Center for Health Leadership
Started in 2008, the UC Berkeley SPH Center for Health Leadership (CHL) is designed to enhance the School's curricular, co-curricular and experiential offerings to inspire and prepare graduate students to be effective health leaders and professionals. The Center also develops practical leadership programs, resources and conferences for alumni and health professionals.
The CHL builds on and expands leadership development activities offered through the Center for Public Health Practice and throughout the SPH. It includes practice based seminars, courses, internships and community projects designed to strengthen leadership competencies and opportunities. Additionally, a dedicated SPH Career Services Manager, a career website and ongoing professional development events offer students and alumni ongoing support. In its pilot year, CHL will work with students and faculty to develop additional beneficial offerings.
The aims of the UCB Center for Health Leadership include:
- Support the School of Public Health mission to produce transformational leaders
- Promote the importance of leadership across diverse health disciplines
- Develop and enhance leadership competencies among students, faculty, alumni and the community at large
- Ready students for leadership and professional roles, better preparing them for the challenges of their first post graduate jobs and for advancement
- Increase leadership development opportunities during students tenure at the SPH, and immediately thereafter
- Improve links between alumni and students and develop mentorship opportunities for students with alumni and public health professionals
- Encourage and support students to lead from where they are to promote change
How SPH students take advantage of CHL opportunities:
- Enroll in classes and workshops offered through the CPHP and CHL
- Participate in Multicultural Health in Action (MHIA), a student led group supported by CHL to work on local community health projects
- Take advantage of assessments and feedback
- Attend the Leadership Conference in March 2009
- Participate in the Student Board
What do we mean by leadership?
We believe everyone can be a leader, and that we can lead from wherever we are.
In this Center, we are not only addressing organizational leadership (the type most commonly associated with the term), but also thought leadership (which includes research and teaching) and leadership through advocacy and community organizing. Whether we are called upon to lead in government, communities, non-profits, or the private sector, locally or globally, in public health or in healthcare, we all can develop ourselves to be of service to important goals by leading in a wide variety of roles and approaches. We see leadership as "stepping up," offering to be "of service," using our skills to help facilitate, organize, mentor, guide, and develop or advance initiatives, projects, policies and organization.