We Got Us: Building Trust, Community Power, and Health Justice

Hosted October 2025

In this webinar, we were joined by We Got Us, a Black-led community health organization founded in Boston, is redefining what public health can look like when trust and power are centered—not as an afterthought, but as the starting point. The organization emerged at the height of the COVID-19 pandemic to address medical mistrust and vaccine hesitancy in Black communities and has since expanded into a trusted hub for education, research, and advocacy.

This conversation explored how We Got Us blends health literacy, mutual aid, and community-rooted research to shape a more just and people-powered public health infrastructure.

A public demonstration; people are leaning against Blue Cross Blue Shield of Michigan offices, with picket signs. The one in the forefront is a young man wearing a wide brimmed hat holding a yellow sign with dark text that reads "Your greed makes me sick".

We Got Us: Building Trust, Community Power, and Health Justice

from Rx Foundation’s Power is a Social Determinant of Health series

When systemic racism, medical mistrust, and unequal access shape health outcomes, what does it look like to build a different kind of health infrastructure—one grounded in the leadership of those most impacted? We Got Us is proving what’s possible when communities organize around their own power.

This session explored their evolving model and what it reveals about trust, narrative change, and systemic accountability.

Watch the Recording

Session Highlights

Trust is the foundation of effective health communication
Founder Dr. LaShyra “Lash” Nolen noted that messaging around public health often fails because it centers the institution, not the community. We Got Us flips this by having trained community members—many of whom live in the neighborhoods they serve—deliver health information in culturally responsive and accessible ways.
Health justice work must address structural violence, not just symptoms
Panelists highlighted how medical mistrust is not a “deficit” in communities, but a rational response to systemic harm. Their programming connects immediate education and mutual aid to larger fights for accountability in healthcare, policing, and environmental justice.
Community-rooted research can shift power in real time
We Got Us partners with institutions on research—but with clear terms that ensure community leadership and ownership of the data. This includes community consent processes, shared authorship, and data-sharing agreements that prevent extraction. Their work during the pandemic informed public health responses in real time.
Headshot of Dr. Lisa Fitzpatrick with a quote from the RX Foundation power session, "We must be willing to embrace solutions that respond directly to community feedback even if it sounds foreign, risky and non-academic. People want relatable messaging. This builds trusts which can increase engagement and close care gaps.
Health literacy is a form of power-building
Rather than simply sharing information, their model is built on training community members to teach and lead. Health Ambassadors are equipped to translate complex medical information, dispel myths, and shape narratives in their own communities—multiplying impact beyond any single campaign.
Sustainability requires investment in people, not just programs down
We Got Us stressed the need to fund staffing, training, and infrastructure that allows grassroots public health organizations to endure beyond a single crisis moment. “We can’t keep asking the same people to save the world for free,” said Nolen.

Notable Quotes

  • “We Got Us started because we were tired of watching people we love die from systems that don’t care about us.” — Dr. LaShyra “Lash” Nolen
  • “Medical mistrust isn’t a flaw in the community. It’s a rational response to harm.” — Eileen Milien, BS
  • “We didn’t just want to give people information. We wanted to give them the tools to become messengers themselves.” —Eileen Milien, BS

Session Resources

Speakers

Dr. LaShyra “Lash” Nolen, MD, MPP
Founder & Executive Director, We Got Us
Dr. Nolen is an internal medicine resident at Brigham and Women’s Hospital and a physician activist whose work focuses on antiracism, health equity, and community power. A Forbes 30 Under 30 honoree, her work has been featured in Teen Vogue, The Boston Globe, and NPR.
Eileen Milien, BS
Incoming Executive Director of We Got Us. A proud Haitian-American with a background in public health and biology, Eileen has served as WGU’s Project Director and is the creator of the Health for the People podcast. She is committed to making health information accessible and amplifying community voices

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