G5 - Empowering Women in Leadership and Systems Advocacy

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Full Description: The Empowering Women in Community Leadership for Healthier Families project conducts leadership development and prepares diverse women of childbearing age to enhance existing state and community-based efforts to reduce the risk of preventable Intellectual/Developmental Disabilities, FAS/FASD, and those caused by lead poisoning. The project shows that women engaged in peer support groups learn best practices to protect themselves and their families against lead poisoning and FAS/FASD and learn how to advocate within their communities for better conditions. As members of their communities, the women share information about the risks and strategies within their own networks and the broader community.
The Empowering Women project has 3 components of leadership development:
Information Sessions: Black, Hispanic/Latina, and women of color with lived experience participated in focus groups and leadership training. The focus groups inform the Information Sessions topics. Findings showed women had an interest in learning more about stress management, food insecurity, financial management, and impact on health and community resources. Women were also interested in becoming more involved in community decision-making around issues that impact their lives and their families. In partnership with other family-serving community organizations, monthly Info Sessions were held in English and Spanish in targeted communities with disproportionate access to resources and services.
Leadership Training: Adapting the Serving on Groups training for diverse women in communities where the social determinants of health are indicators of the greatest need, women acquired advocacy skills and training. Diverse women attain equitable participation in the decision-making and planning of community health and education programs and services.
Monthly Gatherings: We learned, especially during Covid-19, that women feel isolated and have increased stress, and are looking for mental health support and social-emotional support. Women want to continue to connect virtually and expand their network to share resources and information. Women are interested in integrating stress-reducing activities for themself and their families.
The Annual Women’s Summit brings together family leaders, providers, and state and local partners to learn from each other. Framed within a Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion lens, the summit topics included self-care, stress management, reproductive health, mental health, and eye and brain health in women, and safety and self-defense.

AMCHP Innovation Hub has recently selected the Empowering Women project as an Emerging Practice.

Interactive Communication-Teaching methods:
Icebreaker.
Self-care exercise.
Serving on Groups hands-on audience participation, interactive activities.

Abbreviated Description: Empowering Women in Community Leadership for Healthier Families conducts leadership development and prepares diverse to enhance existing state and community-based efforts to reduce the risk of preventable Intellectual/Developmental Disabilities (IDDs), specifically FAS/FASD and those caused by lead poisoning. Data shows low income and communities of color face disproportionate risk and incidence of health inequities including disproportionate rates of childhood lead and fetal alcohol exposure. This project addresses these health inequities to lower the incidence of FAS/FASD, and lead poisoning by building community capacity to enhance engagement and leadership opportunities among women of childbearing age for the prevention of FAS/FASD and lead poisoning.