Upstate Medical wins NAACP award for community partnership efforts

A 300-student mental health waitlist, neighborhood breast cancer outreach and a plan to train more Black, Indigenous and other clinicians helped Upstate Medical University earn the Syracuse Onondaga County NAACP’s Earl G. Graves Sr. Corporate Award. The honor puts a local spotlight on whether Upstate’s equity work is changing access for students, patients and the workforce in Syracuse and Onondaga County.

The award was presented May 21 at the NAACP’s 46th annual Freedom Fund Awards Dinner at the Oncenter Convention Center in Syracuse. The Graves award is given each year to businesses whose contributions show allegiance with the African American community through work on equal rights, opportunities, partnerships and financial support. The Syracuse Onondaga County NAACP says its chapter has spent 114 years fighting racism and discrimination while focusing on criminal justice, economic development, environmental and climate justice and legal redress.

Upstate President Mantosh Dewan, the Alan and Marlene Norton Presidential Chair, said the recognition mattered because it reflected the power of partnership. Upstate pointed to its work with the Syracuse City School District, local organizations, community health workers and business leaders as part of its effort to reduce disparities and expand opportunity. One of the clearest examples is a five-year school mental health initiative funded by a nearly $5.5 million federal grant. The program is designed to bring in-person and telehealth counseling, developmental evaluations, diagnostic testing and medication management directly to students, while also building a more diverse pipeline of future mental health professionals. Upstate said the effort is aimed at increasing representation of African American, Indigenous and other BIPOC clinicians in the local workforce.

The school district and Upstate announced that partnership on Dec. 19, 2024, when the district said about 300 students were waiting for mental health services. That gap gives the award added weight: it is not just about prestige, but about whether a major local health institution can help close a real access problem for Syracuse families.

Upstate also highlighted She Matters, a peer-to-peer community outreach effort run by Upstate Cancer Center to reduce breast cancer disparities among underserved women. Launched in 2014, the program uses community health workers and community health advisors who live in the neighborhoods they serve to educate women about breast cancer screening, encourage mammograms and help with navigation and appointments. Upstate says the program has focused especially on low-income communities, including Black and Latino women in public housing, and it has drawn outside support from a $50,000 Kay Yow Cancer Fund grant and a $165,000 UnitedHealthcare grant for She Matters and the related mental health outreach effort I Matter.