Six insights from listening to health advocates' stories

Oct 28, 2019

This October, 18 children’s health advocates and mentors met—some for the first time—to share their story about how each of us had arrived to Mid-Iowa Health Foundation’s HealthConnect Fellowship. As a communications mentor for this project, I listened and took notes. I found it difficult not to record every detail of each person’s unique journey. I love stories!

Beyond each person’s story, I was struck by several themes that emerged from the three-hour conversation. Here are my six takeaways.

1. There are a lot of children’s health advocates in this community!

While an advocate might feel as though they are working in isolation on issues, such as safer streets, maternal well-being, or mental health care, the issues overlap with other advocates and are all working toward children living healthier lives. The 18 fellows are only a fraction of all advocates working in their own ways to improve children and family well-being. But just getting a handful of people together in one room was a refreshing reminder that we can be a collective force for change.

2. Health advocates play different roles.

One fellow described herself as a dot connector, finding ways to bridge the gap between people on the ground implementing services and those who are making decisions about how they do the work. Another fellow described herself as a barrier breaker, wanting to do more than provide direct services to help individuals in the moment; she wanted to address the tremendous hurdles that led those individuals to needing services in the first place. Another described being that “in between” person who wasn’t a visionary or focused on the details, but instead, someone who could bring everyone to the table to decide how to move forward strategically together.

3. We arrived at system-change work by asking why.

Many fellows described being in a role or a situation and pausing to ask: Why are things this way and why couldn’t they be different. Some worked in child care or in social work, or at a corporation or in the military, and at some point, they recognized that the problems they were trying to solve for some individuals were problems that impacted many and that staying focused on reacting to those problems right in front of them would never be enough. They had to move farther upstream to prevent those problems in the first place.

4. Being a child health advocate means dreaming big.

The HealthConnect Fellowship provided an opportunity to talk about very real challenges people in our community are experiencing and how the structure in place can shut people out or have negative outcomes. While the hurdles seem tremendous, the spirit in the room was optimistic: What if we could band together and make a collective ask for policy change? What if we could create the space for more voices to be genuinely heard?

5. Stories inspire us.

Many fellows brought up a deeply personal experience growing up within their families or interacting with individuals in their work that made them question why they were doing things a certain way. These stories inspired many of us on our journey to become advocates. They also reminded me of why we do the work we do. Although system change is looking at broader impact for many individuals, the work is still about individuals at its heart.

6. Investment in advocates is investment in human capital.

In the nonprofit space, we’re often fighting for funding to implement specific programs with well-defined outcomes. The HealthConnect Fellowship is funding people to lead system change. One fellow called it “human capital building” and I loved the term. Because if we actually want to address big problems, then we have to invest in people to grow their skills, innovate, build connections, and carry out that difficult work every day.

I see all these themes as the starting point for deeper connection as we work together to improve children’s well-being. The experience confirmed that storytelling must remain an important part of how we connect and build relationships for greater work in the future.

Related Issues & Ideas

Article

Q&A: REED partners share the power in holding space for rest, healing, collective learning

View Q&A: REED partners share the power in holding space for rest, healing, collective learning
White Paper

Strengths of Latinx Immigrants Despite Legal Violence

View Strengths of Latinx Immigrants Despite Legal Violence
Report

Surgeon General's Advisory on Protecting Youth Mental Health

View Surgeon General's Advisory on Protecting Youth Mental Health
Report

Champions for Change: A Collective Commitment to Children's Health

View Champions for Change: A Collective Commitment to Children's Health
Report

Why aren't kids a policy priority?

View Why aren't kids a policy priority?
Article

Building a Trust-Based Philanthropy to Shift Power Back to Communities

View Building a Trust-Based Philanthropy to Shift Power Back to Communities
Website

Frameworks Institute: Changing the conversation on social issues

View Frameworks Institute: Changing the conversation on social issues
Website

Framing best practices with Topos Partnership

View Framing best practices with Topos Partnership
Report

Systems Change & Deep Equity

View Systems Change & Deep Equity
Website

Iowa Coalition for Collective Change

View Iowa Coalition for Collective Change
Report

Cultivating Change: How the HealthConnect Fellowship lifted a network of advocates to improve children's health in central Iowa

View Cultivating Change: How the HealthConnect Fellowship lifted a network of advocates to improve children's health in central Iowa
Report

