Moving from Network to Action
Fall Highlights from the MPHC Steering Committee Meeting
This September, members of the Multi-Partner Health Collaborative (MPHC) gathered in-person at the Dream Center in Bismarck, ND, for a Steering Committee meeting focused on acceleration, connection, and impact. Co-hosted by Mary Lizakowski (Foundation for a Healthy North Dakota Goal Group Advisor) and Agnes Mason (StrengthenND and MPHC Administrator), the meeting centered around a pivotal core question: What can MPHC make possible that no single organization, agency, university, health system, or community partner can accomplish alone?
Why the MPHC Model Works
The power of MPHC lies in its cross-sector representation and its ability to resource expertise across Steering Committees and Goal Groups to advocate for real change. Whether it’s the Access & Connection Goal Group championing Community Health Workers or the Community Resilience Goal Group supporting Family Resource Centers, the collaborative bridges policy, research, and lived experience to dismantle barriers to healthcare access across North Dakota.
Lessons in Collective Action: Insights from Houston
The meeting featured invited presentations from Dr. Shreela Sharma and Heidi Hagen McPherson of UTHealth Houston School of Public Health, who shared lessons learned from the Houston Common Health Coalition and the Coalition for Connected Care. Their presentation emphasized that real, lasting systems change moves at the speed of trust between partners, requiring coalition leadership to actively sustain momentum between formal meetings. They also highlighted the critical need for unified systems to track community care and services alongside a strong, continuous commitment to evaluation to measure true impact.
Key Needs & Priorities Identified Across North Dakota
During a facilitated "Sticky Wall" session, meeting participants highlighted what stakeholders and partners across the state are actively asking MPHC to support. The group underscored a pressing need for a statewide referral network, coordinated policy development, and a centralized database or portal to seamlessly connect care and community services. Additionally, stakeholders called on the collaborative to help identify statewide funding opportunities, lead education and training efforts, and consistently deliver tangible value to partners across all sectors.
Shifting from Network to Action: The "Stay, Partner, Elevate" Framework
To clarify how the Steering Committee can better support Goal Groups and act on complex questions, MPHC introduced a clearer action framework centered around three distinct roles: Stay (where an existing group or organization takes the lead), Partner (where an outside organization leads while the Steering Committee provides targeted support), and Elevate (where Steering Committee members directly sponsor broader, coordinated statewide action). To guide this process, MPHC highlighted a new Steering Committee Question Tool, which aligns projects with State Health Improvement Plan (SHIP) priorities, applies a "Fit Test" to ensure proper focus, and routes initiative work into structured 90-day evidence and decision cycles.
Looking Ahead
As MPHC moves forward into late 2026, the collaborative is focused on defining immediate priorities and identifying key decision-makers and community voices. A major focus will be moving valuable research off the shelf and directly into actionable, community-based health activities, while braiding research funding with sustainable backbone funding to ensure MPHC's long-term collaborative impact. Thank you to everyone who joined us in Bismarck and continues to bring their energy, expertise, and passion to improving community health across North Dakota!