Program Activities

Projects and initiatives

Beginning in September 2022, the PH LEADS partners started working across one or more of the following four program activity areas for a five-year period.

Data science and leadership education and training

This activity involves identifying and supporting best practices in data science and leadership education and training to strengthen and advance health equity.

Examples

• ASPPH is developing best practices to train leaders in systems and strategic thinking and how to use data to make decisions.
• National Network of Public Health Institutes (NNPHI) is assessing the alignment between undergraduate degrees in leadership and data science with state, tribal, local, and territorial workforce needs.

Recruitment and retention

This activity involves assessing, designing, and testing recruitment and retention approaches for developing a professional workforce that reflects the demographics of the populations served and the communities facing health inequities.

Example

National Hispanic Health Foundation (NHHF) is collaborating with CDC; minority serving institutions; and state county and city health departments and the organizations that represent them (ASTHO, NACCHO, NRHA, etc.) to develop an approach for recruiting and retaining a diverse workforce.

Fellowship opportunities

CDC's Public Health Fellowship Program for high-quality, tailored, applied learning experiences to diverse early career professionals.

Example

Association of Schools and Programs of Public Health (ASPPH) is offering the CDC/ASPPH Public Health Fellowship Program. Recent graduates of schools or programs of public and population health are eligible for this opportunity.

The program begins annually in September and is one-two years long with an option for a third advanced training year.

Fellows are hosted by CDC Centers Institutes, and Offices and gain various experiential learning opportunities, depending on the specific mission of the hosting CDC program. The fellowship program is based at CDC's domestic offices; however, fellows may also be placed in state, tribal, local, or territorial health departments, or other community-based settings.

Workforce improvement projects

This activity involves offering Workforce Improvement Projects (WIPs), which are projects proposed and funded by CDC programs, based in public health practice, and conducted by PH LEADS partner organizations or their member institutions.

Example

With a 12-to-48-month time frame, WIPs develop the health workforce in various areas of public health practice, promote positive health outcomes of communities, and seek to reduce health disparities.