Shifting the Lens: How The ACE Study sparked action to collectively improve our community's health

View Shifting the Lens: How The ACE Study sparked action to collectively improve our community's health
Report

Innovations in Health Equity and Health Philanthropy

View Innovations in Health Equity and Health Philanthropy
Report

2020 One Economy: The Blueprint for Action

View 2020 One Economy: The Blueprint for Action
Website

CAMHI4Kids Children's Mental Health System

View CAMHI4Kids Children's Mental Health System
Policy Brief

Transforming Iowa's Foster Care System to Support Kinship Caregiving

View Transforming Iowa's Foster Care System to Support Kinship Caregiving
Website

Community Catalyst System of Advocacy

View Community Catalyst System of Advocacy

Creating Space for Change

Advocates connect through a shared commitment to improve health outcomes.

View Story
View Story

Centering People in Community Planning

Amal Barre's research and advocacy efforts address housing instability and the sense of belonging in the community.

View Story
View Story

Amplifying Philanthropy’s Impact

Iowa funders are making shifts to center communities and advance equity.

View Story
View Story

Cultivating the Soil for Culturally Responsive Health Care

DMU is transforming the way health sciences education is delivered.

View Story
View Story

Doula Care Becomes Essential Health Care

An Iowa Doula Project is expanding community-based health care to improve Black maternal health outcomes.

View Story
View Story

Improving Health through Community Advocacy

How AMOS engaged hundreds of advocates to push for a children's mental health crisis response system

View Story
View Story

Latinx Project Tells Story of Strength and Opportunity

New report highlights central Iowa Latinos contributions and disparities and elevates Latinx leaders

View Story
View Story

Re-Imagining How Iowa's Systems Work Together to Best Serve Families

The Vision Council has led conversations on how Iowa's families and children can be safe, secure, healthy, and well in our communities.

View Story
View Story

Champions for Change: A Collective Commitment to Children's Health

Outcomes from Mid-Iowa Health Foundation's HealthConnect Fellowship, October 2019-June 2021

View Story
View Story

Elevating the Latinx Community

How nonprofit leaders brought attention to the Latinx community and built new systems of support during the pandemic

View Story
View Story

Protecting Those Who Protect Our Kids

Iowa ACEs 360 shares this story about how supervisors in the Polk County Dept. of Human Services’ Child Welfare Division are addressing trauma in their workforce.

View Story
View Story

A New Approach to Supporting Youth in Juvenile Detention

Teenagers in jumpsuits lying on yoga mats, their eyes closed, their bodies still. This is the image Megan Hoxhalli describes as remarkable for juvenile detention, a place where youth arrive shaken, dysregulated, and scared about their future.

View Story
View Story

Creating a Culture of Inclusivity

View Post

How Community Health Workers Can Improve Heart Health

View Post

How Medical-Legal Partnerships Can Link Systems to Improve Health Outcomes

View Post

Creating a Culture of Sustainability in Helping Professions

View Post

Meet Dr. Daniel Zinnel, Incoming Mid-Iowa Health Foundation Board Member

Foundation news
Aug 2, 2023
View Post

Using Data for Systems-Level Advocacy

Advocacy
Jul 28, 2023
View Post

7 Benefits of a Statewide System Approach to Community Health Work

View Post

Why I Advocate for Heart Disease Preventive Strategies

View Post

4 Ways to Center Youth in Mental Health Conversations

View Post

Economic Burden of Health Inequities: 5 Insights to Inform Action

View Post

Disability Rights Attorney Shares What Iowans Should Know About Medicaid

View Post

Health Equity Work in Action: What Funders Should Know

Funder practices
Apr 5, 2023
View Post

Basic Income: 4 Things to Know

Partnerships
Apr 4, 2023
View Post

Prioritizing Advocacy: How a Nonprofit Created a Full-Time Role

Advocacy
Feb 1, 2023
View Post

Meet the team leading UpLift – The Central Iowa Basic Income Pilot

View Post

HealthConnect Fellows: Engaging authentically in systems change

View Post

7 insights gained through a nonprofit merger

Foundation grants
Nov 17, 2022
View Post

Six Elements to Consider with Community Conversations

View Post

Community-Based Participatory Research: What to Know

View Post

How student research informed the basic income project

Action planning
Sep 20, 2022
View Post