A Conversation with Ballard Food Bank Board Member Vanetta Abdellatif

Ruth Mohapatra, Communications Manager, sat down with Vanetta Abdellatif, President and CEO of Arcora Foundation, to ask her more about her inspiring journey in public and oral health, and what prompted Vanetta to join Ballard Food Bank’s Board of Directors.

This interview has been edited for brevity and clarity.

It’s so nice to sit down with you! Thank you for joining our volunteer board. We wanted to start off by getting to know a little bit more about you and your family.

I am married, and I have been married for 26 years. My husband and I met and married in Egypt. We have one son who is 23 years old. So – we’re a small family!

How did you come to work in public health?

I have been interested in health and health-related services since I was in undergrad.  I thought that I wanted to either become a medical doctor or a physical therapist. I spent the most time preparing to apply for physical therapy school; but in the end, I learned that I didn’t want to touch everybody! I am a first-generation college graduate in my family and worked my way through school doing secretarial work to earn money. After graduating and changing my mind about physical therapy, I found a job working as an Administrative Assistant for a hospital administrator who was one of a small number of female executives. That role piqued my interest in Hospital administration. I felt like healthcare or hospital administration aligned more with the things I wanted to do and was good at – policy, management, and budgeting. I realized I could impact larger systems. In thinking about where I wanted to spend my time, I landed on public health, and then I committed to (a career in) public health. I knew I didn't want to get an MBA; I knew I never wanted to run a bank or be an investment banker or marketer.  So, that is what put me on the public health route.

Board Member, Vanetta Abdellatif

From public health, what then drew you towards oral health?

So, for most of my career I worked in hospitals and ran clinics. Then I took on a role in County government to run a system of health clinics called community health centers. These centers had medical and dental clinics, and behavioral health, substance use treatment, pharmacy, and x-ray services.  So I have experience in many areas of health including oral health because it was part of that portfolio. What really drew me to this work at Arcora Foundation was its focus on philanthropy and making a difference through the work of a foundation. I also liked that it really lined up with my interest in the power of policy to move equity forward.

When this position became available, I learned that the Board was very interested in doing equity and oral health equity work. Before Arcora, I had experience in providing oral health services, but I wasn’t driving policy as much as I would have liked. The more I learned about oral health, the more I saw that oral health disease is one public health issue that is almost 100% preventable. Poor oral health outcomes are driven by public policy that doesn't support oral health, like assuring all people, regardless of race, gender, income, nationality, or sexual orientation, should have access to good health services and public health systems (like clean water and safe housing). I am grateful that my leadership experience has positioned me to influence and change those policies.

Why is oral health so important in our community? What kind of an effect does it have in our community?

I think it's especially important in the United States. We are really very focused on a bright, beautiful smile, but if you don't have a safe place to lay your head or enough healthy food to eat, you are more worried about other things. If your housing or food situation is not stable, you probably are not focused on doing all of the things you need to do to take care of your smile.  In the US, we judge people’s health, income status, and even intelligence based on the quality of their smile. People who are missing their teeth or have cavities suffer from tooth pain, have more difficulty in finding a job, and kids have trouble learning. 

Here in the Pacific Northwest, in particular, it is an upstream battle because only 56% of all of the community water sources here in Washington have the proper balance of fluoride (fluoridated water is a basic public health strategy that is very effective). Mostly only the affluent with stable housing and insurance can stick with a regime, give their kids the extra fluoride that they need when their teeth are forming, make sure that they are brushing and flossing their teeth properly. But, if your life is a little more chaotic, and you are moving from place to place, you may not even have your own toothbrush. So, without fluoridated water a lot of kids don’t have the resource they need to keep their teeth healthy.

Shifting gears a bit here – how did you first get involved with the Ballard Food Bank?

Previously, I had done a lot of board work, but two things happened. Jay Fathi, who is on the Ballard Food Bank Board of Directors, and I connected; we knew each other from some previous work we did in community health. He suggested that I would be great for the board, and I was definitely not looking for another board position yet!  I moved to Seattle a month before the pandemic and it has been a lot of change. Learning the job and other nuances at a time when everything was closed down was difficult. So, I decided to step off a couple of different boards and when this opportunity came up, it was at the right time.

I live in northwest Seattle and every year in my neighborhood they put up a huge Christmas lights display. During this time of year, people from all over the city come to see them, and our HOA then raises funds for the BFB at that time. So, that is when I first got to know about the food bank. Then, I met Executive Director Jen Muzia. Jen is a very strong leader and she told me how much my experience would bring to the table, and I decided to join.

I love the organization and I can’t wait to see the policy and impact work we can do together!