In this episode, ASTHO CEO, Dr. Joseph Kanter, shares key insights from this year’s Spring Leadership Forum, an in-person opportunity to exchange lessons learned, strengthen peer support, and tackle the complex realities facing public health leaders today. From a productive visit with leadership at the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services to renewed conversations about partnerships around healthy eating and chronic disease prevention, Dr. Kanter reflects on why strong federal–state collaboration is essential, how federal initiatives live or die at the state and territorial level, and how effective partnerships make all the difference.
Four Ways Public Health Agencies Are Strengthening Grants Management | ASTHO
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JOHN SHEEHAN:
This is Public Health Review Morning Edition for Thursday, March 5th, 2026. I'm John Sheehan for the Association of State and Territorial Health Officials.
Today: inside ASTHO's Spring Leadership Forum. We'll hear from ASTHO's CEO, Dr. Joseph Kanter, who will share key insights from this year's event, an in-person opportunity to exchange lessons learned, strengthen peer support, and tackle the complex realities facing public health leaders today. We'll hear why strong federal-state collaboration is essential, how federal initiatives live or die at the state and territorial level, and how effective partnerships make all the difference.
JOSEPH KANTER:
Well, we've had a great convening so far. We're here at ASTHO headquarters in Arlington, and we've got the lead health officials from states and territories across the country. We do this twice a year. And it's been a really nice meeting so far. It's been such a unique year in public health, and we've got multiple responses ongoing now as all types of challenges. And just being in the company of folks who are so intimately involved in these efforts in their states and territories is special. And it's nice to see folks share successes, talk about things that didn't go well, give support, give constructive ideas. That's a really special environment that ASTHO does so well at organizing around. We spent the first day with the board of ASTHO. We had a really productive board meeting. We also had a very nice visit to HHS's offices in D.C. at the Humphrey Building, where we were fortunate to visit with HHS leadership. We had
productive conversations. I left that meeting with the impression that there's a lot of areas that are fertile ground for partnerships right now. And I sensed a renewed interest in those type of partnerships,
particularly around healthy eating and chronic disease, two things that I think we all see the value in. So, to me, that was a positive meeting, and I left that fairly encouraged. And I would love to see some more partnerships. At the end of the day, despite any differences that may or may not exist, federal initiatives live or die in state and territorial departments. Departments are heavily dependent on federal funding and expertise, and their initiatives are closely intertwined. So, the closer that federal agencies can partner, partner effectively with state and territorial health departments, the better. The better for everyone, particularly for the constituencies whose health and wellness depends on that. So traditionally, ASTHO has been an effective partner in helping broker those types of relationships and helping them be effective, mutually beneficial. And that's a role that we look forward to continuing to play. Today at our Spring Evolution Forum, we had really nice conversations around the role of AI, particularly in public health communication. We were joined by Monica Burrell, currently with Google Health, and ASTHO alumni member, formerly the show of Massachusetts. We had a really fascinating conversation on what AI can do, what the future holds. I learned a ton. Things are moving so fastly, and it's really gonna change how we do business in health departments. And we would all like to see health departments not be behind the eight ball in this. So, that was an eye-opening conversation from an industry leader that I thought we were fortunate to have. We had some good conversations with our Innovation Advisory Council. These are industry leaders that have an interest in public health. And this is the second year we've done that program, and it's a nice opportunity to discuss with industry leaders, trends, opportunities, threats. Partnering with the private world is something that I don't think we've always done that well in public health. Other parts of government, I think, do a better job at that, but we're gonna need to because public health, we need all the partners we can get. So that was a nice conversation. We had some open time where health officials got to discuss what's on their mind. In a closed-door confidential session, we didn't discuss the issues that are coming to the forefront and hear from other peers how they're responding to these types of issues. We're gearing up for our Hill Day where health officials will take to the Hill, meet with their congressional delegations, really with the purpose of ensuring that their representatives in Congress know what's happening on the ground in public health and their jurisdictions. What are the issues that folks care about? What are programs that their health departments are working on that they should know about? And what resources do they need? We do this every year, and it's always well-received. So, it's been a really nice convening. I'm always struck when we do these convenings of just how impressive our roster of health officials are. These remarkably impressive individuals with really interesting personal stories, so very committed to the job of improving health within their jurisdictions and so talented in doing so. These are not easy jobs, now more than ever. And I leave these meetings so inspired, particularly because of the caliber of health officials that we're fortunate to have across the country.
SHEEHAN:
Dr. Joseph Kanter is CEO of ASTHO.
Managing public health grants isn't simple, but it is essential. In a new ASTHO blog post, experts break down four ways health agencies across the country are strengthening grants management, from centralizing operations and modernizing outdated systems to improving internal processes and strengthening sub-recipient oversight. Featuring examples from states and territories like Illinois, North Carolina, Washington, and the U.S. Virgin Islands, this piece highlights practical strategies that are helping agencies improve efficiency, accountability, and resilience, especially amid funding uncertainty. Strong grants management isn't just administrative, it's foundational to public health infrastructure. You can find a link to the post in the show notes.
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This has been Public Health Review Morning Edition. I'm John Sheehan for the Association of State and Territorial Health Officials.
