The APPEAL Leadership Model
The APPEAL Leadership Model[1] was designed in 1997 as a training curriculum for building capacity culturally tailored to developing leaders in tobacco control initially within Asian American, Native Hawaiian and Pacific Islander (AA and NHPI) communities. Emerging and established leaders were recruited from multi-sectoral backgrounds within communities disproportionately impacted by tobacco and other health disparities. The Leadership Model focuses on building competencies in collaboration, advocacy, equity, navigating systems, and content areas of tobacco and other health justice issues.
The APPEAL Leadership Model has been adapted and replicated into trainings ranging from one-day to two-year long institutes. More than 800 fellows have been trained using the APPEAL Leadership Model. As a result of being involved in the leadership trainings, fellows have been successful in implementing projects and policy initiatives related to tobacco and healthy eating/active living (HEAL).
Lessons learned from the APPEAL Leadership Model include:
- leadership development can build community capacity to engage in tobacco control and other social justice and health equity issues;
- leadership development can result in powerful policy and systems change; and
- leadership trainings can be adapted to any social justice issue and any marginalized community including cross-cultural groups.