Ronda Alexander on strategies to build inclusive health coalitions, manage power dynamics, center marginalized voices, & design sustainable governance.
Summary
In this episode of Health Hats, host Danny van Leeuwen talks with Ronda Alexander, a community health advocate and skilled facilitator, about the challenges of building and maintaining effective health coalitions. Alexander shares her journey from attending Detroit's innovative Henry Ford Academy to working with Ford Partnership for Advanced Studies on workforce development, ultimately finding her calling at Vital Village Networks in Boston, where she spent seven years supporting national coalitions focused on health equity and early childhood wellbeing.
The conversation explores practical ways to manage power dynamics in cross-sector collaborations, from setting group norms that encourage real participation to designing decision-making processes that balance speed and sustainability. Alexander stresses the critical importance of listening to marginalized communities—those "furthest from opportunity"—and making sure they have real seats at decision-making tables, not just token representation.
Key insights include strategies for inclusive facilitation, such as incorporating quiet reflection time, small group discussions, and developing shared talking points that coalition members can take back to their organizations. Alexander advocates for proactive governance planning, comparing effective coalition building to chess strategy, where groups think "seven to eight moves down the board" to prepare for inevitable challenges.
The episode wraps up with Alexander's call to action for health advocates: start by listening to the communities you want to serve, trust what people tell you about their needs, and design systems that place those most affected by health inequities in leadership and decision-making roles.
Click here to view the printable newsletter with images. More readable than a transcript, which can also be found below.
Contents
Table of Contents
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EpisodeProemWhen did you first realize health was fragile?Vital Village NetworkLeadership, Impact, and MeasurementData StorytellingCommunity Research CollaborationFundingConvening, FacilitatingGetting Started at Henry Ford AcademyFord Partnership for Advanced StudiesTeaching Takes a VillageBack to DetroitPower DynamicsNorms: Don’t Be a JerkFirst, Take a Few SecondsGovernanceFast or Sustainable DecisionsWho are the Decision-makers?Coalition BuildingTalking PointsFirst, We ListenReflectionRelated episodes from Health Hats
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Production Team
Kayla Nelson: Web and Social Media Coach, Dissemination, Help Desk
Leon van Leeuwen: editing and site managementresil
Oscar van Leeuwen: video editing
Julia Higgins: Digit marketing therapy
Steve Heatherington: Help Desk and podcast production counseling
Joey van Leeuwen, Drummer, Composer, and Arranger, provided the music for the intro, outro, proem, and reflection, including Moe's Blues for Proem and Reflection and Bill Evan's Time Remembered for on-mic clips.
Podcast episode on YouTube
Inspired by and Grateful to:
Jan Oldenburg, Ellen Schultz, Tomas Moran, Susannah Fox, Betsy Neptune, Tania Marien
Links and references
Ronda Alexander
Henry Ford Academy
Henry Ford Museum and Greenfield Village
Ford Partnership for Advanced Studies
Vital Village Network
The Networks of Opportunity for Child Wellbeing
Dr. Renee Boynton-Jarrett
B’More for Healthy Babies
Marginalization refers to the inequality certain individuals face in society due to power imbalances built into our systems.
Episode
Proem
Learn with People on the Journey toward Best Health. That’s my tagline. Let’s break it down.