Host: Riverside University Health System – Public Health
Region: Southern California
Openings: 1
Project Focus: Public Health, Urban Planning
Skills Needed: Community Engagement, Project Management, Marketing, Stakeholder Engagement, Critical Thinking, Leadership

Service Needs & Plans

The Fellow would be supporting the Riverside County Department of Public Health in rebuilding the Healthy Cities regeneration in collaboration with the Riverside County Health Coalition, county and city governments and other ally organizations.

To the extent possible within the scope of the Healthy City Network, the Fellow will engage in addressing the full spectrum of the social determinants of health (SDOH)through policy and program development and implementation. Some of the topics would include land use planning, social equity, systemic racism, climate change, tobacco control, active transportation, tobacco control, adverse childhood experiences and resilience, (ACER) and more.

Project Description

1. Overarching goals of the project

The primary goal of rebuilding the Riverside County Healthy City Network (HCN) Regeneration Project is to establish the HCN in the short and long term as the premiere vehicle embedding public health in all city policies of our 28 cities to improve health outcomes in Riverside County. The capacity building required involves working with a myriad of stakeholders including City and County staff, potentially decision makers and appointed officials, leaders of community based organizations and the community at large. Such involvement would entail deep listening, relationship building and training on the importance of integrating health considerations in all policies and programs.

2. Role of the Fellow in the project
The Fellow’s role will be to perform a variety of tasks to support the organization. This will include participating in strategic planning meetings, collecting and summarizing notes, preparing and delivering presentations, creating visual communication materials such as charts, graphs, maps, and infographics, researching relevant training materials for the target audience, writing newsletter articles and blog posts, organizing and attending stakeholder meetings, providing administrative support as needed, contributing ideas and creativity, and assisting in the preparation and delivery of pertinent training programs and/or conferences.

3. Desired project outcomes in terms of resources developed (e.g., reports,
plans, networks, etc.)
The desired outcomes of the Fellow are to complete several tasks related to the Healthy Cities Network. These tasks include researching and updating the Healthy City Profiles for 28 cities and the county, updating the Healthy City Network Map, preparing a Key Informant Interviews (KKI) report, keeping the HCN website updated, participating in the development of a community engagement strategy for the HCN, and participating in the development of an annual Healthy Cities Network conference. By completing these tasks, the Fellow will contribute to the advancement and improvement of the Healthy Cities Network and its initiatives.

4. How these resources will help increase the agency’s capacity to address the resilience challenges you described in the previous section. *
The Fellow will provide direct support to the HCN’s project lead who, in collaboration with others, advances its operation.

Desired Skills

We are looking for a fellow that demonstrates initiative and curiosity to learn best practices to engage with community partners. Experience in writing briefs or other documents is desired but not required. Similarly, we are looking for someone with experience in public presentations. Provide a brief description (no more than 200 words) of the traits or skills you would like to see in a Fellow.

Organization & Community Highlights

Riverside County is the 4th largest County in California and th 10th largest in the nation. With 2.5 million population, we are one of the fastest growing counties. Riverside County is also geographically large, spanning 7200 square miles and inclusive of urban, suburban, and rural communities. Riverside County Public Health has a robust Health Equity program that partners with many community-based organizations. Community Health Equity District teams also work within each County Board of Supervisor district that actively engage with the community and in partnership with several different County departments such as Environmental Health, Animal Services, Office on Aging, Emergency Management Department, First 5, Behavioral Health, and others.

Remote or On-Site Placement

Hybrid