Join A Sector Committee
Get Involved! Join community members focused on each of the sector areas of schools, worksites, community policy, restaurants & grocery stores, faith-based organizations, and individual engagement to help make the healthy choice the easy choice in Jacksonville.
Working Committee Application
Communities across the U.S. are significantly lowering healthcare costs, improving productivity, fostering economic development, and enjoying a higher quality of life through the Blue Zones Project. Over the span of five years, local leadership and the Blue Zones team are launching and implementing policy work and engagement initiatives in the Westside, Northside, and Eastside Jacksonville neighborhoods.
As background, the City of Jacksonville and a coalition of community partners announced the launch of the Blue Zones Project in Jacksonville in June 2023 to help residents live better, longer lives. The Blue Zones Project is a comprehensive initiative that transforms the environments where people live, work, learn, and play to measurably improve community well-being, resilience, and economic vitality. The Jacksonville Blue Zones initiative is supported by Baptist Health, Brooks Rehabilitation, the City of Jacksonville, Florida Blue, Jacksonville Jaguars, the Jessie Ball duPont Fund, Mayo Clinic in Florida, UF Health Jacksonville, Community First Credit Union, and United Way of Northeast Florida. Blue Zones Project Jacksonville is adding members from these communities to our sector committees to help guide our efforts forward.
We are looking for passionate and involved community leaders to help us move our work forward in zip codes 32206, 32208, 32209, 32210, and 32244. These committee members would bring their institutional knowledge and talents into a committee(s) of their choice giving support to the project as it moves forward. Our goal is to help our community become more livable, walkable, and bikeable – a healthier place to live, work, group up, and grow old.
Ideal candidates:
- Are trusted and respected by their communities
- Are committed to community over self, personal preferences or ambitions
- Represent what the community truly needs
- Are open to others’ points of view and
- Have demonstrated a commitment to improving their community.
We are asking for approximately 5-7 hours per month of your time for meetings, working groups, events, support, etc.
Blue Zones Project Jacksonville works with our community:
Schools have long been one of the most important factors in helping kids make good choices about eating well and staying healthy. And Blue Zones Project offers school leaders programs and policies that make it easier to teach students how they can lead longer, happier lives.
We work with grocery stores in our communities to help them make simple changes in their stores to nudge their customers into making healthier choices—like more healthy food options and a more health-conscious store layout.
Restaurants play an enormous role in a community’s overall diet. So we help local eateries optimize their dining experiences (e.g., highlighting nutritious menu items and removing salt from tables) to encourage patrons to make healthier choices.
In long-living populations, pursuing faith activities has been found to be a key factor to greater longevity. Faith leaders can have great influence in a community, so we help spark new energy and excitement for focusing on the physical, emotional, and spiritual well-being of their members.
Blue Zones Project partners with community employers to create healthier work environments. This, in turn, empowers employees to be happier, healthier, and more productive. The benefits to employers are many, including increased productivity and a potential savings in healthcare costs.
Nearly every type of organization can utilize Blue Zones Project principles to cultivate healthier and happier customers and members. And more vibrant, engaged patrons lead to a healthy business bottom line. It’s a win-win for everyone!
