Purpose:
ASTHO is currently accepting applications for the “Building Capacity for Communicating Impact” Community of Practice. This Community of Practice is designed to support health department teams in strengthening their ability to demonstrate, articulate, and communicate the value and impact of their public health work. This cohort of the Community of Practice will place a particular focus on developing strategies to communicate the impact of their Public Health Infrastructure Grant (PHIG) efforts.

Through peer learning, technical assistance, and practical tools, participating teams will build strategic leadership and communications skills to more effectively translate public health achievements into compelling messages for key audiences. This Community of Practice will support health department leadership teams to enhance their capacity to:

• Demonstrate the value and impact of flexible, sustained investments in public health infrastructure.
• Articulate PHIG-supported successes to leadership, policymakers, and community partners.

Timeline:

• June 1, 2026: Request for applications released
• July 2, 2026: Deadline for application submissions
• July 31, 2026: Applicants notified of selection into the Community of Practice
• August 2026 – January 2027: Monthly virtual calls
• January 2027: Final deliverables and evaluation due

Eligibility:
All directly funded PHIG recipients (big-city, county, state/territory-level governmental public health professionals) are eligible to apply.

Program Information:
ASTHO will select up to five (5) PHIG recipient health departments to participate in a Community of Practice.

Health department teams will be comprised of four (4) leaders in key cross-functional roles and are highly encouraged to include key staff such as PHIG principal investigator, communications lead, workforce director, data modernization lead, evaluator, etc., to participate together in the learning community.

Objectives:
Through participation in this Community of Practice, health department teams will:

• Learn how to effectively communicate public health agency successes and their impact on local communities.
• Create strategies to improve communications coordination across health agency teams for rapid response and improved message alignment.
• Develop actionable, ready-to-use communications products in response to needs identified by their teams.

Expectations:
Teams participating in the Building Capacity for Communicating Impact Community of Practice are expected to:

• Assemble a team that includes a team leader (primary point of contact and drives momentum) and three additional team members who participate in PHIG-supported activities within the agency.
• Engage in virtual sessions and develop a final deliverable/communications product as a complete team representing their agency.
• Participate in a total of five 60–90-minute virtual learning community sessions with cohort team members and peers throughout the duration of the community.
• Be open to sharing their learning community deliverables, successes, challenges, and lessons learned with other health departments on a PHIG webinar, ASTHO communications channels, or other presentations.
• Participate in ASTHO process and outcomes evaluations.

Submit this online form by 11:59 p.m. ET on Thursday, July 2, 2026.

ASTHO Point of Contact:
Melissa Touma (mtouma@astho.org), Director, Public Health Infrastructure Program