142nd APHA Annual Meeting and Exposition

Annual Meeting Recordings are now available for purchase

305072
Training the next generation of Latino public health leaders: The ELAYO Model

142nd APHA Annual Meeting and Exposition (November 15 - November 19, 2014): http://www.apha.org/events-and-meetings/annual
Tuesday, November 18, 2014 : 9:10 AM - 9:30 AM

Elodia Villaseñor, MPH , Health Equity Institute, San Francisco State University, San Francisco, CA
Vanessa Mercado, MPH , Health Equity Institute, San Francisco State University, San Francisco, CA
Cynthia A. Gómez, PhD , Health Equity Institute, San Francisco State University, San Francisco, CA
Miguel Alcalá , Health Equity Institute, San Francisco State University, San Francisco, CA
Background: Latinos are the fastest growing ethnic group in the United States and will soon comprise a significant portion of our future leadership and public health workforce. The Empower Latino Youth (ELAYO) Project is an academic-community partnership between the Health Equity Institute at San Francisco State University and the California Latinas for Reproductive Justice that fosters the growth of Latino youth and young adults in becoming the next generation public health leaders and social science researchers.

Methods: The ELAYO team-in-training model is grounded in mentorship that involves a Latino “educational pipeline” consisting of the senior social science investigator, post-doctoral fellow, master’s level project director and community partner, master’s and undergraduate level student research assistants, and high school and undergraduate students Youth Advisory Group.  The pipeline promotes the bidirectional transfer of knowledge within the fields of sexual health and educational equity, enhances skills in qualitative and quantitative research methods, and facilitates engagement in policy advocacy and strategic communication. 

Results: The effectiveness of the ELAYO pipeline is self-evident as project staff enter the workforce and further their education: high school students graduate and begin college, undergraduates graduate and apply to graduate programs, master's students graduate and apply to doctoral programs and move into paid staff positions, and post docs move into faculty positions.

Conclusions:  Mentoring models that are culturally grounded support the professional growth and development of Latinos by providing opportunities that engages them as equal partners in knowledge-seeking, research, and policy advocacy empowering them to become future leaders in public health.

Learning Areas:

Advocacy for health and health education
Diversity and culture
Public health or related education
Public health or related public policy
Public health or related research
Systems thinking models (conceptual and theoretical models), applications related to public health

Learning Objectives:
Describe a training model for promoting careers in public health and mentoring future researchers Demonstrate youth engagement in research, policy, and advocacy efforts

Keyword(s): Latinos, Youth

Presenting author's disclosure statement:

Qualified on the content I am responsible for because: I have worked on several research studies over the last 8 years focusing on Latina/o youth sexuality. As the Project Coordinator of ELAYO: Empower Latino Youth at the Health Equity Institute, San Francisco State University, I experienced first hand the power of mentorship and training across the educational pipeline. My experiences in publishing an article with various ELAYO staff and Youth Advisory Group members, as well as everyday interactions will lead to a rich discussion.
Any relevant financial relationships? No

I agree to comply with the American Public Health Association Conflict of Interest and Commercial Support Guidelines, and to disclose to the participants any off-label or experimental uses of a commercial product or service discussed in my presentation.