Advancing Equity Through Communication

This workshop is presented by the North Carolina Public Health Leadership Institute (NCPHLI). NCPHLI is a year-long leadership development program for public health professionals. This year we are offering this recurring, equity-focused workshop for public health professionals.

Registration for this workshop has closed. Please see our course catalog for additional opportunities.

About the Workshop

Learn how to use communication strategies to make the case for equity. This interactive workshop will introduce you to key techniques for framing and tailoring your message to bridge communication gaps for effective program and policy development. Public health professionals work with community members, funders, partners and policymakers, and these groups are not homogenous. The strategies presented in this workshop can help you get the right message across to each audience and convey the importance of better health for all.

In this workshop, participants can expect to:

• Develop an understanding of how cognitive biases show up in public health.
• Explore storytelling for public health outreach and advocacy.
• Discuss what it really means to apply an “equity lens.”
• Practice using simple messaging frameworks to craft a message.
• Draw connections between public narratives and building community power.

Participants in any of the four sessions will also have the opportunity to attend an “office hour” session with the workshop speaker. Participants can use this time to:

• Ask questions about the course content or follow-up resources.
• Learn more about a specific tool or framework.
• Get assistance in applying a resource, tool, or framework to an issue.
• Discuss a communications issue and strategies to approach it.
• Practice anything you learned in the session and get real time feedback.

To submit a specific question or response that you would like addressed during office hours, complete the Office Hours Request Form ahead of the office hour session you plan to attend.

Audience

This workshop is open to public health professionals at:

• Local health departments in North Carolina
• The North Carolina Division of Public Health
• The North Carolina Division of Child and Family Well-Being

About the Presenter

Dawn M. Hunter is a public health lawyer with a knack for leadership and a passion for making a difference. Dawn uses her platform to advocate for racial equity in health outcomes and to share her expertise on critical public health legal issues. She has served as an advisor and partner on several key leadership initiatives and focuses on exploring strategies to operationalize equity through a healthy and engaged workforce. Dawn is a certified public health professional and licensed member of the Florida Bar, has a certificate in Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion in the Workplace from the University of South Florida Muma College of Business, and is trained in Facilitation for Racial Justice by the Interaction Institute for Social Change. She is a co-founder of the Collaborative for Anti-Racism and Equity and the lead author of the Health & Democracy Index.

Dawn was awarded the APHA Law Section Jennifer Robbins Award for the Practice of Public Health Law in 2021, and received a 2023 Outstanding Alumni Award from the University of South Florida, College of Public Health.

Schedule and Location

This half-day, virtual workshop will be offered four times, at 9 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. on each of the following dates:

• Jan. 25
• Feb. 22
• April 25

Office hours will be offered on the following dates at 11 a.m. to 12:30 p.m.:

• May 8
• May 16

Workshop Fee

There is a $95 registration fee.

Partners

This workshop is jointly provided by:

• The North Carolina Division of Public Health (NCDPH) at the North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services.
• The North Carolina Institute for Public Health at the UNC Gillings School of Global Public Health.

Funding support is provided by NCDPH.