YOUR ASSOCIATION
NEHA NEWS
Environmental Health Workforce Campaign
The advertising campaign portion of the larger initiative— Swipe Right for Environmental Health —launched as a pilot in Ohio during May and June 2023, and will advertise again in Sep- tember. The advertising targeted decision makers at and around the Ohio Statehouse. The campaign ads feature three environ- mental health professionals from Ohio and urge viewers to sup- port environmental health. In September, we invite you and your organization to amplify the campaign by sharing the messages on your social media channels. The more of us who share the message, the more it will spread. Here are options to share the message: • Visit any of our social media accounts and repost/share/retweet to your audience. • Download the videos and share them on your website or in a newsletter. • Post the videos on your social media with the accompanying text: If you care about clean air and water, safe food, and healthy schools, you’ve got a match with an environmental health spe- cialist [“near you” or “at name of your organization”]. • Boost any of these messages on your social media channels to reach even more people. We are here to help. If you or your communication sta need assistance, email communications@neha.org and we will do all we can to assist. The campaign website and ads can be viewed at www.neha.org/ swipe-right. After the pilot in Ohio is complete, we will analyze the results and make adjustments as needed. Our Board Market- ing Committee will determine the next areas of focus following the pilot. Grant Portal for the NEHA-FDA Retail Flexible Funding Model Grant Program Opens in August NEHA and the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) work in partnership to administer the NEHA-FDA Retail Flexible Funding Model (RFFM) Grant Program. The program provides funding to state, local, tribal, and territorial retail food regulatory agencies as they advance conformance with the FDA Voluntary National Retail Food Regulatory Program Standards (Retail Program Standards). FDA is utilizing our strength to assist retail food safety programs in their eorts to reduce the occurrence of foodborne illness risk factors and implement and attain conformance with the Retail Pro- gram Standards. The grant portal for Year 3 of the NEHA-FDA RFFM Grant Program will open on August 16 . Retail food safety programs can apply for a base grant (through one of two tracks) and up to three additional add-on grants for Track 2 applicants and Track 3 grant- ees. Interested programs can apply for: • A Track 1 Development Base Grant with options to be a men- tee and/or attend a self-assessment and verification audit (SA/ VA) workshop.
In 2022, the National Envi- ronmental Health Association (NEHA) Board of Directors shared concerns they had heard from members—and had expe- rienced themselves—about how invisible and undervalued they felt as a profession. This concern was particularly true among environmental health profes- sionals who work in governmen- tal public environmental health, and especially throughout the COVID-19 pandemic. In response, we have devel- oped a campaign to raise the visibility and appreciation of our important workforce among decision makers and the public. The campaign strategy is four- fold and focuses on addressing the complex issues that influ- ence the environmental health workforce. The campaign strat- egies include: • Self-Promotion Materials: Most environmental health
work is done at the state, local, tribal, and territorial level. To that end, we are developing tool kits, templates, and messaging for environmental health organizations to help promote the suc- cess and expertise of our workforce. • Advertising Campaign: We have developed the Swipe Right advertising campaign that tells your story and expresses the value of environmental health professionals. This strategy primes and builds on the work of self-promotion. The advertis- ing will target individuals who make decisions that impact the environmental health workforce. • Leadership Discussions: This strategy brings together environ- mental health leaders from across the country to create a united vision for the environmental health profession in the U.S. We will serve as the catalyst and facilitator of discussions on key issues of concern. • Community Outreach: This strategy involves the identifica- tion of organizations and initiatives across the country where environmental health representation is needed and creates a process for ongoing representation at state, local, ttribal, and territorial levels.
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Volume 86 • Number 1
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