Advanced Leadership Training Program (ALTP)
ALTP
ALTP develops advanced knowledge and skills to lead intentionally in an increasingly complex and diverse context.
RIHEL’s year-long flagship program is designed for mid-career public health and environmental health professionals in WY, CO & NM and beyond.
Knowledge & Skills
ALTP builds the capacity of individual participants and creates an interdisciplinary network of leaders dedicated to the health and environment of our region. Annually, ALTP curates some 45 health and environment professionals from throughout the Rocky Mountain region and beyond through a competitive application process.
With over 1,000 graduates, ALTP alumni are now leading health and environment organizations throughout the US.
Applications are closed for 2023
Why I Applied to ALTP
Maddie Philley, graduate of the Advanced Leadership Training Program (ALTP), talks about why she applied and what she got out of the program.
What You Can Get Out of ALTP
Djuana Harvell, graduate of the Advanced Leadership Training Program (ALTP), talks about what she would tell someone who is thinking about applying to the program.
Key Program Elements
- A year long program – includes three 3-day events held at various locations in Colorado and New Mexico, and six one-day virtual workshops
- Participants complete a 360-degree assessment of personal leadership practices
- Participants receive a peer coach to work with during the program
- Participants initiate team or individual creative projects as living laboratories in which to practice collaborative leadership skills
Topics studied and practiced include
- Exemplary Leadership Practices
- Collaboration and Teamwork
- Justice. Equity. Diversity. Inclusion.
- Emotional Intelligence
- Powerful Conversations
- Peer Coaching
- Intentional Action for Leaders
- Systems Thinking
The Advanced Leadership Training Program runs over the course of approximately 10 months, and typically includes three 3-day events held at various locations in Colorado and New Mexico and six one-day virtual workshops. The program year officially begins with readings and assignments that are sent to the participants to complete prior to program orientation, and the third Event marks the end of that year’s program.
Time Commitment.
Participants must commit the time required to complete assignments and participate in all of the program sessions.
- Program Orientation and class sessions will take place via videoconference using Zoom or in person at various venues around the Rocky Mountain region (see program schedule).
- Assignments between sessions include readings, online videos, self-assessments, on-line discussions, and leadership project development and implementation.
- Between the second and final program session, participants hold monthly coaching conversations with their assigned RIHEL Peer Coach (alumni from RIHEL leadership programs) to support their development in the program.
Employer Support. Participants are required to have the active and demonstrable support of their employers for this time commitment in the form of time-off from work to participate in the on-site events. (Many employers will also support the program tuition and associated expenses of the participants.) The application requires a supervisor endorsement as part of the submission.
Technology Resources. Participants must have access to the hardware and software to participate in distance learning. The program cannot assume any costs for the computer and communication systems used by the participants.
COVID-19 Vaccination. For the health and safety of all involved in ALTP when we meet in person, RIHEL requires that each participant, faculty and staff has received all COVID-19 vaccine doses in the primary series and is up to date with their available boosters as recommended and described here, by the CDC.
- Application timing for the 2024 ALTP will be released soon.
Tuition for the ALTP 2023 cohort is $5,250*.
This covers:
- program instruction
- individual peer coaching
- program materials and assessments
- double occupancy lodging at program training events
- most meals (about two meals during the in-person sessions are on your own)
Transportation expenses to and from the events are the responsibility of the participant, and employers are encouraged to reimburse these costs, if possible. The tuition is payable upon acceptance into the program and due by November 30th unless other arrangements are made. Arrangements can be made for an individual payment schedule, if necessary. All tuition payments are non-refundable.
*Tuition rate is subject to change in future years.
A limited number of specialized scholarships may be available from year to year. These scholarships are competitive and recipients are typically selected by the awarding organization. Current available scholarships are listed here:
CDPHE-OPHP Leadership Funding
This funding is provided by the Colorado Department of Health and Environment (CDPHE), Office of Public Health Practice, Planning, and Local Partnerships (OPHP) through the CDC Workforce grant and is designed to support the participation of both Local Public Health Agencies (LPHAs) and their community-based partners. A maximum of FOUR applicant pairs will be awarded funding. Eligibility and Award Amount:
- Applicants must apply with a partner, each representing either the LPHA or the community-based partner (one of each) Both applicants must complete their own applications, and both must be accepted into the progra
- In the application, applicants should indicate their intent pay for their tuition with this CDPHE-OPHP scholarship funding and identify their application partner
- This funding award will cover a portion of the tuition per partner. Each recipient is responsible for the remainder of the tuition.
