Several key themes emerged through the information base that was compiled to support HEC’s Board in the planning process.  These themes included the following:

Fee for Service as a Means to Expand HEC’s Capacity, Resources, and Impact

AHECs have needed to become increasingly entrepreneurial over time in order to extend their impact beyond traditional funding streams and amounts.   HEC has been successful in this area creating fee-based (or fee for service) type programs in the areas of Community Health Worker (CHW) training and in Medical Interpreter training.   In both cases, these programs have been well received by participants and by the community.  CHW training, in particular, has been a leading light for HEC. HEC was first in the market to provide Community Health Worker training/certification and is well-positioned to provide continuing education opportunities for community health workers.  Furthermore, HEC is well connected in their local communities, increasing the likelihood that HEC will be able to grow this program despite increased competition in this area. 

Being Viewed as a Strong and Preferred Partner is a Plus

Community stakeholders consistently name HEC as a strong and preferred community partner in their work.  The organization is viewed as community oriented, seeking to find the best solution for the community, trusted, and respected.  This goodwill and strong reputation are important assets for HEC as it seeks to move forward in expanding its program reach and impact. 

HEC’s Deep Roots and Connections in the Communities it Serves Are Unique Among AHECs and an Asset to Be Explored

Around the nation, most AHECs are known for their programs, services, and offerings.  Much of this is due to the origin of the AHEC Movement, which came about as more of a “top-down” approach to addressing the shortage of primary care physicians and the misdistribution of health professionals, which resulted in imbalances in the healthcare system and subsequent inequities in access to and quality of healthcare services.  HEC is unique in the AHEC movement in that it has much more of a “bottom-up” approach to this work, focusing on community listening, community engagement, and community partnerships.  These community roots are a distinctive for HEC; the ability to engage and convene the community in trusted relationships is a unique and sought-after asset among many community organizations.  Understanding how to best utilize this asset is a great opportunity for HEC moving forward.

Planning as an Opportunity to Define and Refine our Priorities and Focus

There is a shared sense among the Board and staff leadership that this moment is an opportune time to launch a strategic plan.  The addition of new members of the Board, the emergence from the pandemic, and the increased attention on public and community health, health disparities and inequities, and the importance of community engagement and trust are creating a sense of urgency that can propel the organization forward with renewed focus and energy for impact.

The Organization is at Inflection Point in Terms of Staffing and Capacity

Similarly, there is shared recognition that the HEC now needs to invest in its capacity to grow in order to increase its depth and breadth of impact.  As HEC and our communities have come through the pandemic, there is a shared understanding the organization is well-positioned (financially, reputationally, and programmatically) for sustainable growth.  To deliver on this growth requires HEC to invest in expanding the staff team and other areas of infrastructure.

Role of the Board as True Partner to Management

As HEC executes its programmatic and relational strategies to expand and deepen impact, there is a concurrent opportunity for the Board of Directors to similarly evolve to support these efforts.  Part of this is beginning to shift from a Board that provides management oversight to a Board that serves in more of a governance role.  Some of the activities of the Board that can play in this new role include serving as community connectors for HEC, acting as ambassadors for HEC, and advocating for increased resources on behalf of the organization’s programs and initiatives.  The recent addition of new Board members, who are not wedded to past Board practices, may help propel the Board to move in this direction more seamlessly. 

MISSION STATEMENT

To eliminate health disparities through recruiting, training, and sustaining and supporting health professionals from diverse backgrounds, community engagement, and advocacy.

OUR VISION FOR THE COMMUNITY

We envision a Connecticut where:

• All residents have the opportunity to thrive
• Pathways are open to all who seek to pursue a career in health care
• The health care system and its workforce represent and reflect the people they serve
• Communities are healthy, inclusive, supportive, engaged, and connected
• Health care services are available and accessible for all who need them when they are needed
• All residents, particularly children, are valued and supported in envisioning their future.

OUR VISION FOR THE HEALTH EDUCATION CENTER

• Our program graduates are equipped to reach their highest potential and continue to be engaged as champions and supporters of The Health Education Center
• Racial and social justice and health equity are central in all of our programs so that our health career professionals heal, not harm.
• We are thriving with sufficient and diverse funding sources
• We are viewed as a leader in training, recruiting, and providing continuing education opportunities
• We are at the forefront of engaging people and communities in current and future healthcare challenges.
• We are top of mind in our community as a partner, community health resource, and connector.

