Creating Data Tools to Expand Access to Health and Wellness Opportunities
City: Brownsville, Texas
Reporting to: Parks & Recreation Cannery Market Manager
The Challenge
Health outcomes in Brownsville significantly lag cities elsewhere in Texas and across the U.S. More than 47 percent of adults in the city meet the clinical definition of obesity, compared with the national average of 33 percent. Adults in Brownsville also experience chronic diseases such as diabetes and cardiovascular disease at rates far above national and state averages. City leaders have identified the lack of access to health and wellness services as a root cause of these problems. This includes access to not only doctors—one in four adults in Brownsville do not have health insurance—but also healthy food, health education, transportation, and city-run parks, recreational facilities, or health and wellness programs.
Mayor John Cowen Jr. and other city leaders are addressing these issues. In early 2026, the city will adopt a new Parks, Health, and Recreation Master Plan with a goal of strategically expanding access to parks, recreation centers, and health and wellness activities. Through Cowen’s participation in the Bloomberg Harvard City Leadership Initiative, a core team of city staff is engaging with residents to more deeply understand the economic, social, cultural, and physical barriers they face to accessing services and building healthy habits. In addition, the city is refurbishing a market hall known as the Cannery Public Market to serve as a hub for a farmer’s market, food bank, and classes in gardening, exercise, and healthy cooking. In the summer of 2026, the city will launch a ten-week wellness initiative called “One City: Growing Together,” which will deliver similar classes at locations across Brownsville, integrating new marketing strategies meant to reach residents who historically have faced barriers accessing such services.
The Master Plan process, public engagements, and other health and wellness activities city leaders are working on are producing troves of data on residents’ access to health, recreation, and wellness services and outcomes. City leaders hope to harness this data to inform their strategies and programming going forward.
Key questions include:
- How can the City of Brownsville efficiently and effectively use data to enhance park and recreation operations and to improve residents’ utilization of the parks and recreational areas?
- Is the city missing any critical data points to meet this goal, and if so, what are they?
- How effective are the City of Brownsville’s current health and fitness marketing strategies?
- How can the City of Brownsville best engage residents to participate in health and wellness activities through the parks and recreation ecosystem?
What You’ll Do
The fellow will work with Parks and Recreation staff and others across city government and community partners to collect and analyze available data on residents’ health access and outcomes and identify critical gaps that need to be filled. The fellow will support implementation of the new Parks, Health, and Recreation Master Plan by delivering data-driven recommendations and creating data tools city leaders can use to evaluate and inform future strategies. The fellow will also support the launch of the “One City: Growing Together” wellness initiative and evaluate its results. Key stakeholders include Mayor Cowen and city commissioners; key city departments such as the City Manager’s Office, Parks and Recreation, Health, Multimodal Transportation, and Library; local healthcare systems; nonprofits such as the Brownsville Wellness Coalition; and the “Tu Salud Si Cuenta” public health campaign by the University of Texas at Houston School of Public Health.
Key deliverables include:
- A draft inventory of existing health-related data sources with the city, county, and key external organizations.
- A draft data strategy outlining how the city can continue to accelerate progress for health and wellness through parks and recreation.
- An assessment of strategies from peer cities that have shown success in expanding access to health, recreation, exercise, and wellness programming.
- Presentation of findings to the mayor and key stakeholders.
- Supporting launch and evaluation of the “One City: Growing Together” initiative.
What You’ll Bring
The fellow will be expected to possess the following skills:
- Data Analysis
- Qualitative and Quantitative Analysis
- Design Thinking
- Marketing
- Stakeholder Management
- Writing and Editing
