Who We Are
The College for Behavioral Health Leadership (CBHL) serves as a resource for leaders from across sectors whose work focuses on or intersects with behavioral health. We advocate for innovative, equity-grounded leadership practices fostering cross-sector collaborations.
Distinctly different from other leadership organizations, we continually evolve to ensure alignment with our vision and mission. We draw from the opinions of our valued membership, which reflects a diversity of experience, expertise and perspective. And we seek guidance from our strategic partners who – along with our members – serve as co-creators and active participants in our work.
Our focus is on the application of national, state and local policy and practices at the community level, where we believe transformative change occurs. For more than 40 years we have convened and hosted leaders in positions of influence – not defined by title but by ability, lived experience and/or deep desire to effect change at the local, state or national level.
The Time is Now
Behavioral health, health and social service systems are changing rapidly. There is a growing recognition of the need for improved behavioral health, but many public and private leaders are not prepared for the challenges ahead. Despite a growing demand for innovative multi-sector leadership, most leaders are still being prepared to adopt traditional, single sector, hierarchic approaches to management.
Instead, behavioral health leaders of today and tomorrow must address complex, cross-sector challenges, confidently use their voice and power to promote anti-racism and equity, be comfortable with difficult conversations, work comfortably through ambiguity, collaborate with and learn from colleagues, and utilize innovative and evidence-based strategies. Developing effective, population-based, cross-sector approaches to eliminate inequity in behavioral health requires leaders who can disrupt status quo and pave the way for new solutions.
What We Do
Through our summits, member engagement, and multi-sector collaborations, we offer leaders opportunities to:
- Think and collaborate across sectors that touch behavioral health;
- Learn innovative strategies and skills to partner with others to enhance the whole health of vulnerable populations;
- Tackle complex systemic and community-wide goals; and
- Be re-energized and excited to make a life-changing impact and reinvent the future!
Innovate, Inspire, Implement
Leaders become stronger when they can test ideas, build relationships, and practice cutting-edge skills. CBHL brings leaders together across sectors to learn from and teach one another in settings where new partnerships, stimulating experiences, and innovative solutions emerge, and together we create transformative leadership of the future.
CBHL’s approach to leadership development is experiential:
- We prioritize equity and authentic engagement with community.
- We work to inspire and educate leaders at all levels to be successful.
- We involve leaders from all sectors – public and private, service delivery, managed care and system oversight organizations.
- We support leaders in the broad development of population health strategies to provided integrated services in all settings and systems for people and communities with complex needs.
- We help the new generation of leaders balance traditional hierarchical leadership with the capacity to build collaboration within communities across sectors.
- We train and coach our leaders in innovative technologies to co-create the changes needed in their communities, using models like human-centered design, collaborative impact, and participatory planning.
