In 2002, the US Institute of Medicine (IOM) reached the conclusion ‘Disparities in health care are one of the nation's most serious health care problems. Research has extensively documented the pervasiveness of racial and ethnic disparities.’1 The disparities noted by the IOM are widespread. In the US, deaths from heart disease are 30% higher among African-Americans than Caucasians, and deaths from stroke are 40% higher among African-Americans than Caucasians. The incidence of diabetes is 2.3 times higher among American-Indian Alaska Natives, 1.6 times higher among African-Americans, and 1.5 times higher among Hispanics when compared with Caucasians. The rate of cervical cancer is five times higher in Vietnamese women than Caucasian women. Finally, the rate of infant mortality (death within the first 12 months of age) is 2.5 times higher in African-Americans than in Caucasians. While these statistics may seem disturbing, the fact that these disparities are not new is even more disturbing. In fact, WEB Dubois documented alarming disparities between African-Americans and Caucasians in 1899 when he wrote The Philadelphia Negro. Dubois noted alarmingly high rates of cancer, heart disease and stroke among African-Americans residing in Philadelphia. In 1899, Dubois called for the elimination of health disparities with the statement: ‘We must endeavor to eliminate, so far as possible, the problem elements which make a difference in health among people’.2 In 1999, the US Federal Government launched the REACH (Racial and Ethnic Approaches to Community Health) Program.3 This program, while headed by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), had a number of federal and private sector partners who were instrumental in guiding it. These partners included the Offices of Minority Health, Public Health Science, and the Assistance Secretary for Program Planning and Evaluation from the Department of Health and Human Services. Other partners included the Office of Minority Health and Health Disparities at the National Institutes of Health, the Administration on Aging, the California Endowment, and the Society for Public Health Education. Without the advice, guidance, and partnership of these influential organizations, the REACH program would not have been as successful as it has been.