Build and Bridge Portal

Ten Years of Building Together: Lessons Learned on Being Bold, Upstream, Integrated, Local, and Data-Driven

This resource reflects on a decade of lessons from the BUILD Health Challenge, highlighting how the Bold, Upstream, Integrated, Local, and Data-Driven principles create sustainable, community-centered health improvements.

More Than the Sum: Networks, Public Will, and Scaling After The BUILD Health Challenge

This report explores how communities sustain and scale long-term systems change, health equity, and multi-sector partnerships following the BUILD Health Challenge.

Community Approaches to Systems Change: A Compendium of Practices, Reflections, and Findings

This report highlights how 19 communities implemented cross-sector, community-driven strategies to achieve systems-level changes that improve health equity, partnerships, and outcomes.

Learning Series: Keys to Collaboration

This report shares best practices and recommendations for building successful cross-sector, community-centered partnerships to improve population health.

Funders Forum on Accountable Health: Case Studies

This webpage presents case studies from the Funders Forum on Accountable Health examining how community-based partnerships implement accountable health models to improve population health, care quality, and cost outcomes.

Funders Forum on Accountable Health: Publications

This webpage highlights research, reports, and practical strategies from the Funders Forum on Accountable Health focused on improving health equity, maternal and infant outcomes, and community-driven multisector partnerships.

Bridge & Build Resource Library Demo

The demo video for the Bridge & Build Resource Library showcases its searchable collection, AI-powered tools, curated resources, and accessibility features, providing users with an overview of how to explore and utilize these tools.

Kane County Case Story: The Power to Heal

This resource highlights how parent leaders in Kane County, Illinois, partnered with the local health department using an inside-outside strategy to expand mental health support, create peer-led services, and advocate for statewide policy change.

Providence Case Story: Turning the Tide in Providence

How long-term community organizing against polluting industry in the Port of Providence is building the infrastructure for co-governance and making progress towards climate justice.

The Roots of Health Inequity

The Roots of Health Inequity is a free, online learning collaborative for current and future public health professionals. The goal of this series is to address a need expressed by public health practitioners to better tackle the root causes of health inequities.

Testing a Shared Governance Model for Health and Social Service Delivery in East Harlem (IAPHS 2018)

This resource explores how fragmented delivery and financing systems for medical, social, and public health services—often operating in isolation despite serving overlapping populations—can be better coordinated. The study emphasizes the need for novel mechanisms to align these systems to enhance population health outcomes. Panelists, including representatives from the University of Kentucky, Trailhead Institute, New York […]

Forming Partnerships With Public Health Departments, Part 1: Why It’s a Good Idea

This resource explores why forming partnerships between housing justice organizations and public health departments is a powerful strategy for advancing racial equity, improving health outcomes, and addressing systemic housing inequities. It outlines practical steps and value, such as trust-building, recognizing community expertise, and focusing on structural change—to guide cross-sector collaboration. The piece is particularly valuable […]

Lead Local Glossary

The Lead Local Glossary offers clear definitions of key concepts such as community power, base building, structural change, and health equity. It serves as a foundational resource for understanding how community organizing and power-building strategies can drive systemic change to promote health equity.

Mobilizing for Action through Planning and Partnerships (MAPP) Network

The MAPP Network is a virtual community hosted by the National Association of County and City Health Officials (NACCHO) for individuals and organizations interested in the Mobilizing for Action through Planning and Partnerships (MAPP) framework. This online platform facilitates peer-to-peer dialogue, provides access to tools and resources, and offers training opportunities to support community health […]

Co-Governing Towards Multi-Racial Democracy, Partners in Dignity and Rights, Race Forward

This resource showcases community-led models of co-governance that align public systems with grassroots leadership to advance racial and economic justice. Through real-world examples like People’s Assemblies and worker-led enforcement, the report highlights how collaborative governance transforms institutions and redistributes power to communities. It offers lessons, frameworks, and policy strategies for equitable, participatory governance at local, […]

HIP Case Studies About Power-Building Partnerships: Health Equity Guide Case Studies About Health Departments Sharing Power With Community Organizers

