CENTER FOR ADVANCING RURAL HEALTH EQUITY
New England
Workshop Series
Where they started
CARHE was launched in 2022 to help foster partnerships and programs to make sure everyone has a fair shot at a healthy life, no matter who they are or where they live. CARHE reached out to the Liberation Nexus Lab (LNL) to develop a curriculum on authentic community engagement for rural health equity.
What we did together
In the first phase of work, LNL reviewed relevant internal documents and drafted an outline for three workshops in collaboration with a planning team composed of the CARHE staff and partners. Approximately 50 people participated in the three workshops:
Session #1: Level-setting on principles of diversity, equity, inclusion, and justice
Session #2: Building muscles around understanding and engaging in authentic community engagement
Session #3: Taking action by translating and integrating the learning from the series into next steps
What they walked away with
After the conclusion of the third session, the LNL and the small group of CARHE staff and partners debriefed the experience. LNL shared reflections and recommendations for moving forward. Participants also received a copy of our 5 Characteristics of Authentic Community Engagement and our recommendations for Equitable Board Recruitment and Engagement.
Favorite part of this project
It was amazing to see how far the CARHE partner network reaches and learn about the different organizations’ connection to rural health equity. We particularly enjoyed seeing participants engage with the characteristics of authentic community engagement and begin to translate those learnings into their own practice.
“ It was a pleasure to work with Liberation Nexus Lab to plan and facilitate a Community Engagement workshop series with a focus on equity. They worked with our planning committee to co-design a training that truly reflected our needs. Their combined knowledge and experience, as well as their strong facilitation skills, led to a workshop that was engaging and impactful across participants from a variety of backgrounds. They are extremely responsive and we had a lot of fun along the way. ”