Community Leaders in Health Equity (CLHE) was a community‐based leadership program funded by The Colorado Trust and designed specifically to develop health equity leaders around the state. Grantees from the Community Partnerships regions recruited 11 ‐ 22 individuals from their regions to participate in an 18‐month, hands‐on, immersive curriculum to develop health equity leaders in their communities. The leadership training curriculum was designed and implemented by Transformative Alliances LLC and was built on their past trainings and enhanced to emphasize health equity. The curriculum consisted of full group 3‐day training sessions, daylong regional trainings, and assignments that covered health equity topics and systems of oppression such as racism, classism, sexism, nationalism, and language oppression. The trainings involved small‐group work, peer group assignments, and development of both individual and group project plans.
From a desire to continue supporting CLHE participants and nurturing their leadership skills, The Colorado Trust and Transformative Alliances developed the CLHE Continuing Track. The focus of this 24‐month track included gaining an understanding of different community organizing models, their history, and outcomes; developing workable plans for creating change; building relationships and support networks across levels of influence and power; organizing and facilitating community gatherings; and engaging and influencing policymakers. The Continuing Track consisted of full‐group gatherings and small‐group intensive coaching sessions conducted by a member of the Transformative Alliances team. Participants received ongoing support in implementing the projects they designed during the CLHE program.
A subsequent grant to Community Language Cooperative ensured quality translation and interpretation throughout the implementation of CLHE, given that language justice was an essential element of the program. Additional supports for implementing equity values and ensuring program accessibility included food, lodging, transportation support, childcare support, and economic harm offsets. (author introduction)