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Investing In Leadership Development: A Tool For Systems Change In The Community Health Center Field, Michael P. Arnold, Natalie J. Blackmur, Brenda Solórzano, Carolyn Wang Kong, Bobbie Wunsch, Sunita Mutha

The Foundation Review

Over the course of 12 years, the Blue Shield of California Foundation committed nearly $20 million to growing a pool of community health center leaders who were prepared to be effective agents of change in their organizations and in the safety net field. This signature investment, the Clinic Leadership Institute, was implemented in partnership with the Healthforce Center at University of California, San Francisco, in anticipation of a generation of California health center leaders beginning to transition into retirement.

During the institute's 10 cohorts, access to community health centers dramatically increased with the Affordable Care Act, and this — coupled …