ORIGINAL RESEARCH article
Front. Public Health
Sec. Public Health Education and Promotion
Volume 13 - 2025 | doi: 10.3389/fpubh.2025.1606108
This article is part of the Research TopicCatalyzing Public Health Leadership Research, Practice, Education, and TrainingView all 8 articles
Investing in the Development of the Next Generation of MCH Leaders
Provisionally accepted
Karen A McDonnell1*
Jamal Percy2
Lisa Anders3
Monique Janiel Brown4
Alice Richman5Julianna Deardorff6Monica S Ruiz1Jihong Liu4Kelli Russell5Audrey Snyder3Cassondra Marshall6- 1Milken Institute School of Public Health, George Washington University, Washington, D.C., United States
- 2Kennedy Krieger Institute, Baltimore, Maryland, United States
- 3School of Nursing, University of North Carolina at Greensboro, Greensboro, North Carolina, United States
- 4Arnold School of Public Health, University of South Carolina, Columbia, South Carolina, United States
- 5Department of Health Education and Promotion, College of Health and Human Performance, East Carolina University, Greenville, North Carolina, United States
- 6Division of Community Health Sciences, School of Public Health, University of California, Berkeley, Berkeley, California, United States
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The public health landscape is continually evolving to meet the strengths and needs of the populace. Public health workforce training is at the forefront, establishing an ecosystem approach that integrates individuals within social, political, and environmental contexts to enhance health equity within a social justice framework. One area of public health that is innovatively preparing the next generation of leaders is maternal and child health (MCH). In the United States (US), key indicators for health disparities within MCH remain stagnant, necessitating the creation of training programs to develop future MCH professionals from diverse backgrounds. These professionals will provide culturally and linguistically appropriate services for a growing underserved and underrepresented population, both in the US and globally. The MCH Leadership, Education, and Advancement in Undergraduate Pathways (LEAP) Training Program offers coordinated opportunities for undergraduate students, faculty, agencies, organizations, and communities to collaboratively develop the future MCH public health workforce. Effective and respectful leadership development in MCH requires investment in foundational educational, research, and community-engaged practice-based skill sets cultivated in undergraduate programs. Currently, six funded programs in the MCH LEAP portfolio share a collective mission to train undergraduates who historically had a minimal presence to become MCH leaders of tomorrow. These programs also implement changes in organizational structures that reflect the geographic and demographic representation of their communities. Mixed methods evaluations, both qualitative and quantitative, demonstrate the MCH LEAP training program's ability to introduce and develop the competencies needed for the next generation of the MCH workforce.
Keywords: training1, maternal and child health2, public health3, workforce4, evaluation5
Received: 04 Apr 2025; Accepted: 04 Jun 2025.
Copyright: © 2025 McDonnell, Percy, Anders, Brown, Richman, Deardorff, Ruiz, Liu, Russell, Snyder and Marshall. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
* Correspondence: Karen A McDonnell, Milken Institute School of Public Health, George Washington University, Washington, D.C., United States
Disclaimer: All claims expressed in this article are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of their affiliated organizations, or those of the publisher, the editors and the reviewers. Any product that may be evaluated in this article or claim that may be made by its manufacturer is not guaranteed or endorsed by the publisher.