These case studies from Human Impact Partners’ Health Equity Guide illustrate how state, local, tribal, and territorial health departments are advancing health equity through transformative internal practices and authentic partnerships with community-based organizations. The guide emphasizes power-sharing, community co-leadership, and policy reform rooted in racial equity and justice. It serves as a practical blueprint for […]

The Lead Local Collaborative

Lead Local is a collaborative initiative that unites leaders in community organizing, advocacy, and research to explore how building community power can catalyze and sustain health equity. It emphasizes that those most affected by systemic inequities are best positioned to drive transformative change in their communities. Through resources like primers, case studies, and measurement tools, […]

Joint Call to Action to Promote Healthy Communities

The Joint Call to Action to Promote Healthy Communities is a collaborative initiative led by the American Society of Landscape Architects and other professional organizations. It emphasizes the importance of interdisciplinary collaboration in designing built environments that foster health, well-being, and physical activity. This national movement encourages urban planners, public health practitioners, and policymakers to […]

Changing States: A Framework for Progressive Governance, USC Equity Research Institute

The “Changing States” framework by the USC Equity Research Institute outlines a strategy for advancing progressive governance at the state level. It focuses on building power within states to drive systemic change, identifying key dimensions such as conditions for change and arenas of change where transformation occurs. The framework emphasizes the role of states in […]

Public Health 101 for Organizers

This resource provides a practical guide designed to help community organizers understand and engage with governmental public health systems to advance equity-focused campaigns. It offers strategic insights, collaboration tools, and real-world examples—like a Santa Barbara farmworker initiative during COVID-19—to build effective partnerships between community-based organizations (CBOs) and health departments. The guide emphasizes structural change, power […]

Theory in Action: Public Health and Community Power Building for Health Equity

This article from the Journal of Public Health Management and Practice offers a practical framework for understanding and addressing power imbalances that contribute to health inequities. Using the “Three Faces of Power” model—visible, hidden, and invisible—it illustrates how public health professionals and community-based organizations can shift decision-making, agenda-setting, and narratives to promote equity. Real-world case […]

Philanthropy and Public Health: Building Strong Partnerships for Healthy Communities

This webinar, designed for public health professionals, offers an overview of the strategies philanthropic organizations use to improve population health. It emphasizes the importance of building strong partnerships between philanthropy and public health sectors to advance health equity. The course aims to equip public health practitioners with knowledge and tools to effectively collaborate with philanthropic […]

NALSYS Research

The National Longitudinal Survey of Public Health Systems (NALSYS) is a research initiative that tracks over 500 U.S. communities to study the implementation and impact of multi-sector population health activities. It collects data from local public health departments on various health improvement activities and the organizations involved, providing insights into the structure and evolution of […]

Learn by Topic – The Rippel Foundation

The Rippel Foundation’s “Learn by Topic” portal offers a comprehensive suite of resources designed to support public health practitioners, community-based organizations (CBOs), and stewards in advancing health equity through systems transformation. This resource hub is particularly valuable for those involved in local, state, tribal, and national public health efforts, offering tools and frameworks to address […]

Three Faces of Power, Grassroots Power Project

The “Three Faces of Power” framework by the Grassroots Policy Project helps community-based organizations and public health advocates understand and build power through direct action, infrastructure development, and ideological influence. It promotes a strategic, justice-oriented approach to power-building that goes beyond resistance to foster long-term, values-driven systemic change.

Shifting and Sharing Power: Public Health’s Charge in Building Community Power

This NACCHO Exchange article emphasizes the critical role of local health departments (LHDs) in addressing systemic health inequities by shifting from traditional engagement methods to authentic power-sharing with grassroots community power-building organizations (CPBOs). It outlines frameworks for understanding and redistributing power and highlights successful collaborations that have led to equitable policy changes. The article also […]

Developing Transformative Health Department and Community Based Organization Partnerships

This resource, “Strengthening Partnerships Between Governmental Public Health and Community-Based Organizations,” was developed by the CDC Foundation in collaboration with Human Impact Partners and supported by Kaiser Permanente. It offers guidance on building transformative partnerships between public health departments and community-based organizations, drawing from a panel discussion featuring insights from an alliance in Fairfax County, […]

Systems for Action

The Systems for Action (S4A) program focuses on discovering and applying evidence to align delivery and financing systems across public health, medical, and social services sectors. By funding research on cross-sector initiatives, S4A aims to identify system-level innovations that drive collaboration and integration, ultimately improving health outcomes and equity.

