NACCHO’s Survive and Thrive is a 12-month program that prepares new and aspiring local health officials with the skills needed to succeed as leaders. This year, NACCHO hosted a week long closing workshop for the program “graduates” that gave participants an opportunity to come to Washington, DC for in-person trainings in subjects such as strategic planning, performance management, partnerships, and advocacy. Participants were then able to put some of these new skills to use during meetings with their representatives in Congress. On the final day of the Survive and Thrive closing workshop, NACCHO hosted an Involvement Fair to introduce new local health officials to resources, programs, and workgroups available to them through their NACCHO membership.

The Involvement Fair provided an opportunity for the Survive and Thrive participants to meet and network with NACCHO staff. Through conversations with staff, additional opportunities for involvement with NACCHO were discussed, such as participation in NACCHO workgroups and conferences. The Involvement Fair also provided an opportunity for the participants to learn more about what NACCHO does and how NACCHO can support them in their roles as local health officials. These conversations also served as a valuable opportunity for NACCHO staff to learn more about what is going on at the local level and how NACCHO’s resources and efforts support local health officials and their communities.

The following topics and issues were featured at the Involvement Fair:

• Project Public Health Ready and other Public Health Preparedness programs
• NACCHO’s new Stories from the Field website
• Affordable Care Act Implementation
• Accreditation Preparation
• Quality Improvement
• Workforce Development
• Community-Driven Strategic Planning
• Mobilizing for Action through Planning and Partnerships (MAPP)
• Chronic Disease Prevention
• Billing for Clinical Services
• Maternal, Child, and Adolescent Health and Injury and Violence Prevention

The Survive and Thrive program is supported by the Robert Wood Johnson and de Beaumont Foundations.