Milbank State Leadership Network

 

The Milbank State Leadership Network is a bipartisan group of more than 400 state health policymakers from the executive and legislative branches.

  • “The states are really where health policy action is. There are 50 state labs, plus DC, plus the territories, and they’re innovating in a thousand different ways. To be able to bring state leaders together to enhance their leadership potential is where we feel like the greatest difference can be made in population health and health equity.”

    Morgan McDonald
    Morgan McDonald, MD

    National Director for Population Health and Health Equity Leadership, Milbank Memorial Fund

What is the MSLN?

The Milbank State Leadership Network (MSLN) is composed of state officials and staff focused on improving population health and health equity. Milbank National Population Health and Health Equity Leadership Director Morgan McDonald, MD, shares the latest evidence and relevant peer experiences in her monthly MSLN newsletter and in member-only briefings featuring experts and state and local officials.

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If you are a current member of state or local government seeking evidence and experience that will help you improve the health of the people in your state or local area, contact us at info@milbank.org.

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Technical Assistance

The MSLN supports technical assistance convenings for states. These maybe peer-to-peer information-sharing sessions or meetings with an issue expert.

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Briefings

MSLN’s virtual briefings feature subject matter experts and experienced state policymakers discussing topics that are highly relevant to today’s legislative and executive branch state leaders.

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Emerging Leaders Program

The Emerging Leaders Program (ELP) is a 10-month leadership development program for early and mid-career legislative and executive branch state, large-county, and large-city government officials.

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Milbank Fellows Program

The Milbank Fellows Program (MFP) is a 10-month leadership program for senior executive branch and legislative state leaders who are committed to improving population health in their communities.

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Latest State Leadership Resources

  • A Better Way to Contain Medicaid Costs

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  • “This Is Incredibly Motivating to Me”

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  • “Deaths of Despair”: A Cultural, Not Clinical, Challenge

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  • State Leadership Resource Library

    Resource Types

    Current Topics

    Publication

    U.S. Health and Human Services Department Secretary’s Postpartum Maternal Health Collaborative Expert Evidence Convening

    July 2024
    Christine Haran, Sofia Espinosa, Mary Louise Gilburg and Morgan McDonald
    With direction from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, the Milbank Memorial Fund convened four panels designed to synthesize evidence and opportunities for postpartum mortality reduction to inform the Postpartum Maternal Health Collaborative. More

    News Article

    Kentucky State Rep. Kimberly Moser’s Pragmatic Approach to Improving Health in Her State

    July 2024
    Joanne Kenan
    In Kentucky, state Rep. Kimberly Moser, a neonatal intensive care and flight nurse turned policymaker, managed to get sweeping legislation passed on both those issues after just a few terms in the legislature. More

    Publication

    Defining the State Role in Primary Care Reform

    May 2024
    Lauryn Walker, Lisa Dulsky Watkins and Christopher F. Koller
    States should consider six key activities to prioritize resources and use their authority most effectively. More

    Publication

    It Takes Two to Tango: Creating an Effective State–Federal Partnership for Primary Care Reform

    May 2024
    Lauryn Walker, Shannon Dowler, Barbra Rabson and Bob Rauner
    This brief provides seven recommendations for how the federal government can support states in their primary care reform efforts. More

    Blog Post

    Language Concordance: The Missing Pillar in Patient-Centered Communication

    May 2024
    María José Ruiz and Santiago Avila
    Improving communication between patients with non-English language preference and their physicians demands a significant cultural shift, medical education prioritization, and policy change. More

    Publication

    State Opportunities for Health Care Market Oversight: MSLN Post-Briefing Fact Sheet

    May 2024
    Sofia Espinosa and Mary Louise Gilburg
    A Milbank State Leadership Network virtual briefing featured a presentation on new models of enhanced market oversight and insight from state attorneys general offices. More

    Publication

    To Transparency and Beyond: Snapshots of States Using Cost Growth Targets to Improve Health Care Affordability

    May 2024
    Martha Hostetter
    This series of state profiles shows how each state in the Peterson-Milbank program has approached one or two of the cost growth target program implementation activities. More

    News Article

    Leadership Program Recruitment Launches

    May 2024
    Christine Haran
    he Milbank Memorial Fund has begun recruitment for the 2024-2025 cohorts of the Milbank Memorial Fund’s two leadership programs for legislative and executive branch state, large-county, and large-city government officials who are committed to improving population health. More

    News Article

    Dannette Smith: Leading and Listening as She Advances State Social and Health Services

    April 2024
    Joanne Kenan
    Dannette Smith was not a late bloomer.  With a trailblazing mom — not many Black women were assistant school superintendents in a midwestern steel town like East Chicago, Indiana in the 1960s — she grew up confident, with a role model at her side.   And watching the civil rights movement unfold from a young age, […] More

    Blog Post

    Improving Primary Care Access When You Can’t Wait for Policy Change

    March 2024
    Christopher F. Koller
    Ed McGookin had a big problem.  Coastal Medical, the 150-physician medical group in Rhode Island that he leads, was facing more competition for a smaller pool of primary care physicians finishing their residencies in 2022. Now it was losing four physicians to early retirement in December of that year. He had to find new medical […] More