Administrator Jeff Ketchel and health policy analyst Nicole Thomsen were selected in June 2018 to be part of the third cohort of The Kresge Foundation’s Emerging Leaders in Public Health (ELPH) initiative.
Kresge’s ELPH was designed to provide public health leaders of county and local health departments with the opportunity to gain additional knowledge and build skills to address the challenges public health professionals face in their communities. During the program, Mr. Ketchel and Ms. Thomsen will participate in an action-oriented program focused on their proposal: the design and implementation of a project that more fully utilizes a shared-services model for providing public health programming in our five-county region.
In August, the Executive Committee authorized the Board Chair and the Administrator to sign a letter to the Kresge Foundation stating the Health District’s support of Mr. Ketchel and Ms. Thomsen’s proposal. The Kresge Foundation’s grant agreement letter (Exhibit A), awards $125,000 to the Health District for the period of October 1, 2018, through November 30, 2019, to develop and implement their proposal. Mr. Ketchel and Ms. Thomsen will also receive coaching and technical assistance to evolve their ideas into action. The contract requires two reports from Mr. Ketchel and Ms. Thomsen due in 2019.
Attached as Exhibit B is the electronic record and signature disclosure information, which allows Mr. Ketchel to sign the agreement letter electronically through DocuSign.
Mr. Ketchel and Ms. Thomsen join 19 other teams from across the country—including another Washington team from Yakima Health District—selected to participate in the third cohort of ELPH. Collectively, the 20 health departments represented by cohort leaders serve nearly 10 million community members in cities in the United States.