Why most coalitions feel stuck in neutral (and the key to shifting gears)
For the last few months, we’ve been talking about how public health isn’t actually a systems business. It’s a people business.
In a world of bots, be a HUMAN - it’s key to your coalition’s success
As we’re highlighting through this series, public health is, at its core, a people business.
So, naturally, one key piece of advice for health coalition leaders to keep in mind: Be a human.
In an era of artificial intelligence and soulless corporations, there’s something to be said for simply being human.
The “rockstar” trap - the biggest threat to sustaining your coalition’s work
My first full time public health job was at a state health department, working with schools to implement evidence based youth violence prevention programs. Principals and school counselors were often the rockstars behind this work - until they weren’t.
Why you need champions (not the Super Bowl kind)
How would you define a champion?
You might think about a Super Bowl or Olympic champion - that would be dictionary definition #1 (“someone or something, especially a person or animal, that has beaten all other competitors in a competition”).
But I’m thinking about dictionary definition #2: “a person who enthusiastically supports, defends, or fights for a person, belief, right, or principle”
Public health isn't a systems business
It might not be something you’d expect me to say - me, someone who has drunk the “systems change” Kool-aid from way back in my undergrad engineering days throughout my public health training and into launching PoP Health (where our entire mission is to work with community coalitions to transform health through systems change).
HOW to tell a powerful story + tips to transport and activate your audience
I’ve been leaning on beach reads this summer (to be honest, I lean on them year-round) and have always loved being transported to new places through stories.
But let’s be real, it’s easy to transport a reader to a beautiful beach on vacation. It’s a lot harder to transport them into, say, the lives of families in rural America.
Why people forget facts but remember stories - an intro to Effective Storytelling
Is your summer off to as hot and joyful a start as mine, Reader?
Our family spent the last week at an all-family violin camp in the Blue Ridge mountains, and it was a joy on so many levels (our girls did not want to come home!).
Being surrounded by music all week had me forgetting the heat (despite the lack of AC at camp) and remembering just how powerful art is and how every piece of art tells a story.
Have you heard the quote about how people forget facts but remember stories? That's definitely true but misses a key piece of the puzzle. People remember stories because they make them FEEL.
A Participatory Evaluation HOW TO: tips and tools for sensemaking, storytelling, and more
It was college reunion weekend at my alma mater (wahoowa!), and in addition to taking a few (literal) walks down memory lane, I thought a lot about feeling a sense of community and what magic combination of ingredients is needed to create that.
Shared experiences - especially those where you gain something of value and even more so those where you create something of value - are part of that secret sauce.
And participatory evaluation, when done well, checks all those boxes.
The 'P' in our CAPE: Participatory Evaluation - by the community + for the community
A recent book club discussion about the challenge of adult friendships in the present day has had me thinking a lot about the importance of a sense of community.
On that note, a portion of a recent conversation between two of my favorite thinkers, Surgeon General Vivek Murthy and writer Anand Giridharadas, really struck me. Surgeon General Murthy shared that statistics show that people now are working more - “and parents are parenting more, even though they’re also working more.” He asks, “Where is that time coming from, that extra time? You put all this together and that time that is eroding is a time that we spend in person with family and friends, the time we spend for ourselves, and the time we spend for our communities.”