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.
4 ways to center humanity in your work
Our political and business leaders may be failing to center humanity right now, but that doesn’t mean we should too - in fact, I think that means we should be even more intentional about centering humanity.
The story matters more than the words
Howdy,
Did that "howdy" make you double take? Hi, hello, hey, yoo-hoo, yo, howdy - so many possible one-word greetings. Don't they each make you feel a little bit different?
I love words. As an avid reader, a writer, and just a human in this world, I love words.
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.
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.
HOW to get to action with your collaborative: tips and tools for brainstorming, prioritizing, and more
Is it just me, or are you feeling the Maycember vibes too?
In addition to counting down to the end of the school year and to summer, I know many nonprofits and coalitions are also nearing the end of their fiscal year, which means new grants and projects might be on the horizon - so it’s a great time to think about what effective action planning looks like.
HOW to collaborate across your collaborative: What we can learn from Underpants Gnomes and other tips, strategies, and resources
Here at PoP Health, as we spring forward, we are also springing into part two of the first phase of our C.A.P.E. process: Community Collaboration - focused specifically on collaborating across your collaborative.
What do you mean by collaborating across our collaborative?
As I read in a recent post from Collaborate CIC, a UK-based social consultancy, “Calling something collaborative doesn’t necessarily make it so.”
HOW to put community voices in the driver’s seat
Are you ever told to do something and find yourself wondering, “Yes, but HOW?”
With PoP Health’s 2024 newsletter series, we want to be sure to at least begin to answer that question. For each phase of our C.A.P.E. process that we introduce, we’ll have an initial post orienting us to the topic and a second post that answers the “Yes, but HOW?” question.
How to keep people engaged in community health improvement efforts
Have you ever struggled to keep people engaged in a community health improvement effort (or any effort, for that matter)?
I work with a lot of community coalitions and collaboratives, and most of them are volunteer-based, which makes this question of how to maintain engagement especially important. But even those that compensate their members for their involvement need to consider the question of how to keep people involved and inspired and motivated to participate and act in meaningful ways.
The power of a storytelling sentence
When it comes to community health improvement, we often find ourselves in situations where we need to tell a compelling story. To name just a few:
We need to convey the impact and value of a particular health issue to a policymaker so they are motivated to write or pass legislation that would help address it.
We need to share the impact a policy or program is having with our funders and communities so they are inspired to help sustain it.