Working with Community Organizers (who, why, how)

This resource from the Health Equity Guide, developed by Human Impact Partners, emphasizes the importance of collaboration between public health departments and community organizers.

Primer on Power-building, Housing Justice and Health Equity

This resource explores how community power-building can address structural oppression and advance both housing justice and health equity. It serves as a guide for health professionals, policymakers, and organizers to collaborate with housing justice movements, offering frameworks to shift power dynamics that underlie health and housing inequities.

Power-Building Partnerships for Health: Lessons From Santa Barbara About Building Power to Protect Farmworker Health and Advance Health Equity

This article highlights how the Santa Barbara County Public Health Department partnered with grassroots organizations CAUSE and MICOP through the Power-building Partnerships for Health (PPH) initiative. By centering trust and shared power, the collaboration led to culturally responsive COVID-19 outreach and a groundbreaking Health Officer Order to protect farmworker housing. The case study emphasizes long-term, […]

Testing a Shared Decision-making Model for Health and Social Service Delivery in East Harlem (Research-in-Progress Series)

This presentation from Systems for Action outlines a study testing a place-based system integration model in East Harlem, New York City. The model aims to improve coordination among health and community services by aligning the city health department with cross-sector community stakeholders, including clinical and non-clinical partners, faith- and community-based organizations, and community health workers.

Power-building Resources – Human Impact Partners

The “Bridging Partnerships and Strategies” resource from Health In Partnership focuses on fostering collaboration between governmental public health entities and community-based organizations to advance health equity and social justice. It offers tools like the Five Dimensions Guide and Toolkit to support these partnerships in building community power and implementing transformative public health practices.

8 Ways to Connect with Your Public Health Department

This resource helps community-based organizations understand how their missions align with those of local health departments, especially around issues like housing and other social determinants of health, and guidance for building partnerships. It explains how public health agencies operate and outlines opportunities for collaboration that center community voices.

Powerful Partnerships for Healthy Communities – Three Part Video Series

This video series from Human Impact Partners explores how public health departments and community organizers can build power together to advance health equity. It showcases real-world partnerships, highlighting strategies for equitable collaboration and systemic change.

Power-Building for Health Departments Webinar Series

This two-part webinar series, hosted by Human Impact Partners (HIP) in June and July 2022, is designed for health department leaders, staff, and partners. It delves into power imbalances as a root cause of health inequities and offers strategies for building deep alliances with Community Power-Building Organizations (CPBOs). The sessions provide tools for health departments […]

Strengthening Partnerships Between Governmental Public Health and Community-Based Organizations

This webinar, hosted by the CDC Foundation Health Equity and Strategy Office in collaboration with Human Impact Partners and supported by Kaiser Permanente, focuses on enhancing collaborations between governmental public health entities and community-based organizations (CBOs). Drawing insights from over 144 CBOs and health department representatives through interviews, sessions, and case studies, the event presents […]

Building Community Power To Dismantle Policy-Based Structural Inequity In Population Health

This resource advocates for shifting population health strategies from technocratic, individual-focused models to a democratic approach rooted in building community power to dismantle policy-driven structural inequities. It highlights how structural racism and inequitable policies perpetuate health disparities and underscores the importance of empowering communities to drive policy reform, as seen in local campaigns like Fresno’s […]

Racial Justice and Power Sharing: The Heart of Leading Systems Change

This book chapter describes how systems change leaders can place the values of racial justice and power-sharing at the heart of their practice, thereby shifting the system in the process and supporting social movements to achieve systems change.

Activities to Deepen Your Power-Building Analysis

This resource provides lessons, activities, and tools in assessing power and influence and how to engage in meaningful conversations about what it is, who holds it, and how to leverage and redistribute it to create more equitable and healthy communities.

