COA Chair Sarah Rines, left, presents Erin Sinisgalli, executive director of the New York State Public Health Association, with NYSPHA’s Outstanding Affiliate of the Year Award at APHA’s 2023 Annual Meeting and Expo in November.
Photo courtesy EZ Event Photography
In 2021, when the New York State Public Health Association surveyed its members about future directions, respondents said they wanted to “do great things” as part of NYSPHA. Two years later, the association is being recognized for its exceptional efforts.
At APHA’s 2023 Annual Meeting and Expo in November, APHA’s Council of Affiliates presented NYSPHA with the Outstanding Affiliate of the Year Award. NYSPHA, which merged with the New York City Public Health Association in 2019, was honored for a number of accomplishments, including its partnership building, direct action and advocacy.
“We’ve been working really hard to grow the organization and get our name out there,” Erin Sinisgalli, MPH, MCHES, executive director of NYSPHA, told The Nation’s Health. “So it was very exciting to be recognized.”
On partnerships, for example, NYSPHA replaced its traditional annual meeting with a yearly conference co-hosted with fellow statewide public health groups, the New York State Association of County Health Officials and New York State Association for Rural Health. Sinisgalli said the partnership, which began in 2019, has helped all three organizations build new relationships and engage new members.
The three organizations also help support one another’s advocacy goals.
“NYSPHA has been a steadfast partner for local health departments in New York, advocating for critical issues that directly impact our communities,” wrote Sarah Ravenhall, MHA, CHES, executive director of the New York State Association of County Health Officials, in a letter nominating NYSPHA for the COA award. “They have been instrumental in the efforts to expand the public health workforce and strengthen the infrastructure necessary to address the evolving public health challenges we face.”
The Affiliate has also been working hard to involve public health students, who now represent about a third of NYSPHA’s membership, Sinisgalli said. The association typically gets dozens of applications for its student internship openings.
“We want to help students develop into the public health professionals that our organizations want to hire,” said Sinisgalli, an APHA member.
In response to its 2021 survey and listening sessions, NYSPHA launched a number of projects to harness members’ desire to make a difference through the Affiliate. It established a new Public Health in Action Committee to organize volunteer opportunities, and the committee eventually created two special interest groups — one focused on suicide prevention and the other on climate change.
Last year, the suicide prevention group conducted a school mental health listening tour to better understand student and staff needs as the COVID-19 pandemic ebbed and offer recommendations. The group also worked with APHA’s Intersectional Council to develop a model for other APHA Affiliates that want to engage on suicide prevention.
NYSPHA’s climate group is also partnering with schools, this time to create a climate resource guide for middle and high school students. The group is also leading local climate advocacy efforts, developing public awareness campaigns and organizing tree-planting events.
The Affiliates’s climate work was honored with the Excellence in Climate Leadership Award from APHA’s Center for Climate, Health and Equity in November.
Sinisgalli said NYSPHA’s growing capacity is helping it attract even more grant funding to support impactful work. For example, the Affiliate recently received a grant of nearly $50,000 to conduct health and COVID-19 education programming at a refugee center in Albany.
“NYSPHA is a great example of an Affiliate that listens to and responds to its members’ needs,” Lindsey Wahowiak, APHA’s director of Affiliate Affairs, told The Nation’s Health. “They’ve built tremendous partnerships and successful advocacy campaigns thanks to their dedicated volunteers and staff. They are so deserving of this award.”
For more information, visit www.nyspha.org.
- Copyright The Nation’s Health, American Public Health Association