OUR VALUES
Collaborative: We work in partnership with our colleagues, community organizations, and community members.  We strive to listen to one another and look to find mutually beneficial solutions and strategies in our work.

Equitable - We believe that all people — regardless of race, ethnicity, age, gender, sexual orientation, religion, ZIP code, health and ability status, or any other consideration — have equal dignity, value, and opportunity to participate justly, fairly, and completely in our programs and services and in the care that they receive from their medical providers. 

Inclusive - We recognize that our community and our work is stronger when the voices of all are heard, considered, and incorporated into our decisions and actions. 

Empathetic - We meet people where they are and treat them with dignity and respect.  We strive to treat others as they would like to be treated.

Trust - We recognize that individual, community, and organizational relationships built on trust and mutual respect are essential to our impact.  We are honest, ethical, and transparent in all of our interactions

Excellence - We are committed to providing high-quality programming, services, and experiences for all that engage with HEC.  We strive to be best in class in all of our endeavors. 

Goal 1:  Grow Our Impact in Our Region Through Expanding the Reach of Our Current Portfolio of Fee for Service Programs to Enable Residents from Communities Outside Our Region to Participate

Strategy 1: Identify Target Markets Outside of Our Region to Market and Provide our Fee For Service Programs

Potential Tactics:

1. Community Health Team Training
   1. Monetize interprofessional education clinics and practicum offerings for participants outside of the local region
2. Become Model Partner
   1. Join statewide boards or committees to expand partnerships
   2. Attend conferences to expand network and stay abreast of industry standards and systems’ needs
   3. Provide in-kind assistance as introductory connection to new agencies serving target residents
3. Environmental Scan 

1. Conduct annual evaluation of potential partners and residents’ needs
2. Ongoing review of target markets’ strategic plans and key initiatives to assess linkages
3. Actively participate in collecting data for regional Community Health Needs Assessments

Strategy 2: Concurrently Seek to Increase our Market Penetration of Fee for Service Offerings Within our Region

Potential Tactics:

1. Regional Collaboration
   1. Formally join regional collaboratives with agencies that may benefit from trainings
   2. Offer contract support for regional grant applications

Strategy 3: Ensure that program enrollment and design prioritize students participating in HEC programs reflect racial and ethnic diversity, as well as socio-economic diversity and the underserved

Potential Tactics:

1. Design and implement an outreach and engagement strategy to reach priority populations
2. Provide supports and assistance as needed to maximize student success in HEC programs
3. Review and revise all program curricula to ensure that they include explicit competencies that call out inequities and provide approaches to reduce inequities
   1. Update curricula as needed to ensure that it is culturally relevant and reflects social, economic, racial, and political issues – curriculum needs to reflect it
   2. Review program policies and practices through an equity lens

Strategy 4: Reinvest margin generated through our fee for service programs to pilot, test, and scale new offerings in our core communities

Potential Tactics:

1. Matrix of Prioritized Pilots with Audiences
   1. Combine Medical Interpreter and CHW Core Competencies Trainings for bilingual CHWs that meets International Medical Interpreters Association accreditation and Connecticut CHW certification requirements
   2. Expand youth programs in high schools not funded by existing grants
2. Fellowships Based on Health Fields 
   1. Year long programs with scheduled site visits, mentorships, professional development, and hands on training
   2. Publicly highlight fellows graduation, assist with career development and maintain alumni support for future cohort funding

Strategy 5: Continue to Provide our Contracted and Required Services Within Our Region

Potential Tactics:

1. Strengthen Current Pipeline Offerings
2. Maintain Meaningful Partnerships

1. Develop process for engaging existing contracts to maintain and grow relationship
2. Reward current contracted partners for referrals that generate new business

Goal 2: Expand our Relationships Within and Outside Our Region to Further Deepen Our Connection to Underserved Communities

Strategy 1: Develop and Implement a Marketing Plan that Supports the Expansion of Our Offerings Outside of our Region and Increases the Overall Brand Awareness of HEC Within Our Region

Potential Tactics:

1. Branding
   1. Complete the rebrand launch of HEC that was interrupted by the pandemic
2. Marketing Communications
   1. Develop collateral materials (e.g., Spanish-language newsletters, infographics) to support stakeholder engagement and program participant recruitment
   2. Establish a media relations strategy
   3. Expand our communications channels
   4. Embed our impact in our communications and messaging
3. Consider the creation of a marketing plan for HEC in the latter years of the Strategic Plan

