Indigenous Public Health Leaders Program

About the Indigenous Public Health Leaders Program

The Indigenous Public Health Leaders Program (IPHLP) was a 6-months leadership training institute piloted with CDC funding to provide training on essential public health skills for emerging Tribal public health professionals. Participants were typically at entry to mid-level positions within Tribal Health organizations or otherwise serve Tribal populations. Indigenous Peoples experience higher rates of morbidity and mortality than their counterparts as a result of public health disparities and predisposed environmental issues. There is a demand for trained Indigenous Public Health Leaders to address and prevent health disparities in Indigenous communities. The pilot program was designed to identify and train individuals in addressing tribal-specific health disparities currently impacting tribal and urban communities. The program was also intended to expose emerging Tribal Public Health leaders to ongoing opportunities at CDC and local/state health departments.

Hear from the 2022 Indigenous Public Health Leaders cohort!

Indigenous Public Health Leaders Learning Pathway

Our virtual Indigenous Public Health Leaders Learning Pathway is NOW LIVE on the Public Health Learning Navigator, CLICK HERE to begin!

This course contains self-guided modules based on the Indigenous Public Health Leaders curriculum. Tailored for emerging Indigenous Public Health Leaders and both Indigenous and non-Indigenous professionals acting as allies, the pathway aims to introduce or reinforce essential principles in public health with Indigenous Peoples. Learners are expected to gain skills and knowledge across various public health topics through an Indigenous lens, achieve insights into their goals as public health practitioners, and expand their professional networks.

The content, curated by professionals working with Indigenous communities, includes contributions from esteemed organizations like the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, National Network of Public Health Institutes, Seven Directions at the University of Washington, and the American Indian Public Health Resource Center at North Dakota State University and others.

Developed in conjunction with the Pilot Indigenous Public Health Leaders Program, funded by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, this pathway is designed to support Indigenous Public Health Leadership.

Partnerships

A collaborative and multi-disciplinary team at the American Indian Public Health Resource Center, Seven Directions, and National Network of Public Health Institutes piloted IPHLP in 2022. The IPHLP team is currently exploring potential funders to continue this work and prioritizing non-governmental funding sources.

National Coordinating Center for Public Health Training at National Network of Public Health Institutes

Through policy, programs, and training, NNPHI supports public health professionals charged with the critical work of assuring the nation’s health in a rapidly shifting social, political, and economic landscape.

The National Coordinating Center for Public Health Training (NCCPHT) is a team of innovative leaders at the core of a dynamic ecosystem dedicated to strengthening the nation’s public health workforce. The mission of NCCPHT at NNPHI is to advance and support capacity building, increased competency, and performance improvement of the nation’s current and future public health workforce.

Seven Directions: A Center for Indigenous Public Health

Based at the University of Washington Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences in the School of Medicine, Seven Directions is the first public health institute to focus specifically on Indigenous public health issues. Launched in 2018, Seven Directions emerged from an eight-year community-engaged feasibility study. National convenings of tribal and urban Indian public health practitioners and leaders agreed that a public health institute focused on Indigenous health issues would benefit all American Indian and Alaska Native communities. Since inception, Seven Directions has focused on providing technical assistance, training, research, and public health capacity building opportunities for tribal and urban Indian public health departments, programs, and practitioners. Seven Directions is informed by an Indigenous epistemology of the Seven Directions, and mapped the feedback provided by over 100 tribal and urban Indian health practitioners and leaders on to these directions. These represent both a mandate from the communities we serve, as well as a set of values that inform all of our work.

American Indian Public Health Resource Center

The mission of the American Indian Public Health Resource Center (AIPHRC) is to address American Indian public health disparities through technical assistance, policy development, self-determination feasibility analysis, education, research, and programming in partnership with tribes, in North Dakota, across the Northern Plains, and the nation.

Media Partner: Buffalo Nickel Creative

Description of Program

The Indigenous Public Health Leaders program provided virtual and in person training in core public health competencies with a focus on key issues impacting tribal communities including mental health and resilience, emergency preparedness, and increased communication and collaboration amongst stakeholders.

6-month Leadership Training Institute featuring:

50 Emerging Tribal Public Health Professionals representing a diversity of Tribes, regions, and professional backgrounds, and areas of expertise

- Monthly 90-minute virtual sessions led by Indigenous subject matter experts touching upon the following topic areas:
  - Mental Health & Resilience – This session covered root causes of historical trauma, the physiological and psychological impacts of trauma on brain development and the potential effects it can have later in life, as well as incorporate strategies to heal through resilience and kinship.
  - Grant-writing – This session covered approaches to writing successful grant proposals, including developing a timeline, mapping out grant submission requirements, and building in time for review prior to submission.
  - Story-Telling – This session provided a guide to using photovoice and narrative approaches to share stories of public health importance in tribal and urban Indian communities.
  - Equity & Social Determinants of Health – This session covered the factors contributing to health inequities in AI/AN communities, including societal, socioeconomic, biological, and health behavior factors.
  - Risk Communication – This module provides an overview of
  - Tribal health risk communication best practices and tools, including eight steps to create a risk communication plan.
  - Tribal Public Health Policy – This session addressed health and public health policy issues, along with strategies to develop tribal and state laws to address public health issues.

Regional Meetings In-person & virtual regional meetings for a subset of the cohort for networking, and relationship building, regional meetings included presenters from local Tribes
In-person convening large in-person meeting with speakers and the entire cohort for networking and relationship-building as well as exchange of ideas
Professional Development Funding opportunity provided to the cohort to pursue skills/training outside of the IPHL program

Our Impact

This program graduated 100 emerging Tribal public health professionals across two cohorts in 2022 and 2023. Indigenous Public Health Leaders worked on a variety of public health efforts and related health issues.

Although our program is not enrolling new cohorts at this time, individuals interested in learning more about Tribal Public Health are welcome to access the Indigenous Public Health Leadership Learning Pathway, based on the resources and virtual sessions that were shared with the cohorts.

Related Resources

The Indigenous Public Health Leadership Learning Pathway, hosted on the Public Health Learning Navigator, offers high-quality training with a focus on Indigenous public health. All featured trainings have undergone peer review, ensuring adherence to Quality Training Standards for Design and Delivery. Tailored for emerging Indigenous Public Health Leaders and both Indigenous and non-Indigenous professionals acting as allies, the pathway aims to introduce or reinforce essential principles in public health with Indigenous Peoples. Learners are expected to gain skills and knowledge across various public health topics through an Indigenous lens, achieve insights into their goals as public health practitioners, and expand their professional networks.

Contact Us

Please reach out to Upama Aktaruzzaman (uaktaruzzaman@nnphi.org), Senior Manager at the National Coordinating Center for Public Health Training for more information about this program.

Contact Olivia Trujillo (otrujillo@nnphi.org), Senior Associate at the National Coordinating Center for Public Health Training for more information about the Indigenous Public Health Leadership Learning Pathway.

The Indigenous Public Health Leadership Learning Pathway is supported by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention of the US Department of Health and Human Services, as part of a financial assistance award totaling 1.4 million dollars over two years with 100 percent funded by CDC/HHS. The contents are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily represent the official views of, nor an endorsement, by CDC/HHS, or the U.S. Government.