Bridging Partnerships and Strategies

This resource focuses on building deep partnerships between government public health departments and community organizers to advance health equity, community power, and systems change regarding the social determinants of health.

How to Build Cross-Sector Partnerships That Improve Public Health

This resource provides guidance on effective communication strategies for building cross-sector partnerships to enhance public health outcomes

Together Toward Health: Amplifying Impact Through Collaborative Partnerships

This resource explores how the Public Health Institute Together Toward Health initiative built partnerships with over 500 community-based organizations to increase equitable access to COVID-19 vaccines, testing, and resources, amplifying community impact through collaboration across California.

Public Health Accreditation Board: Transformation Guide

This resource is about guiding public health systems through a transformative process to enhance equity, capacity, and community well-being by adopting innovative frameworks, fostering partnerships, and implementing continuous improvements.

School Health: Aligning Frameworks

This resource provides a comprehensive guide to the Whole School, Whole Community, Whole Child (WSCC) model, emphasizing the integration of education and health to promote student well-being through collaborative, inclusive, and sustainable approaches.

Exploring Equity in Multi-sector Community Health Partnerships

This roundtable workshop proceedings from the National Academies of Science, Engineering, and Medicine Roundtable on Population Health Improvement explores multi-sector health partnerships that engage residents, reduce health disparities, and improve health and well-being.

Supporting Communities and Local Public Health Departments During COVID-19 and Beyond: A Roadmap for Equitable and Transformative Change

This resource outlines policy, program, and resource recommendations to help local public health departments and communities better prepare for and respond to public health emergencies, with a focus on equity and transformative change.

Resources for Collaboration and Power Sharing Between Government Agencies and Community Power-Building Organizations

This resource provides guidance to health departments on how to partner with Community Power-Building Organizations (CPBOs) to promote health equity. It includes four guides with activities aimed at building capacity and establishing collaborative partnerships for sharing power in health initiatives.

NACCHO: Health in All Policies

This resource provides information and resources on Health in All Policies (HiAP), emphasizing its implementation support for local health departments, collaboration across sectors, and access to tools like resolutions, ordinances, webinars, and partnerships to advance public health through policy integration.

Multisector Community Health Partnerships: Potential Opportunities and Challenges

This brief summarizes the proceedings of a recent NASEM workshop where participants explored multisector community health partnerships that aim to address inequities and improve the health and well-being of communities.

Reimagining Public Health Advocacy

This resource explores the potential for stronger partnerships between public health NGOs and community power-building organizations (CPBOs) to address health and housing issues through collaborative efforts and shared strategies.

A Campaign for Dignity and Respect

This resource is about how Step Up Louisiana and the New Orleans Health Department utilized an inside-outside strategy to successfully advocate for a Workers’ Bill of Rights in New Orleans, improving economic and health outcomes for low-wage workers.

The Spectrum of Community Engagement to Ownership

The Spectrum of Community Engagement to Ownership charts a pathway to strengthen and transform our local democracies. Leaders across multiple sectors, such as community-based organizations, local governments, philanthropic partners, and facilitative leaders trusted by communities, can use this spectrum to assess and revolutionize community engagement efforts to advance community-driven solutions.

Human Impact Partners: Health Equity Guide

The Health Equity Guide is a comprehensive resource designed to help public health departments and practitioners plan and implement health equity and racial justice strategies.

Big Cities Health Coalition Epidemiology Capacity Assessment, 2024

This resource provides an in-depth analysis of the epidemiology capacity in health departments, covering staffing, funding, methods, findings, and recommendations for improvement.

Achieving Environmental Health Equity: The Need and Opportunities for Public Health Action

This resource highlights the need for public health organizations to address environmental health disparities by dismantling systemic inequalities, particularly structural racism, and advancing health equity.

Enhancing Data Access to Improve American Indian and Alaska Native Health: A Framework for State and Local Public Health Officials

This resource is a policy brief that outlines strategies for improving American Indian and Alaska Native health through better access to health data, focusing on tribal sovereignty, data sharing, equity, and public health authority.

A Recipe for Meaningful Community Engagement

This resource provides guidance on how to move beyond transactional relationships and foster meaningful, long-term community engagement, emphasizing racial equity, collaboration, and the importance of centering community voices in change initiatives.

