The Kresge, Robert Wood Johnson, and de Beaumont foundations have committed a total of more than $8.5 million to launch the PHEARLESS (Public Health Regenerative Leadership Synergy) initiative.

To help public health and community leaders build the skills they need to tackle complex issues, PHEARLESS will integrate regenerative leadership education and experiential learning with innovative collaborative tools. The initiative’s first cohort will consist of 15 teams of four leaders each, selected from communities around the country. Each team will include two rising public health leaders and two rising community leaders. Together, the cohort will form a network that will learn from one another and help create new models for community-led efforts to improve equitable health outcomes community-wide.

Participants in the 12-month program will work through four modules and a culminating capstone activity, including virtual sessions and an in-person component. Each team will receive a grant of $100,000 in support of its activities.

Marissa Levine and Jennifer Marshall of the University of South Florida (USF) College of Public Health (COPH) and Triparna de Vreede at the USF Muma College of Business (MCOB) will co-lead the design and implementation of the training and technical assistance. COPH also will partner with the Association of State and Territorial Health Officials, the Big Cities Health Coalition, and the National Association of County and City Officials as an interdisciplinary support network.

“One of the ways regenerative leadership can be achieved is through true collaboration and the effective facilitation of ideas,” said de Vreede, an associate professor of instruction at MCOB. “To be good leaders, we must be good facilitators and relentless collaborators.”

(Photo credit: Getty Images/Fat Camera)