Colorado Environmental Health Association (CEHA)
Historically, CEHA has offered scholarship support for the ALTP. Only CEHA members are eligible to apply for this scholarship.
If you have questions, please use the form at the bottom of this page to contact the ALTP Program Manager directly.
Curriculum
ALTP includes the five elements found in the most effective leadership development programs.
A conceptual model is theory that forms the framework for learning, in this case for learning about leadership. The ALTP uses two conceptual models of leadership:
- Leadership is Behavior. Leadership is behavior, not a personality trait or a position on an organizational chart. RIHEL uses Kouzes and Posner’s behavioral model of leadership, the Five Practices of Exemplary Leadership: Model the way, Inspire a shared vision, Challenge the process, Enable others to act, and Encourage the heart.
- Collaborative Leadership. Collaboration is the most effective known approach to solving complex problems. Leaders understand the importance of collaboration, communication, and networking with interdisciplinary professionals to address today’s complex health and environment challenges.
ALTP participants plan and implement a project as a learning laboratory for the leadership skills that they need to try out, practice or refine. The projects require passion and creativity, bring value to the community or workplace, highlight collaboration, and encourage the participants to think through sustainability after the project is completed. See examples of past projects.
Leaders are often asked for advice: Good leaders know when to give information or advice and when to be a “strategic thinking partner” to uncover the wisdom inside their peers and proteges. This is known as coaching. The ALTP develops coaching skills to allow participants to tap into their own wisdom and solutions and to practice coaching others. Participants are also paired with a RIHEL peer coach (a RIHEL leadership program alumnus) for regular coaching conversations during the ALTP.
ALTP participants take the Leadership Practices Inventory (LPI) to provide quantitative information about the frequency with which they exhibit specific leadership behaviors. While many similar evaluation tools exist, the LPI-360 has been extensively studied and validated, and corresponds to Kouzes and Posner’s Five Practices of Exemplary Leadership conceptual model used in the ALTP. Participants debrief their LPI reports, and plan actions to help increase the practices they want to magnify. Throughout the program, participants complete additional assessments to help identify intrinsic traits and behaviors that influence their leadership presence.
Reflection is the hallmark of a leader, and ALTP faculty model reflection in the delivery of the program, facilitate group reflection during training events, and assign reflection questions between training events.
Proven Results
The doctoral dissertation of Linda Olson (Olson, Linda. Leadership Development for Public Health and Environment, unpublished dissertation, University of Denver, 2005) examines the leadership changes in 67 graduates for four years (1999-2002) of the Advanced Leadership Development Program. Olson’s dissertation concluded: “RIHEL as a training intervention can be credited significantly with the changes in leadership practices of alumni … . It gave them self-awareness, a leadership framework, and skills to improve in multiple leadership opportunities. … Leadership training had a positive impact overall in the RIHEL alumni leaders’ development.” (pages 200-201)
Please see the publication of these research findings in the Journal of Public Health Management and Practice.
Please see the summary of Dr. Olson’s research or her complete dissertation for more details.
Program Participants
The ALTP is designed for middle and upper level professionals from the public, private, for-profit and non-profit sectors, who work in the areas of health and environment, or whose work impacts health or the environment.
ALTP seeks participants from local and state health departments, environmental agencies, community-based organizations, boards of health, health care organizations, hospitals, and for-profit companies with impacts or interests in health or environment who are committed to leading their organizations toward better health and environmental outcomes, such as the energy, construction and finance industries and more.
Participants from previous programs represent a wide variety of companies, agencies, organizations and institutions. See the list of employers here.
The ALTP Experience
Participants in the RIHEL Advanced Leadership Training Program share about their experience in the program and the value that it provides.
ALTP Faculty & Staff
Judy Baxter, MA
Associate Clinical Professor University of Colorado, Anschutz Medical Campus, School of Medicine, Barbara Davis Center
Chrissy Chard, PhD
Director, Advanced Leadership Training Program, Regional Intstitute for Health and Environmental Leadership
Leanne Jeffers, MPH, ACC
Program Director, Regional Institute for Health and Environmental Leadership
Arron Mansika
RIHEL Executive Director
Franco Marini, MA, CNL
Connie Sorell
Program Manager, Regional Institute for Health and Environmental Leadership
Nicole Tuitt, DrPH, MPH
Assistant Professor, Centers for American Indian and Alaska Native Health, Department of Community and Behavioral Health, Colorado School of Public Health
Janna West Kowalski, MS
Questions Regarding ALTP or the application process?
Please contact Connie Sorell, Program Manager, through the form below.
