In a country known for its world-class hospitals and cutting-edge medical research, it’s still shockingly hard for many people to access quality healthcare.
According to the World Health Organization (WHO), health inequities around the world are shortening lives by decades and the United States is no exception. Millions face barriers rooted in income, race, geography, and systemic bias that prevent them from receiving fair and consistent care.
That’s where Voices of Equity (VoE) comes in. This student-led organization is working to bridge the gap between compassion and access, one campus at a time. Now expanding to Ithaca College, with established chapters at Cornell University, Howard University, and several others, VoE is building a nationwide community of young leaders advocating for health equity.
“It is a shame that in a country with some of the best technical medical care available, it is so difficult to access for some people,” said one VoE member. “By fighting for this issue and giving people the access to healthcare they need, we can improve our medical system tenfold and grant much better patient outcomes to so many people.”
At Ithaca College, the chapter’s focus is twofold: fostering discussion about healthcare inequality on campus and inspiring students to take meaningful action in the community. “VoE hopes to inspire future leaders to take health equity under their wings as future professionals and create a movement that emphasizes this issue,” one student leader shared. “We also hope to give people a space where they feel that they are heard and seen, creating an atmosphere where they can show up and give their ideas freely.”
The Ithaca chapter is run by an all-women executive board, a detail that embodies the organization’s mission of representation and empowerment. These initiatives range from educational workshops to partnerships with local health clinics, addressing everything from reproductive care access to mental health resources. According to the Kaiser Family Foundation, found at https://www.kff.org/, racial and gender disparities continue to impact who gets treated, how, and at what cost. VoE is determined to confront those realities head-on.
“I’m passionate about equity and inclusion work because I think it’s one of the most important challenges in our healthcare system today,” Grace Chen, the National Community Outreach Director states. “The healthcare system, though improving, still takes shortcuts, from high costs to limited rural access to a lack of diversity in medical research. We fail to see the full picture of someone’s health, from nutrition to environment and lifestyle. That needs to change.”
The American Medical Association and Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) have both recognized that health disparities are deeply intertwined with social and economic conditions, something VoE works to spotlight through its discussions and community projects.
For many students, this issue hits close to home. “Growing up in Cleveland, I’ve seen firsthand how uneven support can be for communities that fall outside the ‘target demographic,’” Chen states. “If you walk just a single block, it sometimes feels like you’re stepping into a completely different world. It’s disheartening to realize how apparent, yet normalized, those disparities are.”
That personal connection is what fuels VoE’s mission to transform compassion into action. “It’s one thing to have compassion for your community members. Everyone has that, it’s a whole different thing to turn compassion into tangible change. That takes a lot more courage, but it’s what we hope to inspire.”
While the organization is still young at Ithaca College, its impact is already growing. “It’s hard to quantify impact when it comes to something as nuanced as health equity,” one student shared. “But for me, progress looks like students feeling genuinely empowered to take initiative. I want our members to actually see themselves as leaders and changemakers, not just students.” Another student states “It may seem like an institutional issue where nothing can be done from our perspective, but groups like these are proven to make a massive difference in communities and the work that we put in will help to make the healthcare of the community easier and easier to access.”
If you’re looking to get involved, Voices of Equity welcomes students from all majors and backgrounds. Whether you’re studying health sciences, politics, sociology, or even art, your voice matters. Learn how to start a chapter, or connect with the Ithaca College team through their instagram @ithacacollegevoe and national volunteer page. You can also email to get updates on events, advocacy projects, and ways to help the local community.
Some highlighted events that VOE has put out include advocating for National Health equity week. Speaker panels about addiction and health equity from the director of Health Equity Young People in Recovery and Chief of Diversity and Learning at Centralus Health.
Voices of Equity is more than a student club — it’s a movement. As Chen states “Anyone can make a difference if you slow down to see the barriers that people face, and care enough to do something about them. Equity starts in small, everyday choices, like how we listen and advocate when something is unfair. Creating health equities doesn’t require grand gestures. Everyone is capable of making some difference.” With its growing list of national partners, the organization is proving that change doesn’t start in Washington or with policy, it starts on campus, with young people who care enough to act.
Because when students raise their voices together, health equity stops being a buzzword and starts becoming a reality.