Washington, DC—The National Council of La Raza (NCLR), the largest Latino civil rights and advocacy organization in the U.S., was honored today by the Congressional Black Caucus (CBC) at the 2008 CBC Health Braintrust for its work to eliminate racial health disparities. Jennifer Ng’andu, Associate Director of the NCLR’s Health Policy Project, received the 2008 CBC Health Braintrust Leadership in Advocacy Award for her work on the “Health Equity and Accountability Act of 2007.

The “Health Equity and Accountability Act of 2007” is the strongest health disparities legislation before Congress, with the backing of members of the Congressional Asian Pacific American Caucus, the Congressional Black Caucus, and the Congressional Hispanic Caucus. Among making many important improvements to the health care system, this legislation would drastically improve health care access and quality for Latinos and other minority communities, diversify the health care workforce, increase funding for language assistance services and community-based health promotion activities, and enhance the enforcement of civil rights in health care settings.

Over the past year, NCLR has worked to build support among our nation’s leaders for this legislation. As part of its National Advocacy Day, NCLR, its Affiliates, and other community-based partners worked to educate Congress about the impact of health inequities at the local level. Approximately 75 advocates traveled to Capitol Hill, calling on Congress to make critical health services more accessible to minority communities. Hundreds of groups from throughout the country joined the effort, helping to increase congressional support and resulting in the first two congressional hearings in 2007. This marked the first time in eight years that hearings were held on the subject. NCLR President and CEO Janet Murguía testified for the second hearing before the Subcommittee on Health of the House Committee on Energy and Commerce. Under Ng’andu’s leadership, NCLR will continue to urge Congress to support health equity legislation in the upcoming year.

About Jennifer Ng’andu
As Associate Director of NCLR’s Health Policy Project, Ng’andu oversees the development and advancement of policies aimed at improving the health status of Latinos and creating parity for immigrants in the health care system. She is a board member of the National Physicians Alliance and the Herndon Alliance.

Ng’andu earned a bachelor’s degree in Psychology from Duke University.

###