Health Leadership Winter 2010 Newsletter
Sierra Health Foundation's Health Leadership Program is designed to strengthen the leadership skills of current and potential executives at nonprofit organizations and public agencies whose mission is dedicated to improving the health and quality of life of Northern Californians.
IN THIS ISSUE:
- The journey begins for Class X
- Leadership Engagement added to Class X curriculum
- Alumni members continue leadership development
- Appreciative Inquiry proves to be powerful tool
- Leaders on the move
The journey begins for Class X
Now in its 10th year, the Health Leadership Program continues to attract a high caliber of community leaders. This year, the selection committee reviewed 69 applications, interviewed 40 individuals and created a final class of 29. See the class roster. Sierra Health Foundation and the University of Southern California thank the alumni, nominators and community partners for their outreach and support, which provided the program with an outstanding pool of candidates.
In October, Class X members gathered at Sierra Health Foundation’s Grizzly Creek Ranch Camp and Conference Center in Plumas County for a retreat, which set the foundation for the five-month leadership development program. The class finished the four days inspired, connected and excited to continue the experience together.
Read reflections from Class X members on their experience so far.
Leadership Engagement added to Class X curriculum
This year, Class X members are participating in a Leadership Engagement component during their five-month program. The Leadership Engagement experience connects Health Leadership Program participants to exemplary leaders whom they admire as a way to develop a set of leadership outcomes.
There are two phases to this experiential learning. First, teams of participants select, interview and then present to the class a contemporary nonprofit or governmental leader. Second, participants develop a leadership outcome for their organization or field and present this to their classmates. Both phases apply the concepts and practices learned in this year’s program, with leadership coaching and program faculty available in support of each participant and team.
Leadership Engagement interviews include:
Herb Schultz
 Team members: Peter Reed, Christie Martindale, Alicia Kelley, Lisa Bates
Our team will interview Herb Schultz for several key reasons. First, as Regional Director for Health and Human Services, he will be responsible for the implementation of the Affordable Care Act across multiple states and, thus, will be able to share his perspective on the leadership that will be required to make progress. Also, because of his experience as a special advisor to the governor of California, he not only has an understanding of health leadership at the federal level, but also at the state level. It will be interesting to hear his thoughts on how his leadership style has evolved as he made the transition from state to federal service.
Billy Mills
 Team members: Tim Giuliani, Alicia Ross, Heather Robertson, Melissa Guajardo, Kristal Chichlowska
Our team will interview Billy Mills, the second Native American ever to win an Olympic gold medal. We hope to learn how to be better leaders by asking him what motivated him to push himself beyond his limits in the 1964 Olympics and what inspires him to give back to the Indian community via Running Strong for American Indian Youth.
Carmela Castellano-Garcia
 Team Members: Yamilet Valladolid, Kathi Toepel, Wendy Barnhart
Our team will interview Carmela Castellano-Garcia, CEO of the California Primary Care Association, because she appears to be a very directed woman who has managed to implement much change for the culturally diverse and medically underserved in California. We are interested in her views and ideas regarding advocacy in times of what appears to be expanding economic hardship, and what she sees as the barriers to helping the underinsured and uninsured. Carmela is a strong advocate for the new healthcare reform bills and has led CPCA in an HCR Champion program. We are interested in seeing where she sees this going and what she hopes to accomplish.
Van Jones
 Team members: Kim Biggs-Jordan, Abraham Daniels, Charles Mason, Brian Broadway, Antoine Burks
Our team will interview Van Jones, who at a young age (42) has successfully founded three organizations dedicated to addressing social justice and equity, and who utilized visionary tools to achieve success. He also has become a leader of the emerging green movement through promotion of the green economy to include traditionally disadvantaged communities. Now as a fellow, professor, author and speaker, he continues to lead the green revolution, while the organizations he founded or co-founded continue to thrive and make local and national impacts.
Sister Libby Fernandez
 Team Members: Donna Machado-Reed, Carol Noreen, Lisa Woodard-Mink, Kristina Matt-King
Our team will interview Sister Libby Fernandez, Executive Director of Loaves & Fishes. One thing that interested us in Sister Libby was how she used her military background to run Loaves & Fishes, and another was what inspires and motivates her even as the homeless population continues to grow.
Chet Hewitt
 Team Members: Michael Peterson, Kathy Brook-Johnson, Elaine Abelaye
Our team will interview Chet Hewitt, President and CEO of Sierra Health Foundation. We hope to accomplish a greater understanding of what brings him passion and inspires him throughout his career, how he has continued in the face of adversity and how he proceeds or what he draws upon to move forward. Lastly, what stories does he tell to inspire others and share his deepest held values?
Father Greg Boyle
 Team Members: Pam Becwar, Bill Moore, Lisa Culp, Carol Ramirez, Lucy Hernandez
Our team will interview Father Greg Boyle, a Jesuit priest and founder of Homeboy Industries, and author of Tattoos on the Heart. Father Boyle has spent more than 25 years working with gang members and former members in Los Angeles and we chose him because of his vast ability to offer hope and compassion. His call to action is to treat every human as having as much worth as any other human. He is an incredible storyteller, is an inspired leader and embodies the qualities that our group would like to emulate.
