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 Developing, Connecting and Leveraging People

RIHEL is an official program of the Colorado Foundation for Public Health and the Environment, a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization incorporated in the State of Colorado.  As our parent organization, the Foundation provides our fiscal management and legal identity.  The major academic affiliates of the Institute are the Colorado School of Public Health which supports and hosts our website, and the University of Denver which provides us office space and work infrastructure.

MISSION AND GOALS
The mission of the Regional Institute for Health and Environmental Leadership is to develop, connect and leverage leaders who work collaboratively in diverse sectors and communities to create and sustain the health and well being of people and the environment. 

The goals of the Institute are to: 

  • Develop Leaders: Enhance and develop leadership training in the Rocky Mountain Region.
  • Connect: Build upon and foster a diverse and multi-disciplinary Institute network among fellows, alumni, Board members, other health and environment professionals and the community.
  • Leverage the Resources of the Institute: Address the health and environmental challenges of diverse communities through a portfolio of resources and activities (fellows, alumni, projects, existing and new programs, etc.)
  • Sustain the Institute: Provide the people and financial resources to assure the continuation of the Institute and its mission. 

VALUES
The following beliefs are central to the Institute:

What’s important to us about people and communities:

  • The dignity of all people is worthy of our respect.
  • Integrity is the most central RIHEL operating principle. We treat our fellows, alumni, faculty, staff, Board, friends, vendors and the public honestly, honorably and transparently.
  • Our workforce and our communities deserve our very best, and RIHEL is committed to excellence in the products and services that we provide.    
  • Diversity intrinsically enhances virtually every aspect of life, and we seek it to enrich our work. 
  • Health and environmental leaders accept the challenge to seek environmental justice and the elimination of health disparities. 
  • Individuals and communities share the responsibility for health and the environment. 
 What’s important to us about leadership:
  • Leadership is the behavior by which one influences others in the attainment of a common goal. Among those behaviors is sharing power or empowering others. 
  • Effective leaders lead by example.
  • Effective leadership requires the courage to take risks. 
  • Collaboration and inclusiveness are front line leadership tools for addressing complex problems.
  • Leadership learning is a lifelong process.
  • RIHEL is strongly committed to the future, as are all legitimate leadership endeavors.
  • An appreciation of our humanity and humor can facilitate difficult processes and add joy to life.  Creativity, passion, flexibility, and the desire to learn and grow are attitudes that help us grow as individuals, as leaders and as an Institute that develops, connects and leverages people.

THE INSTITUTE
The Regional Institute provides leadership training, builds linkages among leaders, and strengthens the relationships among health professionals, environment professionals, the academic community, the public sector and the private sector. The Regional Institute is affiliated with the National Public Health Leadership Development Network and is supported by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Financial support for the Institute is provided by the many sources included in the sponsors section. The major academic consortium affiliates in the Institute are the University of Colorado Health Sciences Center and the University of Denver. 

 
THE NEED FOR LEADERSHIP
There is currently a great need for a new kind of leadership because the challenges to health have never been greater, and because old paradigms of leadership are no longer effective in our very complex social, political and economic milieu. The Leadership Training Program seeks a diverse group of middle- to senior-level professional men and women who are technically competent in their fields. When they have enough experience and future-orientation to have their own visions, they are ready for leadership development.

INSTITUTE ACTIVITIES
* RIHEL 2009 Activity Report (pdf)

The Advanced Leadership Training Program is the main activity of the Institute. Approximately forty-five fellows participate in this year-long leadership learning experience. This program is designed to help current and emerging leaders to understand their leadership behaviors, make use of the collaborative process to address complex problems, become proficient at coaching protégés and colleagues, and create a network of colleagues whose expertise they can draw upon in the decades to come.

 Leadership for Resilience is another of the Institute's year-long leadership programs.  It is designed to address the severe nursing shortage facing Colorado. The Institute is using a team approach to address the complex challenges we face in nursing. The team consists of diverse health care and management professionals, each with unique experiences and skills that can be employed to design innovative solutions. The teams will work closely with faculty and coaches to learn and incorporate the fundamentals of leadership, collaboration, and teamwork into a project they design to address the nursing retention challenges within their organizations. 

The Public Health Internet Training course (PHIT) was created to help professionals throughout the health and environment workforce to make better use of the internet to enhance their ability to protect and promote public health and the environment. A special library of powerful websites accompanies the PHIT course on the Institute website.

Two manuals are available from the Institute and can be downloaded from the Institute website. They are workbooks to accompany the PHIT course and the Institute training on Coaching. They are informative and useful resources regardless of whether a person has taken these Institute trainings.

Alumni symposia that address areas of health or environment controversy are held each year. In 2003 an alumni-led symposium on genetically modified foods attracted 100 participants.

The Institute also addresses leadership training needs for select, special groups. Currently the Institute is creating curricula on Crisis Leadership for all-hazards responders, and provides leadership training for maternal and child health professionals in the summer institute of the Rocky Mountain Public Health Education Consortium.

RIHEL STRATEGIC PLAN
The RIHEL Governing Board and Stakeholders created the most recent strategic plan for the Institute in February 2007.  The plan is updated every other month at the regular meetings of the Governing Board.  The most recent version of the strategic plan can be found here.