Navigating the Public Health Data Landscape with Data Governance, Literacy, and Equity

Overview:

This is a 90-minute recording of a live webinar on November 19, 2024.

In today’s rapidly evolving public health environment, building a strong foundation in data governance, literacy, and equity is essential for creating a data-driven and equitable public health system. This webinar explores how these foundational components can empower public health organizations to better serve communities and address health disparities. These efforts are essential for ensuring that public health workers are well-equipped to collect, manage, and utilize data responsibly and effectively. By fostering internal understanding and collaboration, public health organizations can lay the groundwork for supporting communities with the data-driven insights needed to improve health outcomes. 

Jonathan Ong brings over 20 years of exceptional management and organizational development experience. With a solid public health, hospital, government, and regulatory leadership background, Jonathan has proven expertise in overseeing applications, analytics, and data strategy. He has successfully guided health IT innovation and strategy to build data-driven public health organizations. His accomplishments include building a solid informatics framework at Mecklenburg County Public Health and optimizing various EMRs and applications across multiple services. His team played a crucial role in the county’s COVID-19 response, developing a cohesive set of applications for case investigation, contact tracing, communication, and training.  Jonathan oversees the Informatics program and will be providing direction and oversight for the department’s data and data systems development and management, including the informatics program. 

Lauren Cook is a Management Analyst under the Public Health Informatics Program at Mecklenburg County Health Department. With a data science and business analytics background, Lauren’s sharp analytical skills and attention to detail translate well with collaborating across the department to create innovative data solutions, dynamic Power Bi dashboards, and detailed analytical reports. She also plays a pivotal role in co-leading the data governance program at Mecklenburg County Public Health alongside her esteemed colleague, Jonathan.  At her essence, Lauren is driven by a passion for data and a commitment to enlightening others about the significance and transformative potential of their data assets. 

Learning Objectives: By the end of this webinar, participants will be able to:

• Identify the importance of equity as a guiding principle in data governance.
• Develop strategies to enhance data literacy within public health teams.
• Formulate steps to build a sustainable, equitable, and data-informed culture in public health.

CERTIFICATE:  The course contains two modules: a module to access the webinar and an evaluation module. After accessing the three modules, learners will earn a certificate of completion. When the certificate is available, learners will see a Certificate button on their dashboard.

This project is supported by the Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA) of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) under grant number UB6HP31680, Public Health Training Centers for $4,348,992. This information or content and conclusions are those of the author and should not be construed as the official position or policy of, nor should any endorsements be inferred by HRSA, HHS or the U.S. Government.