For more information about the Equity-Grounded Leadership Fellow Program, visit our webpage here.
Leaders must embody equity as an operating principle – as a mindset – to transform behavioral health systems. But what does this mean, and how is it operationalized for leaders?
Significant gaps exist in advancing behavioral health equity, with underrepresented, marginalized, and oppressed groups continuing to have disparate outcomes. Major system-level changes are in progress that will require behavioral health leaders be prepared to disrupt the status quo by addressing the pervasive inequities that continue to plague communities across the country. It is essential to support, develop, and orient leaders to a new approach to systems transformation, one where leaders grow and acquire the confidence, skills, and knowledge necessary to disrupt the current harmful system practices, policies, and cultures. Without this co-produced intervention, we risk continuing to fail individuals, families, and communities who face these inequities every day.
The Equity-Grounded Leadership (EGL) Fellow Program, developed and piloted from 2022 to 2023, is designed to shift the focus of cross-sector behavioral health leaders to intersectionality, equity, and anti-racism for behavioral health systems transformation. In this webinar, we shared the journey to co-produce the EGL Fellow Program; explored the Principles of Change for Equity-Grounded Leaders; and celebrate examples of equity-grounded leadership in action.
Speakers:
Dr. Jei Africa | Director, Marin County (CA) Behavioral Health and Recovery Services
David Auzenne, MPH | Senior Fellow for Health Equity, Meadows Mental Health Policy Institute
Brad Barfield, MBA | Vice President, Envision:You
Dr. Crystal L. Brandow | Principal, clb strategies, LLC
Ebony Chambers | Chief Family & Youth Partnership Officer, Stanford Sierra Youth and Families
Aly Feye, MPA | Director of Operations, The College for Behavioral Health Leadership
Dr. Michele Guzmán | Principal, TriWest Group
April Ludwig, LMFT | Business Consultant & Executive Coach, ALudwig Consulting Services
Marcy Melvin, MA, LPC | Deputy Director, The Hackett Center for Mental Health, Meadows Mental Health Policy Institute
B.J. Wagner, MS | Senior Vice President of Health and Public Safety, Meadows Mental Health Policy Institute