Claudia S.P. Fernandez, DrPH, MS, RD, North Carolina Institute for Public Health, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, CB# 8165, Chapel Hill, NC 27599-8165, 919-843-5560, Claudia_Fernandez@unc.edu and Janet Porter, PhD, NC Institute for Public Health, UNC School of Public Health, CB# 8165, Tate-Turner-Kuralt Bldg., Chapel Hill, NC 27599-8165.

In 2003, the WWK Kellogg Foundation, the UNC Kenan-Flager Business School, and the UNC School of Public Health partnered to offer a "Managing in Turbulent Times: Emerging Leaders in Public Health" fellowship program. The design of the fellowship was to focus on critical skills necessary to lead and manage through times of crisis. Skill-based training in crisis situations included finances, human resource issues, and communications. This 10-month program specifically targeted three historically under-represented ethnic minority groups: African American (AA), American Indian/Alaskan Native (AI/AN), and Latino (L). Within one-month of recruiting more than 90 applications were received while no funds were spent on these efforts. A total of 35 candidates were selected for the fellowship year (16 AA, 9 AI/AN, 10L, 19 women, 16 men, all geographic regions represented).

Many lessons were learned about effective, low cost recruiting methods using the world wide web, course development capitalizing on adult-learning principles, translating non-traditional public health skills for the audience, creating mentoring and networking structures within the minority communities, and creating effective experiential distance-based learning intervention. The goal of this presentation will be to describe the fellowship, experiences of the participants, and discuss the lessons learned in creating, recruiting for, and administering an innovative fellowship program to target minorities in crisis leadership and management.

Learning Objectives:

• describe how Emerging Leaders in Public Health Fellows learned critical skills in crisis management in the areas of financial, communications and human resources crisis. 2.describe how distance education strategies can support leadership development, including mentoring, of minority participants.

Keywords: Minorities, Leadership

Related Web page: www.publichealthleaders.org

Presenting author's disclosure statement:
Organization/institution whose products or services will be discussed: The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill The W K Kellogg Foundation
I do not have any significant financial interest/arrangement or affiliation with any organization/institution whose products or services are being discussed in this session.