The Equity-Grounded Leadership Fellow Program cohort participants began this journey with the courageous inquiry of personal and professional biases, which has impacted how they view themselves and others. They explored how to collectively influence others to create communities rooted in resilience and healing. We are grateful for this inaugural cohort, who collaboratively helped to shape and refine the Fellow program to ensure leaders are empowered to mobilize themselves and others to create positive change.
The Pilot Cohort Development
The development of the Equity-Grounded Leadership Fellow Program followed more than a year of co-producing the concept with leaders nationwide. Through focused dialogues, CBHL sought to understand experiences, needs, and barriers to advancing health equity in organizations and communities.
This feedback was used to inform the Fellow program content and structure.
Program Supports
Fellows engaged in an estimated 150 hours of guided and self-directed program content. This included 42 hours of full cohort meetings where Fellows participated in facilitated dialogue, heard from subject-matter experts, and engaged in time for self-reflection. They met with project advisors monthly, received individualized coaching, and engaged in a variety of optional or self-paced learning opportunities tailored to their individual or project goals.
The Shared Vision
The 2022 cohort developed the following shared vision for their time together:
“The Equity-Grounded Leadership Program Fellows envision a behavioral health system where all individuals attain wellness, where everyone has a fair opportunity to be as healthy as possible and that no one is left out from achieving this potential.
Through the EGL Fellow Program, we will do this by: Supporting and growing one another through shared time/space/stories and histories. We will empower each other and our communities to be change agents for equity, diversity, inclusion and belonging; allowing our actions to speak louder than our words and be socially just. We make an intentional commitment to breaking down systems of oppression and behavioral health disparities.”
Collaborative Projects
One of the most impactful components of the EGL program creating and implementing collaborative projects to improve equity in behavioral health systems and services in Fellows’ organizations, communities, and/or regions. Fellows worked as teams or individually to design and implement these projects, with the support of project advisors and an evaluation team.
Cohort Evaluation
The Fellows’ growth during the program was measured by a 14-item outcome survey at mid- and post-program and reflected a statistically significant improvement across all outcomes, demonstrating the program achieved the desired results.
Webinar Overview
In this webinar, we shared the journey to co-produce the EGL Fellow Program, explored the Principles of Change for Equity-Grounded Leaders, and celebrated examples of equity-grounded leadership in action.
The Program Architects
The Equity-Grounded Leadership Fellow Program’s Project Team models equity-grounded leadership and brings a wealth of experience and expertise to the development and implementation of the Fellow Program. Their approach is person-centered, recovery-oriented, trauma-informed, and acknowledges that individual leaders have different experiences, abilities, and needs.
Crystal L. Brandow, PhD
Program Development
Dr. Brandow has been working in the behavioral health field for over a decade, including in well-being and wellness; trauma, healing, and resilience; identity, culture, and bias; and social justice. She has served in several positions elevating equity in the behavioral health space. Her interests include broader, interdisciplinary topics related to public health communication, population health, and health disparities. Dr. Brandow centers her work around Wellness First, and aims to bring an authentic, impactful, innovative voice to behavioral health.
Ebony Chambers
Curriculum and Facilitation
Ms. Chambers has over 18 years of experience working with issues of social justice, equity, education, mental health and diversity. She is a speaker, educator, and workshop leader who has worked extensively throughout the United States and has served nationally and locally as an advocate and activist for access to care and the elimination of the stigma of mental illness for underserved and unserved communities. Her passion is community engagement and empowerment, equity, and working with leaders to achieve this mission.
Development Team
In addition to the Project and Evaluation Team, numerous partners supported the development of the Equity-Grounded Leadership Fellow Program. We are grateful for the support of our partners who helped lead the way in the development of the Fellow Program.
These partners were composed of the following:
- The Founding Funding Partners: The support of our funding partners ensures cost is not a barrier to participation for our Fellows.
- The Advisory Committee: The Advisory Committee serves as an advisory body and accountability partner for the Fellow Program.
- The Workgroup: The Workgroup provided subject-matter expertise and guidance in developing specific components of the Fellow Program.
