Two UIC SPH Partnerships with Cook County Win National Awards for Public Health Innovation
Intro
Two collaborative initiatives between the Cook County Department of Public Health (CCDPH) and the University of Illinois Chicago School of Public Health (UIC SPH) have been honored with 2025 Achievement Awards from the National Association of Counties (NACo).
Since 1970, NACo’s Achievement Awards have celebrated innovative county government programs that effectively strengthen communities across the country. This year, CCDPH received five awards in the categories of health, workforce development, equity, and growth — with two winning projects rooted in the strong and enduring partnership between the department and UIC SPH.
“Cook County Department of Public Health’s programs recognized by NACo are the result of strategic, community-centered work and a deep commitment to advancing public health,” said Dr. Erik Mikaitis, CEO of Cook County Health. “I commend the entire public health team for their leadership, expertise and dedication to improving health equity and outcomes across suburban Cook County.”
Healthy Work Initiative: Worker Protection Program
One award was given to the Healthy Work Initiative’s Worker Protection Program, a multi-year effort to improve conditions for precariously employed workers by combining education, enforcement, policy change, and elevating worker voice. Developed through partnerships among CCDPH, the Policy, Practice and Prevention Research Center and community-based worker centers, the initiative has built a regional infrastructure for workplace health, safety, and co-enforcement strategies. The program was built in part from an initiative led by UIC SPH’s Center for Healthy Work.
During the height of the Covid-19 pandemic from 2020-2021, the program:
- Reached more than 250,000 workers with health and safety training
- Coordinated over 1,000 direct enforcement actions
- Delivered more than one million public communications on labor protections
- Built a governance network of labor, academic, and government stakeholders
- Created a real-time feedback system for identifying workplace hazards
Faculty, staff, and students from UIC SPH played a central role in developing and evaluating the initiative. WPP’s leadership included co-PIs Dr. Christina Welter and Dr. Tessa Bonney alongside CCDPH and community partner Raise the Floor, and was expanded in 2022 to include Dr. Jarpe-Ratner. Staff Liz Fisher, Rocio Bautista, Amber Uskali, and Kimberly Ortega and students Ron Neimark and Rhea Nigli supported this work as well.
“We are proud that our longstanding academic-community partnerships facilitated a strong evidence base for systems change that included direct services, policy advancements, and leadership development for precariously employed workers in enduring ways,” said Welter.
Data Ambassadors Program
The Data Ambassadors Program — also recognized by NACo — addresses another critical public health priority: equitable access to data. Using a train-the-trainer model, the program builds data literacy among local organizations and communities, enabling them to better navigate and apply information from the Cook County Health Atlas.
Launched in 2022, the Suburban Cook County Health Atlas, run in partnership with UIC’s Population Health Analytics, Metric and Evaluation (PHAME) Center, fosters public participation in reviewing, exploring, and comparing health-related data over time and across communities. By engaging the community in health data, the Cook County Health Atlas helps residents ask and learn “how healthy is my community?”
Through workshops and ongoing mentorship, Data Ambassadors strengthen the capacity of community leaders to use data in decision-making, advocacy, and program planning. The program deepens relationships between CCDPH, UIC SPH, and grassroots organizations, ensuring that public health data is democratized, accessible, and actionable.
Both award-winning initiatives reflect UIC SPH’s mission to advance health equity through research, education, and community engagement and demonstrate the powerful impact of sustained partnerships between academic institutions and public health agencies.