PAN Foundation launches Stronger Together: a national initiative powered by local communities to improve healthcare access
The PAN Foundation announces the launch of Stronger Together, a national initiative grounded in local action to address healthcare access, affordability, and equity challenges nationwide.
After nearly two years of groundwork and relationship-building, the Stronger Together initiative is now active in Atlanta, Georgia, and Dallas, Texas, with additional city-based task forces in development.
“We’re not imposing a model—we’re supporting one that already exists in the hearts and work of community leaders,” said Kim Baich, Chief Impact Officer at the PAN Foundation. “Local leadership is the engine of this initiative.”
Stronger Together gathers locally led task forces that are deeply connected to the communities they serve. Each task force focuses on the specific healthcare access issues facing their region, while also contributing to a growing national movement for change. Together, these efforts form a network of community-driven solutions with shared goals, coordinated learning, and collective impact.
“The reality is that healthcare access and affordability continue to be out of reach for millions of people,” said Baich. “The Stronger Together initiative unites national strategy with local leadership. It’s about building power through partnership—community by community, city by city.”
Community-led solutions in Atlanta
PAN launched Stronger Together in Atlanta in response to the city’s persistent healthcare gaps. More than 67 percent of adults living in Georgia report healthcare affordability challenges1. Georgia is also in the midst of a diabetes epidemic, with 11.4 percent of adults diagnosed and 33.7 percent at risk for the disease.2 These healthcare gaps, compounded by affordability issues, highlight an urgent need for accessible health resources.
To help address these challenges, PAN hosted the first Stronger Together festival in fall 2024—an event shaped by 55 local organizations and listening sessions with residents and city leaders. The festival provided essential health services alongside wrap-around resources that addressed basic social needs—such as food insecurity, housing challenges, and other critical support services. It also fostered long-term connections among local partners, laying the groundwork for PAN’s continued collaboration in Atlanta, with local voices driving the work forward.
Learn more about our work and the local task force in Atlanta.
Building trust and momentum in Dallas
In Dallas, Stronger Together launched in late 2024 with a focus on building relationships and infrastructure to close health access gaps. In May 2025, PAN convened more than 30 community leaders—representing healthcare systems, grassroots organizations, educational institutions, and local government—for a day of collaborative planning.
Key themes included uplifting smaller, trusted community groups, integrating health education into care workflows, and creating new pathways for public health workforce development. These locally identified priorities are shaping Dallas’s task force efforts, ensuring that the community leads the way in advancing healthcare access.
Learn more about our work and the local task force in Dallas.
Connect with us to get involved
As Stronger Together expands to more cities, PAN remains committed to an approach that centers local expertise, values grassroots leadership, and facilitates shared learning across communities.
“This is a national movement, but it lives and breathes at the local level,” said Baich. “By listening, learning, and acting together, we’re creating a new model for community-driven impact—one rooted in trust, equity, and lasting change.”
If you’re based in Atlanta or Dallas and want to join the local task force or partner with us on community efforts, or to bring this work to your community, contact us today.
Sources:
- Consumer Health Experience State Survey, 2023, Altarum Healthcare Value Hub
- The Burden of Diabetes in Georgia, 2023, American Diabetes Association