The Oral health Progress and Equity Network, or OPEN, recently held its regional meetings to address policy and programming for the remainder of 2019. Members on the west met up in Houston, while the east convened in Atlanta, and both groups discussed the national policy landscape in the context of oral health that included approving a plan for educating legislators as part of OPEN’s national convening later this year.

Members learned about critical updates about the plans to launch OPEN, Inc., the new backbone of the network, and about the network-wide project for the year: Connect for Strength, Connect for Success. And a big thank you to Alison Corcoran and Mike Monopoli for providing updates about the DentaQuest Partnership for Oral Health Advancement’s efforts and intentions to partner with OPEN in the future.

The rest of the meetings focused on now updated roadmaps members are using to support oral health improvement efforts and training in structural inequities. Members also could engage in peer coaching to improve their individual leadership skills, as well as gain ideas during a resource fair that highlighted available tools from the network infrastructure to support network member activities.

All in all, the convenings were a smashing success that left network members trained and developed, with lots of new information, and big plans ahead for what’s next in 2019! Stay tuned for information on the OPEN-wide Capitol Hill event (pun intended), as well as further updates on progress toward 2020 goals.