Environmental Health Leadership Academy

lightbulbs against a dark backgroundWe are seeking experienced environmental health professionals who aspire to become the future leaders of tomorrow. This intensive and interactive program focuses on management and leadership skill-building, successful leadership strategies, community partnership, emergency management, and other tools to better prepare the environmental health leaders of tomorrow.

About the Program

We are recruiting a new cohort of environmental health professionals to participate in our Environmental Health Leadership Academy. 

This twelve-month program will begin on the third Wednesday of July 2022 and conclude in-person at our 2023 Annual Educational Conference. As we continue to move through the pandemic, we hope to incorporate more face-to-face engagement with the cohort. This may include sponsored travel events and environmental health emergency management training through the Federal Emergency Management Agency’s Center for Domestic Preparedness.

Participants will be required to:

  • Meet monthly via 4-hour virtual training modules to learn and collaborate with other leadership academy peers 
  • Complete monthly pre-module and post-module assignments
  • Meet with a mentor, which may be one-on-one or as a group 
  • Complete a year-end project, which must benefit either their organization, the community served, or the environmental health workforce

Training Modules 

  • Managing You
  • Assessing Environmental Health Risks
  • Communications Skills
  • Strengthen, Support, and Mobilize Communities and Partnerships to Ensure Equity
  • Environmental Health Interventions
  • Emergency Management
  • Build and Maintain a Strong Organizational Infrastructure
  • Improve and Innovate through Evaluation, Research, and Quality Improvement
  • Building a Diverse and Skilled Workforce
  • Performance Management

Cost

The cost of the year-long program is $1,500.
  • Limited need-based scholarships may be offered; requests for scholarship consideration must be included in the application. 
  • There may be travel events throughout the 12-month program to foster in-person engagement opportunities.
  • The closing module will be in-person at our 2023 AEC and all participants of the program must attend. AEC registration and travel accommodations are not included in the program fee and is the responsibility of the applicant’s employer.    

Application and Admission

Admission into the leadership academy will be competitive. Applicants should:

  • Be full-time employees of a local, state, tribal, territorial, public health or environmental health agency/organization

  • Demonstrate commitment to a career in environmental health  

  • Holding a valid Registered Environmental Health Specialist/Registered Sanitarian (REHS/RS) credential is preferred but not required

  • Commit to completing the program and attending sponsored events (i.e. 2023 NEHA’s Annual Educational Conferences, participate in group discussions, complete assigned tasks, etc.)

  • Be a NEHA member or willing to be one

Submitting an application does not indicate acceptance into the program. Each completed application will be reviewed and evaluated using an objective, weighted system assessing the applicant's:

  • Background 

  • Credentials, certifications, and/or degrees

  • Personal statement

  • Letter of support from supervisor

  • Commitment to the program

  • Experiences against the knowledge, skills, and abilities associated with the program. 

Complete the application

Deadline: Applications must be submitted by Wednesday, June 22, 2022. 

  • Applicants will be notified of their status by Friday, June 24, 2022. 
  • Applicants invited to the program must attend an informational webinar which will be scheduled after acceptance.
  • It is highly recommended for supervisors to attend this meeting so that they understand the time commitment expected from their staff participants.   

The second annual leadership training academy for environmental health professionals is funded with support from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.