Public Health Ambassador Programs
Parent, Student, and Community Ambassadors
Help keep your community healthy,
Join the Healthy Communities Movement!
Are you looking to lead your community to better health? Are you looking to increase your public health skills and build a resume that demonstrates your community leadership? Become a Public Health Ambassador with the Los Angeles County Department of Public Health (LACDPH)! Public Health Ambassadors support their communities across Los Angeles County by sharing public health information and resources with family, friends, school and social networks. Ambassadors are encouraged to share information and resources in a way that is unique to their individual style, community needs, and interests. Topics include COVID-19 safety, youth substance use/abuse prevention, mental health, reproductive health, immunizations, and more! How will you make an impact?
Public Health Ambassadors and Parent Ambassador Leaders (PALs) in action!
Find out how Public Health Ambassadors and Parent Ambassador Leaders (PALs) are taking action in their communities! Click below to watch an interview (in Spanish) that took place with Telemundo Channel 52, a well-known Latin American news channel, and our DPH Staff and Parent Ambassadors!
Calendar of Events
November & December Public Health Ambassador Training Series
Become a Public Health Ambassador!
Learn what it means to become a Public Health Ambassador today!
As little as one training and you will always be welcomed at upcoming trainings.
All program participants receive a certificate of participation (equivalent to one hour of community or volunteer service) for each training they participate in. Public Health Ambassadors that tell our team how the information and skills learned in the program helped them create impact in their community are also eligible to be featured as the monthly Public Health Ambassador Spotlight in our Public Health Ambassador newsletter, Impact! Scroll to the Impact! section to read previous issues.
Trainings are provided each month. Depending on the topic, two sets of trainings may be available to better meet the needs of audiences such as students. We want to make sure you get the most from the program and are conducting trainings as a two-part series: one knowledge building training and one skill building training. In the first part you will learn how the topic impacts your community, what you can do gain information to support your health and that of your community, and you’ll learn about local resources. In the second part you will gain public health skills, learn how to use DPH resources and opportunities that will support your capacity to create meaningful impact in your community!
On Zoom
Trainings are one hour in length.
Scroll to the Calendar of Events section and click on the button that says “Register here” with the corresponding training date and time that you’d like to attend.
Parent Ambassador Leaders (PALs) Program
Parents and guardians can help keep school communities across Los Angeles County thriving through participation in the Los Angeles County Department of Public Health’s Parent Ambassador Leaders (PALs) program.
PALs is a program where parents…
- LEARN about student health and school success online.
- SHARE resources with other parents and school staff at their child’s local school.
- GET PAID for the work they do at schools with a $550 gift card!
In PALs, parents and guardians will learn about topics connected to health and school success, share what they have learned with others in their school community, and will receive a stipend upon completion of the program requirements. Parents who complete all PALs requirements in one semester will receive a stipend in the form of a $550 gift card. Any parent/guardian with a student attending an elementary, middle, or high school in Los Angeles County (excluding Long Beach and Pasadena) is eligible to apply and parents may participate in the program one or both semesters of the current school year. Returning applicants and PALs are welcome to apply for future semesters!
Program details are outlined below and in the Program Overview for Parents (English) (Spanish) and Program Overview for Administration (English) (Spanish).
Impact! & Newsletter
Activate your knowledge into IMPACT!
We want to hear from you! How has becoming a Public Health Ambassador (PHA) changed you? PHAs have the chance to make meaningful impressions in their communities, with their new public health knowledge, skills and resources.
Tell us how you created impact by completing the following questions. Your submission may be featured in the Ambassador Spotlight of our monthly Public Health Ambassador newsletter, titled Impact!
I Create Community Impact!
These are some ways that Public Health Ambassadors have impacted their communities:
- Shared information about infectious diseases at mobile vaccination sites
- Volunteered at LACDPH health fairs
- Have organized health and resource fairs for their school community
- Created and organized Mental Health Awareness Week activities for their school communities
- Spoken about their experience as a Public Health Ambassador at community events and in the Public Health Ambassador Impact! Newsletter
- Created pamphlets about infectious diseases and shared with their community/networks
- Shared information with their classmates about the benefits of Narcan to reverse the effects of an opioid overdose
Check out the Public Health Ambassador Spotlight for more inspiring stories!
Health Topics
Public Health Ambassador training topics are selected based on the identified health concerns impacting middle and high school students in Los Angeles County and are focused on reducing the spread of
- Coping with Bereavement, Exhaustion and Stress
- Healthy New You: Setting Health Goals in the New Year
- Staying Healthy During the Holidays
- Trauma Response to Gun Violence and School Shootings
- Teen Dating Violence Prevention
Expert Lead Trainings
Our training partners are experts in their fields and bring you the latest news, information, and resources!
Contact Us
Questions? Please email TK12Ambassador@ph.lacounty.gov or community ambassador email communityambassador@ph.lacounty.gov.
COVID-19 Resources for Parents & Guardians
Mental Health Resources
Addressing Teen Mental Health Challenges