Previous Waves

Presented in descending order.

The nation’s Cooperative Extension System and its 4-H youth development program have the scale, reach, and experience to act as important partners and change agents for health equity. Extension’s Well Connected Communities initiative helps build diverse, multigenerational, cross-sector coalitions that can recognize and address systemic health inequities. By intentionally forging connections, building capacity, and taking action in these communities and across the Extension network we can ensure that life-long health and well-being are within everyone’s reach.

Well Connected Communities is an initiative of the Cooperative Extension System in partnership with National 4-H Council and support from the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation (RWJF).

Participating LGUs

In Wave 1 of Well Connected Communities, public universities across 12 states identified a minimum of three communities to engage and support, including a mix of rural and urban communities. Within each community, local health councils developed and implemented action plans to address top public health priorities in their area. Leveraging the proven power and innovation of 4-H youth leadership, bolstered by 4-H’s infrastructure, reach and impact, young people worked alongside the health councils to provide their ideas and perspective to help cultivate wellness.

Communities connected with volunteers to mentor youth leaders, build local capacity and ensure successful implementation of the action plan. Practical resources and training rooted in evidence-based practices and scientific research were made available to the participating universities and communities.

Participating LGUs

National 4-H Council (Council), in partnership with the groundbreaking youth health initiatives of the nationwide Cooperative Extension System (CES) and the solid foundation already laid by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation (RWJF) intends to facilitate the creation of a Culture of Health by building on the work of the National Leadership Team (NLT) in our first planning grant that designed a national infrastructure model to expand on CES’ unparalleled capacity, thought-leadership and reach in every county. The NLT has now been reduced to a smaller, nimbler Core Leadership Team (CLT) that will identify and create the assessment, personnel and communication needs to launch the Culture of Health across CES.

Creating a Culture of Health is a bold and important goal. Success will be achieved through careful planning, diligent action, evaluation and engagement of a diverse representation of youth, adults and committed partners. Through its part in the LGU system, CES is well acquainted with the need for multiple disciplines and sectors coming together to achieve outcomes beyond what can be done separately. Moreover, CES has a history of success with youth leadership, expert volunteerism and applied research that will be paramount in all our work.

Our work on this project in partnership with RWJF began in July 2015 with the development of the National Leadership Advisory Team (NLAT). This gathering of experts from across CES was incredibly valuable in a number of ways:

• Developing initial buy-in for activating on the ECOP Health Task Force’s strategic plan for health with influential players across CES
• Discovering key bodies of work from strategic plans to white papers to programs that can be utilized to build the foundation of our work moving forward
• Determining the strategy of a loose-tight system that enables a more rigid national structure while allowing for more freedom at the local level to address challenges in their community
• Developing operational efficiencies moving forward in determining the need for a smaller working group for quicker decision making, fewer contractors for simplicity and more in-person meetings to dig deeper on discussion points