It is my honor and privilege to welcome you to the First Annual NHIT Collaborative for the Underserved Conference. Our theme, Connecting for Health Empowerment/Using Health Information Technology to Transform Care in Multicultural Communities, describes a vision that NHIT Collaborative has held since its inception. We trust you share our conviction that health information technology (HIT) is an invaluable tool to achieve health equity for communities experiencing disparities – a tool to close health gaps, empower individuals and communities, and help us all attain optimal health.

During this conference we will have the opportunity to interact with an extraordinary group of thought-leaders and pace-setters representing multiple sectors and disciplines. Our focus will be on actionable strategies that will "move the needle" – resulting in measurable changes in the health and health care of multicultural communities. This will be an interactive conference and there will be opportunities for all of us to offer creative solutions. We know that everyone who attends this conference can and will make a meaningful contribution.

NHIT Collaborative is committed to utilize the results of this conference for the development of its Five Year Strategic Action Plan. We will be calling upon conference participants to assist in that process, requesting your insights and expertise. We are also developing "Cutting-edge" projects in partnership with several organizations who have expressed interest in collaboration. These initiatives and our Five Year Plan will be presented at NHIT Collaborative's Second Annual Conference planned for April 2015.

NHIT Collaborative is committed to working with all interested parties in the weeks and months ahead.

Thank you for joining us today. We look forward to an exciting, energizing event!

Best Regards,

Luis Belen
Chief Executive Officer