Public Health Leadership
The Public Health Leadership concentration equips students with leadership skills to lead equity-focused public health interventions.
Welcome to Public Health Leadership!
Students participate in a highly curated series of workshops grounded in adult development and systems change theories. Upon completion of the concentration, students have a deeper understanding of who they are as leaders including their strengths and growth areas in leading systems level change.
What We Do
Students in the Public Health Leadership concentration are trained to become public health leaders who understand systemic problems, set new directions, lead change, and learn quickly from mistakes. They develop a deep sense of self and know how to connect and collaborate with others to address the most intractable population health challenges.
Learning in this concentration happens both inside and outside the classroom–– as a student, you will participate in retreats, experiential workshops, and peer group meetings to connect with other students and refine your collaboration skills. Students will also gain essential leadership expertise in communication, decision-making, problem-solving, and active listening through a curriculum focused on theories, models, and skills-building. The concentration is offered by the School’s Public Health Leadership Lab, which provides extracurricular opportunities for participants to learn and engage in leadership-building activities. Options are available for both residential and online students.
All students who register for the public health leadership lab will be expected to complete each of the following program components.
Curriculum
Students will come together in small groups for a series of 4 leadership workshops. In these workshops, students will develop their leadership skills by engaging in experiential learning, dialogue, and reflection as part of a cohort of their peers. Students will have an opportunity to conduct a leadership assessment, debrief their results, and develop personal leadership goals which they can work on during leadership coaching, career mentoring, or peer groups.
When registering to join the PHL Lab, students will select the cohort that best fits their schedule/preference from the options below. All Fall meetings run from 5:30-7:20pm.
| Cohort 1(Full) | Cohort 2 | Cohort 3 | Cohort 4 | |
| Day | Wednesdays | Thursdays | Wednesdays | Thursdays |
| Mode | In-Person | In-Person | Virtual | Virtual |
| Instructor: | Fawn Phelps | Perry Dougherty | Sharon Bueno Washington | Eli Ramos |
| Session 1: | Sept 25, 2024 | Oct 10, 2024 | Oct 9, 2024 | Sept 26, 2024 |
| Session 2: | Oct 9, 2024 | Oct 17, 2024 | Oct 23, 2024 | Oct 10, 2024 |
| Session 3: | Nov 13, 2024 | Nov 14, 2024 | Nov 13, 2024 | Nov 14, 2024 |
| Session 4: | Dec 4, 2024 | Dec 5, 2024 | Dec 4, 2024 | Dec 12, 2024 |
| Spring Closing Session: | Apr 5, 2025 | Apr 5, 2025 | Apr 5, 2025 | Apr 5, 2025 |
Students are expected to attend all sessions with their cohort, and cannot attend sessions with a cohort other than the one they have registered for.
Students will conduct an assessment of their leadership competencies through self and evaluator feedback, which they will use to deepen their self awareness and guide their own personal development. This will include an orientation to the Leadership Circle Profile competency framework, a facilitated process for gathering leadership assessment responses, and group coaching to explore assessment results and create individualized leadership development plans.
Note: There is a fee required to cover part of the cost of the 360-assessment.
All students completing the concentration in Public Health leadership must complete 10 credits of leadership coursework from this roster of approved courses.
Students who are interested in participating in all other programming but who are unable to complete the 10-credits required to fulfill the concentration, are welcomed to apply.
Students have a choice between Leadership Coaching with a professional coach who can support students as they work on their leadership development goals – Career Mentoring with a professional in their field who can share insights from their experience and prepare students for the road ahead – or Peer Coaching with 2-3 fellow students who meet regularly to support and learn from one another as they work towards their leadership goals.
Enrollment
All Harvard Chan students enrolled in any online or in-person degree program are eligible to participate in Public Health Leadership Lab programming. Students interested in receiving a concentration in Public Health Leadership will be required to complete 10 credits of leadership coursework, and must be enrolled in a degree program.
Once accepted to Harvard Chan School, students may complete this short application for admission.