The reduction in cigarette smoking in the U.S. is one of the biggest public health success stories in our lifetime. How did we get here? I’ll give you a hint: it wasn’t by telling smokers to just quit already. What actually worked? Prevention > After-the-Fact Treatment. Changing the system > Changing the individual. Population-level solutions > single-person solutions.

Pittsburgh handed control of its water supply to a private multinational corporation in 2012. The company made decision after decision that prioritized profits over safety and health. A class action lawsuit and public pressure led the city to end its relationship with Veolia, but only for the Mayor to once again try to privatize the city’s water, this time with a different company. Enter Pittsburgh United. This coalition of community, labor, faith, and environmental organizations came together as a powerful team - and they WON.

Big corporations are destroying our health. Many of us recognize this. But we feel like there’s nothing we can do about it. 

Turns out, we’ve got the story all wrong. Because this is NOT an underdog story. This is a TEAMWORK story.