Supporting Equitable Community Engagement

This resource guides state health departments on supporting equitable and inclusive community engagement to address social determinants of health and reduce health inequities.

Ready to Advance Health Equity

This resource focuses on enhancing the capacity of state, tribal, local, and territorial health departments to use law and policy to address social determinants of health and advance health equity.

The BUILD Health Challenge Workbook

This workbook is designed to help communities looking to employ cross-sector and community-driven approaches that ensure everyone can reach their optimal level of health. The information in this workbook reflects key concepts, resources, and tools that have been used to support more than 68 communities since 2015.

Council of State and Territorial Epidemiologists (CSTE): 2024–2026 Strategic Impact Plan

This resource outlines CSTE’s 2024-2026 Strategic Impact Plan, focusing on advancing applied epidemiology to promote public health through innovation, workforce development, data modernization, and community engagement, aiming to ensure thriving and healthy communities everywhere.

Applied Epidemiology Competencies Evaluation

This resource provides evaluation tools for assessing knowledge, skills, and abilities across the seven domains of the Applied Epidemiology Competencies (AECs) to support professional development and performance reviews in the field of epidemiology.

COVID-19 Health Equity Technical Assistance

This resource provides technical assistance, training, and resources for OT21-2103 grant recipients as part of the National Initiative to Address COVID-19 Health Disparities among high-risk and underserved populations.

Centering the Community’s Voice in State-Led Health Equity Initiatives

This resource highlights state-led health equity initiatives, focusing on the Strategies to Repair Equity and Transform Community Health (STRETCH) Initiative, which aims to build capacity within public health departments to improve health outcomes and address health disparities.

The Community as a Full Partner: A New Model For Public Health

This resource discusses the need to strengthen the US public health system through greater community engagement and leadership, as highlighted by the COVID-19 pandemic.

Community Power–Building Groups and Public Health NGOs: Reimagining Public Health Advocacy

This resource explores the potential of partnerships between public health organizations and community power-building organizations to address health disparities by shifting the distribution of power.

Building Trust-Based Community Partnerships For Public Health Professionals

This tool focuses on fostering trust-based partnerships between public health professionals and communities burdened by climate and environmental hazards, aiming to improve health equity outcomes through collaboration and shared expertise. It includes a panel discussion where participants will share stories of successful and unsuccessful partnerships, offering insights and best practices for building and maintaining trust in […]

Strengthening Partnerships Between Public Health and Community-Based Organizations

This resource offers recommendations and a roadmap based on insights from health department and CBO leaders to enhance partnerships and address public health challenges. It aims to promote equitable solutions, better community health outcomes, and inclusive decision-making processes between these entities.

Undoing the Drivers of Health Inequity

This resource shows how ChangeLab Solutions addresses the five fundamental drivers of health inequity by developing legal and policy strategies to transform policies and systems. Examples of how communities nationwide have used equitable policymaking to confront the drivers of health inequity and create systems change are provided.

The Principles of Trustworthiness

The Trustworthiness Toolkit, created by the Association for American Medical Colleges (AAMC) Health Justice, is a resource designed to help all organizations build and maintain trust with the communities they serve. The toolkit includes practical tools and strategies for improving communication, transparency, and accountability. It focuses on four key domains: reliability, competence, honesty, and empathy.

Centering Racial Justice in the Public Health Ecosystem: Lessons From COVID-19

This brief describes the actions and commitments of an ecosystem approach to public health. Distinctions between this ecosystem approach and the current focus on rebuilding governmental public health infrastructure to maintain accountability are highlighted. Operational definitions and sources for key equity and justice terms and concepts are provided. The article concludes with a synthesis of public […]

Healing Through Policy: Creating Pathways to Racial Justice

This issue brief is full of curated policies and practices that can be implemented at the local level to promote racial healing and advance racial equity.

Tribal Epidemiology Toolkit

This toolkit provides resources and best practices to promote population health among tribal communities by enhancing public health surveillance in Indian Country. This resource includes guidance for obtaining and using tribal health data and improving collaboration among federal, state, and tribal governments.

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