The Kresge Foundation announced today the 40 public health leaders who will work to transform the role of local public health departments in their communities as part of the second cohort of The Kresge Foundation’s Emerging Leaders in Public Health initiative.

Kresge’s Emerging Leaders in Public Health was designed to provide public health leaders of county and local health departments opportunities to build additional knowledge and skills to tackle the challenges public health professionals face in their communities. This initiative is part of the foundation’s Health Program’s strategy to accelerate community-centered approaches that promote health of communities.

During the 18-month program, the leaders will participate in an action-oriented program focused on the design and implementation of a transformative concept that shifts or expands the capacity of their local department. Each team will receive a resource grant up to $125,000 as well as coaching and technical assistance to evolve their ideas into action.

“Our second cohort of Emerging Leaders in Public Health is a dynamic and passionate group of public health professionals,” said Dr. Phyllis Meadows, senior fellow to The Kresge Foundation’s Health Program and the Emerging Leaders in Public Health lead. “The ideas and talent shared with us during the application process were very impressive. I am certain with the support of this initiative, this group will begin a process to transform the role of public health for their communities.”

The initiative is designed to develop teams of local public health leaders including the health director/ officer and an emerging future leader from the public health agency. Each team will be asked to challenge and support each other while building skills and competencies together, applying their knowledge to transform how each organization functions in its community.

Cohort II Emerging Leaders in Public Health Participants

The leaders participating in the second cohort are:

• Nicole Alexander-Scott and Julian Drix, Rhode Island Department of Health
• Karen Ayala and Lori Carnahan, DuPage County Health Department
• Patricia Boswell and Laureen Husband, Department of Health, Volusia County
• Gary Cox and Patrick McGough, Oklahoma City-County Health Department
• Ying-Ying Goh and Michael Johnson, City of Pasadena Public Health Department
• Diana Gomez and Gloria Coronado, Yuma County Public Health Services District
• Esmeralda Guajardo and Jason Betancourt, Cameron County Department of Health and Human Services
• Alton Hart and Tiffany Cox, Crater Health District, Virginia Department of Health
• Patty Hayes and Carina Elsenboss, Public Health, Seattle and King County
• Patrick Luedtke and Jocelyn Warren, Lane County Public Health
• Gretchen Musicant and Mageen Caines, City of Minneapolis – Health
• Dan Patridge and Charlie Bryan, Lawrence-Douglas County Health Department
• Adi Pour and Andy Wessel, Douglas County Health Department
• Jen Rombalski and Christine Gillespie, La Crosse County Health Department
• Umair Shah and Rocaille Roberts, Harris County Public Health
• Lloyd Torney Smith and Heleen Dewey, Spokane Regional Health District
• Timothy Soucy and Anna Thomas, City of Manchester Health Department
• Linda Vail and Sarah Bryant, Ingham County Health Department
• Monica Valdes Lupi and Margaret Reid, Boston Public Health Commission
• Nikole Zogg and Rachel Harris-Blanton, Southwest Health District

Collectively, the 20 health departments represented by cohort leaders serve nearly 14 million community members in cities across the country.

The 40 leaders selected to the second cohort also join a growing community of public health leaders supported by The Kresge Foundation. In 2015, Kresge selected 24 public health leaders to participate in the inaugural cohort of the initiative. With the addition of Cohort II, Kresge is progressing towards its goal of providing leadership development and resources to 100 local, public health leaders across the country so that they can approach public health in a new way.

“At Kresge, we recognize the complexity of the health system and that all the disciplines within the system have the potential to play important roles in fostering community health. Public health agencies are an especially vital partner in creating healthier people and communities,” said David Fukuzawa, managing director of The Kresge Foundation’s Health and Human Services Programs. “The training these leaders receive will create more opportunities for their agencies to inspire their communities to think differently about population health.”

The leaders will be supported by The University of North Carolina Gillings School of Public Health (UNC), which serves as the National Program Office for the initiative.

A third cohort of Emerging Leaders in Public Health will be selected in fall 2017.