Group Award
CROWD at Sinai Urban Health Institute

Sinai Urban Health Institute (SUHI) is a leader in the development, implementation, and evaluation of innovative approaches to improving population health management. For 22 years, SUHI’s health interventions have utilized the community health worker (CHW) model, showing positive health and financial outcomes. The Center for CHW Research, Outcomes, and Workforce Development (CROWD), SUHI’s CHW training and consulting center, provides support to organizations to identify, hire, and train CHWs, along with quality assurance, and process and outcome evaluation.

CROWD’s team specializes in curricula development, tailored training development and implementation, intervention development and implementation, and evaluation. “We feel extremely honored, motivated, and validated to win this award,” Kim Jay, Training Manager and Senior Community Health worker, says. “It reminds us that our efforts are not in vain and the work we poured our hearts and souls into is recognized by our colleagues as a job well done.”

CROWD’s approach, informed by CHWs, the community, and community partners, builds on more than two decades of direct experience utilizing, honing and evaluating the CHW model. Their work is enhanced throughout by a diverse staff including CHWs, administrators, evaluators, and community health, learning development and training specialists.

CROWD has trained more than 1,700 CHWs and consulted for some 50 organizations across the country including managed care organizations, public health departments, health systems, academic research studies, and community-based organizations. SUHI/CROWD is now serving on the leadership team that is implementing Chicago’s community pandemic response corps.

“We embarked upon work that was fueled by the pandemic, and we had to create a process that did not exist. We were able to introduce newly hired community members to the world of public health. We gained new advocates for racial and social justice and health equity. I truly feel we have engaged change makers who now march side by side with us to bring about positive change,” Kim shares of CROWD’s innovative and equitable contribution to public health and social justice.

Over the coming year, CROWD plans to broaden our reach with their training and mentorship efforts through virtual platforms and continue to share and expand knowledge. “The pandemic amplified a truth that ‘people need people’ and we intend to increase the odds of those people with education and exposure to a world they thought they could not thrive in but they definitely have an important place in.”

Pictured, left to right, standing: Adlaide Holloway, Senior CHW; Chandrea Chayaiyarat, Program Manager; Kim Jay, Training Manager & Senior CHW; ShelLynn Beasley, Training & Workforce Development Coordinator; May Dartez, Learning Development Specialist; Patricia LaBellarte, Program Manager of SUHI Evaluations. Left to right, seated: Stacy Ignoffo, Executive Director of Community Health Innovations; Rachel Morris, Senior Manager of SUHI CROWD.