Iowa team participates in public health leadership program

Going Bold Iowa! has been selected to participate in the National Leadership Academy for the Public’s Health (NLAPH) program, funded by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). Lyndi Buckingham-Schutt, associate director of Wellness and Nutrition Policy at The Harkin Institute, is a member of the Going Bold Iowa! team. NLAPH is a national program focused on improving population health by working with multi-sector leadership teams and training the teams through an applied, team-based collaborative leadership development model.  The program is implemented by the Center for Health Leadership and Practice (CHLP), a center of the Public Health Institute (PHI) and will provide training and support for a period of one year.

“This program will impart population health teams with the skills to lead across sectors and collaboratively solve complex population health problems in innovative ways,” said Carmen Rita Nevarez, MD, MPH, Vice President for External Relations and CHLP’s Director. “These are the types of leaders who will ultimately be able to drive critical efforts, such as the adoption of evidence-based policies and practices at the community level, which can have a tangible impact on health outcomes.”

The Going Bold Iowa! team will work on an applied health leadership project that tackles an important population health issue with the goal of improving public health outcomes. This multi-sector team was formed in response to the rising rates of diet-related chronic diseases in Iowa and nationally, in hopes of filling a gap within the public health nutrition community and building professional capacity to solve complex community health problems using system approaches.

Going Bold Iowa!’s goal is to build the partnerships and capacity of public health nutritionists, programs, and agencies in Iowa to achieve individual, policy, system, and environmental change in order to make a greater impact on Iowans health. The team assembled to undertake this critical issue includes representation from: Iowa Department of Public Health, Iowa State University, The Harkin Institute, and Äkta Strategies. 

NLAPH will provide training and support to assist the team. Training and support will focus on two tracks.  The first is the development of leadership skills, including personal and collaborative leadership in a multi-sector environment.  The second emphasizes growth from team-based collaborative work to policy and systems change.  NLAPH is provided at no cost to the participants or the community.