Charities Community Health Leadership Award Nominations Due Friday, July 15

Nominations Sought 2011 Community Health Leadership Award  

The St. Luke's Episcopal Health Charities' Community Health Leadership Program honors a nonprofit leader for his or her work in improving the health of vulnerable populations within the 57-county Episcopal Diocese of Texas mission field each year. The recipient receives $50,000 to be presented to the 501(c)3 nonprofit agency of their choice. All nominees should embody the operating values of the Charities: informed action, collaboration and empowerment.

Now in its seventh year, the Community Health Leadership Award was created to honor the not fully recognized efforts of one outstanding nonprofit community health leader who is motivated to use his or her knowledge and skills to reach out and advance community health in body, mind and spirit. We are eager to learn more about nominees, their agencies and their leadership vision.

Nomination forms and guidelines are available at www.slehc.org or by e-mailing charities@sleh.com. Nominations are due by noon Friday, July 15, 2011.ominations are due by noon Friday, July 15, 2011.

The selected nominee will be notified of his or her selection in September. Both honoree and nominator will be recognized at the annual Bishop’s Leadership Council dinner.

As part of the healing ministry of the Episcopal Diocese of Texas, the Bishop’s Leadership Council provides the Charities with long-term support of its mission and extends the reach of the Charities’ endowment through an annual giving program of individual pledges that are collectively applied to the highest priorities affirmed by voting Council members annually.

Visit us on the Web to see the guidelines and application.

What is a community health leader?

The Charities has kicked off its call for nominations for the 2011 Community Health Leadership Award and has begun receiving questions from prospective nominators. One question posed today involved the word health. The interested party was interested in learning if we are committed to giving the award to a healthcare provider or perhaps and Executive Director of a charity clinic or Federally Qualified Health Center.

Our response to the question was as follows:
The Charities has adopted the World Health Organization's broad definition of health: "Health is a state of complete physical, mental and social well-being and not just merely the absence of disease or infirmity."

That being said, we value and welcome any and all applications that reflect this tenet and look forward to learning more about leaders located throughout the 57-county diocese.

Below you will find the criteria our staff, judging panel and Board of Directors are looking for in this year’s nominations:

• Informed Action: nominee takes action based on a thorough understanding of his or her community, clients, and pressing health issues.
• Collaboration: nominee regularly brings together appropriate community members and other stakeholders and addresses the needs and concerns of all involved.
• Empowerment: nominee overcomes challenges and transforms stumbling blocks into constructive action to further the goal of improving community health.
• Leadership: nominee inspires others to follow; guides emerging community leaders and is respected by staff, board and community.
• Accomplishments:  nominee’s accomplishments are measurable and have significantly improved the health of the target community.

Click here to obtain the nomination guidelines and application.

The Art and Science of Collaborative Leadership

2011 Nonprofit Leadership Conference a Success in Fostering Collaboration to Advance Community Health

St. Luke’s Episcopal Health Charities’ Grantmaking team held its 2011 Nonprofit Leadership Conference: The Art and Science of Collaborative Leadership.

Each component of the conference included discussion of observances and proven collaborative tactics that embodied “art and science,” as well as, ties to the big ideas that can be realized with meaningful dialog and collaborative brainstorming. The “Big Idea” theme was born out of the successful leveraging of the Breast Health Portal that was illustrated in the recently completed “WOW video.” Conference attendees were matched with other like-minded and experienced attendees and asked to collaborate to develop a Big Idea for each table group.

Since the first conference, attendance has grown from thirty-five participants to nearly 100 Executive Directors, Board members and funders from 34 local, state, and national nonprofit community partners from throughout the 57-county Episcopal Diocese of Texas. Described as “the best conference yet,” “best meeting I have been to all year,” and a “great opportunity for professional and spiritual growth,” the conference motivated leaders to explore partnering and collaborative efforts to tackle the ever growing challenges facing nonprofit leaders.

In summary, one participant noted “nice change from only one facilitator to shared duties. I still marvel that your conference is able to draw together such disparate organizations and provide meaningful content for all,” while another was impressed with the Charities ability to “have the right people at the right tables” to facilitate meaningful discussions that are likely to continue beyond the conference. 

Based upon face-to-face feedback and over 75% of attendees’ response to the conference evaluation, the conference goals were met. Conference goals were:

§         To provide an environment to experience a spiritual renewal and recommitment to service.

§         To engage nonprofit leaders in collaboration by providing co-learning opportunities with peers and other diverse stakeholders.

§         To encourage the development of Big Ideas to solve common challenges and increase impact.

Did you attend this year's conference? If so, what did you learn?