Check out my presentation here!
Leah prepares for her workshop presentation
As a community college transfer student, being able to present at the 2025 Association of Maternal and Child Health Programs (AMCHP) Conference in Washington, D.C. was an incredibly meaningful milestone in my academic and professional career. It was not only my first time attending a professional conference, but also my first time presenting, and I had the privilege of co-facilitating a workshop alongside my co-intern from the Kansas Department of Health and Environment (KDHE) to an audience of about 40 MCH professionals from across the country.
Our workshop walked participants, from local health department staff to state-level public health leaders, through the process of developing a needs assessment specifically for fathers and non-birthing partners. We used interactive handout worksheets to guide our session, with an emphasis on group collaboration, strategic thinking, and reflection. In the first half of the session, participants worked in small groups to choose one of three approaches for a hypothetical needs assessment: conducting focus groups with fathers and non-birthing partners, interviewing key informants from father-serving organizations, or creating a resource inventory. After group discussions, each team shared their decision with the larger room and explained the rationale behind their chosen method. This activity not only sparked insightful conversations, but also allowed us to hear the diverse considerations that practitioners bring from their respective communities and contexts.
Leah and her colleague present their work on the Kansas Fatherhood Project
After the group share-out, I presented the approach we had taken in Kansas during our Title V Summer Internship with KDHE. Rather than choosing just one method, our team employed all three approaches to gather comprehensive and diverse data to inform the needs assessment. Sharing this process with the group allowed me to highlight the strengths of combining multiple qualitative and quantitative methods in inclusive MCH work and showed how integrating community voices can lead to a more well-rounded and equitable state action plan.
In the second half of the session, we shared some of the key findings from our needs assessment in Kansas, including the number of father-serving organizations we identified, barriers to confidence and support such as time poverty and systemic criminalization, successes such as dad-to-dad mentorship and evidence-based parenting curriculum, and the needs and desires of fathers and support organizations. Using this real-world data, participants then began developing their own state action plans. They were asked to: 1) choose a feasible focus area for their five-year Title V Needs Assessment, 2) identify a priority need within that area, 3) construct a SMART objective, and 4) propose performance and outcome measures. It was inspiring to hear the different perspectives that local and state public health professionals brought based on their communities' needs, and being able to watch participants thoughtfully engage with our materials and bring their own ideas to life was a major highlight of our session.
One of the most rewarding moments of the session came after our workshop ended, when several attendees mentioned how helpful and engaging the interactive format was. One participant even shared that our workshop was the most comfortable and participatory session they had attended at the conference! Hearing their feedback boosted my confidence in my public speaking and facilitation skills, and my ability to engage with professionals working on the front lines of maternal and child health. It also reaffirmed the importance of creating inclusive and supportive learning spaces where people feel safe to participate and foster new ideas, especially when discussing populations that are often left out of MCH conversations.
What made this experience especially meaningful for me was the chance to present not just data and frameworks, but also the values of equity, inclusion, and community voice in public health planning. As someone still early in my public health career, having the opportunity to contribute to a national conversation on how we center fathers and non-birthing partners in MCH systems emphasized the real-world impact of my Title V internship. It also reminded me that public health doesn’t just happen at a desk or on a spreadsheet—it happens in conversation, in community, and in collaboration.
Leah pictured in front of the official AMCHP Conference backdrop
I’m grateful for the opportunity to have presented at my first professional conference and to have shared space with such passionate, thoughtful, and committed individuals working across the country. This experience deepened my confidence in facilitation, strengthened my understanding of needs assessment and strategic planning processes, and reinforced my belief that equitable maternal and child health work must include all caregivers.