What is it?
The Collective for Health Equity (the Collective or CHE) connects community-based organizations, partners, and leaders to strengthen community-led approaches to health and wellbeing. The Collective’s mission is “Advancing community-based organizations (CBOs) to lead toward inclusive, responsive, and community-defined health equity.”
Building on the nearly 20-year legacy of the National Network to Eliminate Disparities in Behavioral Health (the NNED), the reimagined CHE is connecting CBOs with learning, resources, and each other. Change Matrix served as the coordinating partner for the NNED, and as our previous federal funding has ended, we are rebuilding – expanding our focus from mental health to overall health, because we know that many factors contribute to poor health outcomes in underserved communities.
What Change Matrix does
When CBOs receive resources, training, and network connections, they deliver real impact. The Change Matrix team, responsible for leading the initiative under the CHE Model, elevates CBOs from passive participants to system leaders. We do this by:
- Making health data and tools more accessible
- Building digital platforms and hosting annual gatherings
- Connecting CBOs across different cultures and regions
- Keeping community members in leadership roles
- Supporting the use of Culturally Responsive and Equitable Evaluation to build evidence for practice and demonstrate community impact
We use trusted community platforms and programs to connect over 1,600 CBOs and 5,000 individual members nationwide. We have a community-led governance structure that keeps CBOs in control of direction and decisions.
Why we love this work
Change Matrix brings deep expertise in health equity, capacity building, and national network facilitation, and leading the Collective work allows us to act on our commitment to community-defined health equity. With the close of federal funding, in 2026 we were given the space to consider how the work could evolve to better support community-based organizations and address the broader realities shaping health across communities. This new chapter reflects a broader vision for the work. It expands beyond behavioral health to address health equity, recognizing disparities that exist within various factors that influence health outcomes across communities.
As the Collective continues to grow, it remains grounded in the same principles that have shaped the work from the beginning: centering community voice, fostering connection, creating space for wisdom sharing, and supporting approaches that reflect the needs and strengths of communities. We invite you to join us, let’s advance health equity together.
