washington Global Health Alliance, a coalition of leading global health organizations in the state. Their work building partnerships in the sector has won champions on both sides of the political aisle.
WGHA’s model brings diverse and at times unexpected groups together to collaborate on global health challenges. “It’s tempting to get competitive about hanging on to our specific areas of funding,” she told Devex this week ahead of the annual Global Washington conference in Seattle. “Alliances help us keep a longer-term view and expose us to new ways of approaching problems, and can help us reach those audacious goals like the SDGs more efficiently and more creatively.”
It’s the collaborative environment that sets Washington apart. After last month’s U.S. presidential election, Cohen wrote to members and supporters to argue that her state is “in a unique position to illuminate a course forward” for public health under the next administration.