Who We Are
The College for Behavioral Health Leadership (CBHL) strives to be a resource for behavioral health leaders across the country. We are the place where leaders collaborate to grow their knowledge and ability to partner effectively with communities across the nation. We continually seek to understand and support the leader of today. We aim to foster and expand innovation, and we are working to position leaders to respond to the challenges of the future.
Distinctly different from how other organizations and degree programs offer leadership development, we advocate for innovative leadership practices that are grounded in equity and continually evolve and draw from diverse opinions, sectors and stakeholders. We intentionally push the boundaries of those working within silos to focus on effective multi-sector community-based solutions resulting in transformative change.
Since 1979, CBHL has continually sought to expand the capacity of leaders to individually and collectively transform systems serving people and communities inclusive of people with behavioral and complex health needs. We are building upon decades of experience and the deep skills and commitment of our members to respond to this urgent challenge.
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, 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 requires integrated care, collaborative community action and behavior change.
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 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.
