Coalition work isn’t always easy. Often, health professionals and community partners can get burned out on their hard work towards achieving healthy eating and active living goals. At the 2018 Leadership Summit for Healthy Communities, keynote speaker Fran Butterfoss, Ph.D., MSEd., will reignite the spark for community coalition work.
During her keynote presentation, “Ignite: Getting Your Coalition or Partnership Fired Up for Change,” Butterfoss will address the challenges that community coalitions face when working with limited resources to accomplish their goals.
“Health professionals and community partners often feel burned out by working harder, not smarter to accomplish organizational or community goals related to promoting healthy eating and active living,” says Butterfoss. “They may be frustrated by difficulties in recruiting and retaining diverse and active partners, finding sustainable financial and material resources, resolving conflict and making decisions or creating effective strategic/action plans.”
As President of Coalitions Work, a group that helps coalitions build and sustain community change efforts to promote health and prevent disease, Butterfoss has seen these scenarios play out repeatedly. She’s even written best-selling books about the topics: Coalitions and Partnerships in Community Health and Ignite! Getting your Community Coalition Fired Up for Change.
Like the name of her second book, her keynote presentation at the Leadership Summit for Healthy Communities will focus on four stages of building coalitions:
Before You Build It,
Build It,
Make it Work, and
Sustain It!
She will talk about the structure and processes that coalitions and partnerships need to manage themselves; develop their staff, members, and leaders; plan and carry out effective strategies; evaluate what they do; and sustain themselves long enough to accomplish their goals. Butterfoss will provide attendees with the spark and practical tools that will help to build capacity for community work.
“Coalitions are powerful vehicles for building the skills of professionals and volunteers, thereby empowering them to advocate and act on behalf of priority populations within their communities,” says Butterfoss.
With clients such as the Alliance for a Healthier South Carolina, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the American Cancer Society, Butterfoss and her team at Coalitions Work have taught countless public health coalitions and partnerships—across the country and at all levels—to build and sustain community change efforts. Their work empowers these groups by building capacity and enhancing their ability to effect positive changes in the health of the communities they serve.
Butterfoss earned her bachelor’s degree in nursing and master’s degree in education from the University of Pennsylvania. After 15 years, she decided to get her doctor’s degree in public health promotion and education from the University of South Carolina Arnold School of Public Health while her husband was stationed at Fort Jackson. In addition to her work at Coalitions Work, she is a professor at Eastern Virginia Medical School.
The Leadership Summit for Healthy Communities will be held October 29-30 at the Spartanburg Marriott in Spartanburg, SC. It’s the only statewide conference that unites healthy eating and active living content specialists and decision makers from South Carolina. Early bird registration is open until October 5th. Scholarships are available for those who are in need of a reduced registration fee.
More than 100 teenagers and adults from across South Carolina attended the 6th Annual Youth Summit on July 27th at The Meeting Place Church in Columbia to learn about youth-led policy changes and how to advocate effectively. Hosted by the Healthy Young People Empowerment (HYPE) Project and Eat Smart Move More South Carolina, the Summit featured Leading to Change, a nationally-recognized team building and engagement training agency.
“Leading to Change brought tons of energy to this year’s Summit,” says Trimease K. Carter, ESMMSC youth engagement manager. “Their sessions incorporated singing, dancing, inspiration, and motivation. Based on evaluations and feedback, both youth and adult participants had a great time.”
HYPE Project teams from Orangeburg, Anderson, Kershaw, Laurens, Spartanburg, and Richland counties presented videos on their successes in establishing policy and environmental changes in their communities. Videos highlighted the worked youth have done to implement the following changes:
Kershaw County: Youth continued their healthy food choices campaign within the community and the school cafeteria by developing an outreach program to teach residents and students about benefits of making healthy food choices.
Anderson County: The HYPE Team continued their safe physical activity project through park cleanup, installing a Born Learning Trail, and ADA accessible sidewalks.
Orangeburg County: In addition to continuing their park improvements project, youth focused on educating the public on the dangers of tobacco use.
Laurens County: The HYPE Team led an effort to revitalize an abandoned ballfield for community use.
Spartanburg County: The HYPE Team is working with Spartanburg City Parks and Recreation Department as teen ambassadors to help engage more teens with programs and activities.
Richland County: Youth are working with administrators at W.A. Perry Middle School to create safer routes to school for students.
This year’s Youth Summit also featured six breakout sessions addressing leadership and youth engagement skills. Leading to Change led four breakout sessions where attendees learned about the true colors of their powerful leadership style and about diversity, culture, and commonalities you can’t see.
Kathryn Johnson of LiveWell Kershaw, led a session for youth titled “Hope is Not a Plan of Action.” During this session, attendees identified something they wished to accomplish, and took that “hope” and turned it into “action” by developing a realistic plan.
Finally, three students from TedXYouth@Columbia facilitated a student-led session where participants had a reasoned, informed discussion around a set of current, controversial topics.
“This year’s breakout sessions were a great mix for youth and adults. We hope that attendees learned something that they can take back to their families, schools, churches, and communities,” says Carter.
You can see pictures from the Youth Summit on the ESMMSC Facebook page, and all HYPE Team Videos are on YoutTube.
Providing youth and adults with an inspiring and engaging experience at the Youth Summit requires quality speakers and a guaranteed enjoyable time. That’s what this year’s headliner does every day. National award-winning training agency Leading to Change out of North Carolina will help lead a day of inspirational messages and skill-building experiences for South Carolina’s youth at the 6th Annual Youth Summit on July 27th in Columbia.
“We’re looking forward to having Leading to Change facilitate the Youth Summit,” says Trimease K. Carter, Youth Engagement Manager at ESMMSC. “They will provide a fun, highly interactive experience filled with laughter, music, and engaging breakout sessions.”
Leading to Change will provide two breakout sessions geared towards leadership skills and diversity. PLAYING WITH FIRE: Conflict, Communication, and your TRUE COLORS of Leadership will help participants identify their leadership style and learn how to work better with others. BEYOND RACE: Diversity, Culture, and Our Commonalities You Can’t See will address how to think outside of the racial divide and see people for their cultural backgrounds rather than their race.
“These two breakout sessions speak directly to what we address in The HYPE Project – working together to achieve a common goal,” says Carter. “Our youth will build a leadership foundation that can be used in their communities to achieve success.”
The Youth Summit is open to all youth who are interested in making their voice stronger and those who are involved with youth-serving organizations. Adults leaders and ESMMSC community partners are also invited to attend. Registration is open now through July 20th.
“If you haven’t experienced Leading to Change, then you might want to make plans to attend the Youth Summit on Friday, July 27th in Columbia,” says Carter. “I’ve attended one of their trainings, and I can honestly say that it was the most engaging and fun training I’ve ever attended. I think our youth and adult attendees will highly enjoy spending a day away from home and work.”