Strategy 2: Build the Capacity of our Fund Development Efforts to Increase Our Philanthropic Support

Potential Tactics:

1. Internal Knowledge and Skill Building
   1. Provide training for board members that provides common and foundational knowledge and information regarding nonprofit philanthropy
   2. Build knowledge and skills of leadership staff in the area of philanthropy, including donor prospecting, cultivation, gift solicitation, and stewardship
2. Increase Giving
   1. Build a network of potential donors through network mapping
   2. Expand our giving options for donors
3. Develop an Annual Philanthropy Plan for HEC in the latter years of the Strategic Plan

Strategy 3: Align and focus our partnerships toward achieving our mission and vision for impact, racial equity, and social justice

Potential Tactics:

1. Assess current partnerships and prioritize around equity and strategic goals
2. Educate current and future partners on the importance of achieving racial equity and social justice
3. Identify and fill gaps in our relationships within our service region
4. Partner with other organizations to advocate for policies and programs to achieve racial equity and social justice
5. Develop and implement a relational strategy outside of our service region to support the expansion of our fee for service offerings
6. Build organizational capacity to engage in partnership development and stewardship
7. Continue deep listening in our service region to identify new needs and opportunities for fee-based services.

Strategy 4: Establish and Execute an Advocacy Agenda within Our Region and Across the State

Potential Tactics:

1. Build relationships with elected and appointed officials
2. Provide board and staff training regarding advocacy
3. Analyze state and federal health legislation for its impact on racial equity and social justice and provide educational input to legislators
4. Continue work with other AHEC partners related to statewide advocacy efforts and community partners regarding advocacy efforts for shared interests
5. Develop relationships with media to amplify our advocacy messaging

 

Goal 3: Recommit Our Board and Staff to Achieving Racial Equity and Social Justice 

Strategy 1: Engage board and staff in activities to enhance their understanding of issues of racial equity and social justice

Potential Tactics:

1. Establish a joint board/staff subcommittee to develop recommendations f0r shared learning that
   • Include emerging best practices
   • Acknowledge harm and trauma
   • Create inclusivity
   • Promote truth and reconciliation needed first
   • Increase awareness of implicit and explicit biases
2. Consider an equity audit to assess organizational policies and procedures

Strategy 2: Promote efforts that reduce systemic racism that causes health harm

1. Participate in events that celebrate social justice and equity in our region
2. Provide public information related to health disparities and the impact of systemic racism on health access, cost, quality, and outcomes for individuals and communities

Goal 4: Invest in Our Internal Capacity to Support Programmatic Expansion and Organizational Growth

Strategy 1:  Evaluate Our Staffing and Consultant Model and Structure to Enable our Growth

Potential Tactics:

1. Annually assess current staff and staffing model to align with organizational priorities and commitments
2. Supplement our team as needed
3. Strengthen training for staff and link how well the staff person applied the training to the organization’s performance appraisal process
4. Formalize the recruitment and hiring process and the training and onboarding of new staff as HEC begins to grow.

Strategy 2:  Strengthen our Information Management Functions to Both Streamline our Data Management and Increase Our Use of Data for Decision Making

Potential Tactics:

1. Explore investing in a data system that better meets program and funder requirements and supports organizational decision making
2. Provide on-going professional development opportunities for all staff in Information Management

Goal 5: Further Develop Our Board to Extend Our Reach and Impact Within and Beyond our Primary Service Area

Strategy 1: Establish and Implement an Annual Board Training Program

Potential Tactics:

1. Create intentional Board education programs that that build Board member knowledge in the following areas:
   1. Governance practices
   2. Fund development
   3. Program knowledge
   4. Key trends impacting the organization

Strategy 2: Continue to Assess the Skills and Experiences of our Board and Develop a Pipeline to Support Board Expansion and Succession Planning

Potential Tactics:

1. Determine the array of competencies, experiences, and relationships that the Board needs to drive impact.
2. Survey Board members to better understand areas of strength and gaps in terms of competencies, experiences, and relationships and develop a recruitment strategy to fill these gaps.
3. Consider creating a separate Board Governance and Nominating Committee to focus on board development

Strategy 3: Evaluate the Current Role and Structure of the Board and Clarify Roles and Expectations of Board Members

Potential Tactics:

1. Review bylaws to ensure currency with organizational and board practices
2. Consider committee structure to increase engagement
3. Explore role definition with new President to ensure clear lines of authority, responsibility, and accountability