Leadership & Organizational Transformation

What does being a leader mean to you? How do you advance health equity in your organization, no matter your role? Explore these questions and more below.

Ways to Get Started:

• Review Focus Area #1 in the toolkit beginning on page 21. Download Advancing Organizational Health Literacy (English | Spanish | screen-reader-friendly version).
• Take the self-assessment for Focus Area #1 beginning on page 4. Download Organizational Health Literacy Assessment (English | Spanish).
• Continue exploring the resources below.

Activities and Worksheets

Explore these resources related to leadership and organizational transformation:

• Applying Organizational Values to Your Work (English | Spanish)
• Creating SMARTIE Goals (English | Spanish)

Additional Resources

On October 17, 2025, we held the webinar, Championing Health Literacy: Persuading Leaders, Inspiring Action. CCDPH’s Dr. Darcie Moeller and Literacy Works’ Melanie Sampson presented. The webinar included a discussion with Dr. Kiran Joshi, CCDPH’s Chief Operating Officer, about engaging with leadership at your institution to make meaningful change. 

Check out the webinar and its related resources on advancing organizational change.

Webinar

Review the presentation slides (PDF) or watch the recording below.

Making the Case slide deck 

Check out this adaptable PowerPoint slide deck that you can download and adapt to use as a jumping off point to make the case for organizational health literacy initiatives at your organization! 

Creating Effective Presentations

Watch the short video below to learn more about making presentations that get your ideas across – or check out this quick overview .

External Resource

Funding & Sustainability

• Community-Centric Fundraising  – Fundraising model integrating social justice and equity into fundraising strategies
• Washington University in Saint Louis: Program Sustainability Tool – A brief survey to identify strengths and opportunities in long-term program planning

Goal Setting

• Centers for Disease Control and Prevention: Writing Effective Objectives with the National Breast and Cervical Cancer Early Detection Program (PDF) – Examples of SMARTIE objectives in action
• The Management Center: SMARTIE Goals: How to Drive Equity, Inclusion, Results  – Varied resources in creating SMARTIE goals
• Non-Profit Quarterly: Moving Beyond the Scarcity Mindset – Article exploring how the scarcity mindset affects the social sector and goal setting

Leadership and Organizational Change

• American Public Health Association (APHA): Public Health Code of Ethics (PDF) – 2019 report from APHA with ethics guidance in public health
• Community Commons: Community of Solutions Framework Skills for Change-Making – Leadership and theory of change frameworks in the community health worker sector

• Institute for Healthcare Improvement: Achieving Health Equity: A Guide for Health Care Organizations – Report on integrating a healthy equity lens into health institutions
• Racial Equity Tools: Change Process – Various resources on the topic of leadership and organizational transformation grounded in a racial equity-centered lens
• University of Kansas Community Toolbox: Building Leadership – Tools for developing and building leadership in community-based work
• University of Michigan and Indiana University: The Social Action, Leadership, and Transformation (SALT) Model (PDF)   – Overview of leadership framework grounded in a social justice lens

Reflective Practices

• Foundation Review at Grand Valley State University: PCI A Reflective Evaluation Framework for Systems Change (PDF) – Article explaining framework to evaluate systems change
• Health and Care Professions Council: Reflective Practice – UK resource on incorporating reflective practices into healthcare
• University of Edinburgh: Reflection Toolkit – Frameworks to support building a reflective practice in various professional environments