Overview
The Blue Cross Blue Shield of Massachusetts Foundation in October 2005 created a new initiative, the Massachusetts Institute for Community Health Leadership (MICHL), to help build leadership capacity among health care organizations in the Commonwealth that serve the needs of low-income and uninsured residents. MICHL is an 18-day educational program that takes place over the course of nine months. MICHL provides the skills and tools to help dynamic senior and middle management professionals to effectively address the future opportunities and challenges in community-based low-income and uninsured health care. A recent study by Compass Point indicates the importance of good leadership to the success of not-for-profit organizations.

The goal of MICHL is to develop the next generation of leadership in Massachusetts to effectively address the future opportunities and challenges in community-based low-income and uninsured health care. The focus of MICHL is to help those with leadership potential increase their own personal impact, strengthen their effectiveness in their organization, and enhance the organization’s influence in the health care system.

MICHL offers a highly experiential curriculum, with classroom work, peer-to-peer exchanges and collaborative learning. During the nine-month program, the participants are expected to develop and implement a project utilizing the knowledge, skills, and leadership abilities gained through MICHL. The project, completed in teams, will address a health care issue that impacts uninsured and low-income people in Massachusetts.

Purpose
The central purpose of this initiative is to develop skills for leaders within non-profit organizations serving the low-income and uninsured with the capacity to address the challenges facing future leaders, and create useful change. Its goal is to transform the participants’ perceptions of themselves as leaders, inspiring them to even higher levels of motivation, learning, steadfastness, and efficacy. Its primary focus is on developing leadership capacities and skills. In addition it builds a network of colleagues across the state who are dedicated to serving the health care needs of low income and uninsured.

The program will inform and transform a participant's perception of self as leader in terms of:

• Increased personal awareness: e.g., vision, values, styles, strengths, biases, impact on others, self-purpose and role, etc.
• Expanded conceptions of leadership and learning about how to develop and sustain themselves as leaders

The program will develop a participant's capacity to understand and apply a range of tools and skills for creating useful change in the health care arena by understanding the environment and learning and planning for change. And it will develop others as leaders by teaching:

• Valuing others (staff and volunteers)
• Fostering cultures of inclusion and diversity
• Giving and receiving feedback
• Developing responsibility and accountability
• Communicating powerfully with others 
• Articulating a mission and motivating followers within the organization
• Persuading others and building consensus beyond organizational boundaries
• Working collaboratively with others
• Choosing when and how to engage others within the organization, with other non-profits, other sectors and the community
• Working with diverse stakeholders
• Designing and facilitating collaborative interventions