Kansas Local Public Health Leadership Series - Fall 2023

The Kansas Local Public Health Leadership Series wrapped up its Fall 2024 Series November 16, 2023, in Wichita, Kansas, at WSU’s Community Engagement Institute. This is the eleventh year for this series thanks to support from KDHE. The series includes four two-day sessions conducted from August – November 2023. The 23 participants traveled from all over the state to learn more about how to mobilize others to do challenging work.. This workshop is a blend of teaching, guest lectures, small group discussions, peer consultation, journaling and more. Together, participants read and discussed the newest book from the Kansas Leadership Center (KLC), When Everyone Leads. Participants also explored the KLC Leadership Competencies, learned about how a better understanding of personality type preferences creates more choices in leadership, discovered individual impediments to change, and helped each other better understand leadership challenges and helped each other generate new ideas for positive interventions. Many made progress on the leadership challenges they brought and shared those changes made and successes. One of the aims of this workshop is to build peer networks. This group shared many experiences, shared struggles, and shared many laughs over meals together. In the closing circle, participants shared their appreciation for each other and the road traveled together.  

Seth Bate and Sonja Armbruster served as faculty for the workshop. There were many supporting roles from staff of the Center for Public Health Initiatives: Kristina Helmer (primary logistics coordinator), Tina Payne, Kendra Nguyen, Katrina Caide-Schneweis, DJ Gering, and Jessica Smith. Additionally, each participant is matched with a leadership coach for at least three coaching sessions, and the coaches for this cadre included: Cindy Claycomb, Cy Rogers, Heather Perkins, Howard Keim, Jessica Smith, Percy Turner, Seth Bate and Teresa Cornejo. The next Local Public Health Leadership Series is already being developed for the fall of 2024.