Climate Health Organizing Fellows Program

Who? Center For Health Equity Education and Advocacy (CHEEA) in partnership with People Power Health.

 

What is the project about? Our vision is to create a vibrant educational space and community that develops a cadre of interprofessional clinicians who are inspired and empowered to contribute directly and meaningfully to climate solutions by defining the impacts of climate change on health equity and by developing durable community organizing skill sets that can create structural change. We seek to create an intentional educational space in which clinicians can step away from the stressors and dysfunction of their day to day clinical work to reflect on the severity of the climate crisis and their capacity to create meaningful change. It will also present a foundational curriculum on the connections between climate and health, and provide opportunities to collaborate and socialize with peers. Our hope is that our programming can create transformative change within each participant which directly improves their capacity to address the climate crisis.

 

How? The program will be anchored in community organizing/public narrative skill development that will be applied in real time to a climate community organizing campaign in their local community. 

 

How long? This approximately 6 month fellowship program will have 3 immersive/weekend sessions and monthly 2 hour sessions. Participants will also meet with their personal coach to develop their community organizing project every month.

 

Who are the participants? Clinicians (individuals providing direct patient care), who are a part of an organization or institutional group seeking to address the climate crisis. We would like individuals to apply as a group of 3 individuals already working together on projects addressing climate change’s impacts on health.

Applicants should be U.S. based.

 

Where? The course will be fully online with participants across the U.S. Our programming is developed in collaboration with Harvard Kennedy School Professor Marshall Ganz’s network of organizer educators.

 

What we aspire to achieve:

• A well developed community organizing project by end of fellowship

• Increased knowledge of climate change and health

• Increased skill development in community organizing and public narrative

• Community building, inspiration, resilience, self efficacy, inspiration, burnout mitigation

• Fostering future collaboration among clinicians engaged in climate health advocacy

• Support career development in climate health and organizing