Alumni members continue leadership development
More than 50 alumni gathered on Sept. 13 and 14 to participate in the fall Health Leadership Alumni session. The sessions were focused on three areas: building your leadership toolkit, learning about hot topics/new trends and networking.
Building Your Leadership Toolkit: Alumni members learned about Leveraging Brain Power: The Herrmann Brain Dominance Instrument (HBDI), a leading thinking-styles assessment tool. The session was presented by Beth Conley, Director of Government and Nonprofit Relations at The Kiely Group.
Hot topics/new trends: The alumni heard from two key health leaders on current and upcoming health care reform impacts — David Carlisle, M.D., Ph.D., Director of Office of Statewide Health Planning and Development (OSHPD), and Herb Schultz, M.P.P., Region IX Director for the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. Alumni members discussed ways to focus on prevention in health care reform.
Networking: In inspiring presentations, two alumni members shared their experiences serving and impacting diverse communities: Sammy Nunez, Executive Director of Fathers and Families of San Joaquin, and Britta Guerrero, Executive Director of Sacramento Native American Health Center, Inc.
Learn what other alumni members are working on.
Appreciative Inquiry proves to be powerful tool
A reflection and resource from Yoland Trevino, Transformative Collaboration International and Health Leadership Program faculty
In 1994, I received an invitation from Case Western Reserve University to participate in the PVO and NGO organizational excellence in management program called GEM – Global Excellence in Management. This was a university-based program of learning and education that worked in partnership with U.S. Private and Voluntary Organizations (PVOs) and international Non-Governmental Organizations (NGOs) to conduct capacity-building programs that supported new models of institutional excellence from 1994 to 2001.
GEM was known for, among other things, its original and intellectually alive programs. GEM’s signature themes included Appreciative Inquiry, global partnership and knowledge generation. Additionally, GEM was lauded for its human-centered approach that was responsive to the advanced learning agendas of PVO and NGO leadership teams, and for its capacity-building work that was collaboratively constructed for enduring consequence. Participation in GEM programs enabled organizations to discover and heighten their capacities to continuously learn, change and innovate. I participated in GEM for several years with an international cadre of innovative leaders committed to organizational transformation.
When I learned about Appreciative Inquiry (AI) as a tool for organizational development, it gave me the words to describe the approach I had been using for developing inclusive and egalitarian nonprofits. Since 1996, I have been traveling the world supporting the capacity of organizations that are ready to change from great organizations to becoming extraordinary. I have found that around the world, working with the poorest of the poor, or with organizations that have a little more wealth, everyone responds to appreciation as a building block to discovering shared futures. In my opinion, organizations are built by individuals and appreciating is the basic value that helps us connect with humanity.
AI works because we all want to be appreciated and one of the most important aspects of Appreciative Inquiry is the appreciative approach. When we begin to discover what are the moments of excellence from individuals to organizations, this can be applied directly to creating communities that care. Another important dimension of AI is the promise of creating shared futures. Additionally, the process of engaging in discovering the best that exists and envisioning all that is possible makes AI an amazing tool for transforming, inspiring and giving hope to organizations and communities. During these challenging days, when so many people are discouraged and feel hopeless, sharing the AI and the endless possibilities that can be created inspires me to see that our collective intelligence can be a powerful force in transformative leadership.
Currently, I chair the Global Council of the United Religions Initiative, an organization co-created with the AI approach with many from around the world. Our goal is to end religiously motivated violence by daily acts of interfaith cooperation. We are in 70 countries and counting, with thousands of members from around the world.
Yoland Trevino
therion93@earthlink.net
Download Yoland Trevino's biography.
To order copies of The Thin Book of® Appreciative Inquiry, visit the Thin Book Publishing web site.
Leaders on the move
Joe Ayer (Class V) has been promoted to Administrative Director of BloodSource in Redding.
Lyn Corbett (Class VIII) is now Chief Administrative Officer at Center of Praise Ministries in midtown Sacramento.
Sergio Cuellar (Class IX) has joined Californians for Justice as Statewide Campaign Director.
Robert J. Dimand, M.D. (Class I) is now Chief Medical Officer of California Children's Services, a program of the California Department of Health Care Services.
Koua Jacklyn Franz (Class IX) is now Chief Family and Community Engagement Officer with Sacramento City Unified School District.
David Husid (Class IX) has taken the position of HPRP Housing Specialist/Case Manager with Luthern Social Services of Northern California.
Bruno Marchesi (Class IX) has joined the California AfterSchool Network in the UC Davis School of Education as Coordinator.
Susan Sells (Class II) is now the Mental Health Services Program Manager with Tuolumne County Behavioral Health.
Lynn Thull (Class IV) has joined the board of the Greater Sacramento Vietnamese Chamber of Commerce.
Kimberly Williams (Class VII) is now Hub Manager of Building Healthy Communities South Sacramento.
Read the newsletter online.
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