Apply to join an ECCHO Cohort Today!

ECCHO (Engaging Communities to Change Health Outcomes) seeks to recruit cohort members from either Milwaukee, Rock, or Dane county who identify as women.

During a 9 month training program (January 2023- September 2023), participants will work together as a cohort to design and implement a community-based project that meets the health and civic health needs of their community.

Each cohort is overseen by a Local Program Coordinator who compensates participants at $20/hour for their work and provides them with the training and resources they need to successfully implement their project, drive policy change, and transform local systems of power.

No prior experience with health equity or project management is needed. As we believe that those most impacted by the problem already have the skills needed to create change within their communities. You can view the complete position description HERE.

Questions, comments, concerns? Email Kadijha Marquardt-Davis at Kadijha@wiawh.org
We strongly encourage applications from cisgender and transgender women, and non-binary people who are Black, Indigenous, or a Person of Color. All interested applicants should complete and submit the online application HERE no later than 11:59pm on Friday, November 18th, 2022.

Our Mission:

Center the voices and lived experiences of Black, Indigenous, cisgender and transgender women of color, and non-binary people of color (BIPOC) to drive policy change and transform local systems to equitably meet the needs of communities.
ECCHO is a civic engagement training program that seeks to improve community health outcomes by engaging those most impacted by generational and systemic racism in Dane, Milwaukee, Menominee, and Rock county.

During a 9 month training program, participants work together as a cohort to design and implement a community-based project that meets the health and civic health needs of their community.

Each cohort is overseen by a Local Program Coordinator who compensates participants for their work and provides them with the training and resources they need to successfully implement their project, drive policy change, and transform local systems of power.

Our Vision:

BIPOC women and non-binary people in Milwaukee, Rock, Menominee, and Dane county have the resources and support they need to build collective power and improve the health outcomes of their communities.

Our Values:

  • Autonomy & Self-Determination
  • Civic Participation
  • Radical Imagination
  • Community Power & Leadership
  • Transparency
  • Social Justice

Our Goals:

  • Build strong civic infrastructure to improve civic health outcome
  • Improve health outcomes of individuals and communities
  • Increase confidence and leadership skills
  • Empower individuals to radically imagine a better future

Our Model:

Transform systems & communities by centering those closest to the issue
  • Phase 1: Cohort crafts a collective vision of the future
  • Phase 2: Cohort identifies a community need
  • Phase 3: Cohort is equipped with toolbox of resources
  • Phase 4: Cohort is empowered to develop & implement a local civic health project
Cohort is supported by a Local Program Coordinator who:
  • Provides Info & Resources to assist cohort with developing and executing a local civic health project
  • Actively Listens to the needs, desires, and vision of cohort
  • Empowers cohort to be confident leaders who imagine a better future for themselves & communities
  • Facilitates cohort training, community building, and project development needs

Civic Health:

Civic health is defined as civic, social, and political strength of a community, which is determined by the degree to which citizens participate in their communities, from local and state governance to interactions with friends or family.

Public health researchers have long known that the civic health of a community contributes directly and indirectly to overall community health.
Communities that have a strong civic infrastructure are more likely to have positive civic health and health equity outcomes.

Civic infrastructure are the laws, processes, institutions and associations that support opportunities for people to connect, solve problems, make decisions and celebrate community.

According to the 2021 County Health Rankings, Milwaukee, Rock, and Menominee counties are ranked among Wisconsin’s least healthy counties. Unsurprisingly, these same counties have a significantly lower rate of civic engagement related to voting and voter registration.

With this in mind, ECCHO seeks to strengthen the civic infrastructure of Dane, Milwaukee, Menominee, and Rock county to increase civic participation, and improve their civic health and health equity outcomes.

Our Approach:

ECCHO is committed to community-based leadership and decision-making that centers the views and experiences of those most affected by the issue. By investing in and lifting-up those most negatively impacted by generational and systemic racism in our state, ECCHO aims to transform local systems of power and improve health outcomes.

To ensure the program remains in alignment with our values, the following practices have been incorporated into the administration, structure, and curriculum of the program:
  • Anti-oppression practices
  • Empowerment practices
  • Social justice oriented practices
  • Community-based participatory research practices
  • Radical imagination

Our Team:

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LaRaine Patterson
LaRaine Patterson, ECCHO Milwaukee Local Program Coordinator
LaRaine@ecchowi.org - (414) 432-5927

LaRaine Patterson, a Milwaukee native and Cardinal Stritch B.A. alumni is a long time community advocate and works closely with several neighborhood associations. LaRaine is a Certified Community Health Worker who is passionate about addressing unconscious bias in healthcare.


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Cat Phouybanhdyt
Cat Phouybanhdyt, ECCHO Milwaukee Local Program Coordinator cat@ecchowi.org - (414) 432-5417

Cat Phouybanhdyt (she/hers) is a current Master of Public Health and medical student at the University of Wisconsin School of Medicine and Public Health as a part of the Training in Urban Medicine and Public Health (TriUMPH) program. Prior to graduate school, she served as an AmeriCorps member at Sixteenth Street Community Health Centers on the southside of Milwaukee in their Women's Wellness Department, where she coordinated perinatal care and developed and taught bilateral prenatal classes. She is passionate about the intersection between immigrant/refugee health and food security, environmental health/public transit infrastructure, and facilitating a sense of community where people can express their most authentic and creative selves. She is ecstatic to work with the ECCHO cohort as they grow, learn, and empower themselves to imagine broadly and shape their future!
Veronica Hereford, ECCHO Rock County Local Program Coordinator veronicah@ecchowi.org - (608) 601-9290

Veronica Hereford (she, her, hers) is a doula, child-birth educator, social worker and committed to the health of all women. She is currently working on completing a Social Work Masters at University of Wisconsin Whitewater.  She completed her under graduate work in Human Services and Psychology and a  Masters in Public Administration at Upper Iowa University. She is devoted to ending the disparity that exists in birth outcomes for Black and Indigenous Women of Color.
Fernanda Alayo, ECCHO Dane County Bilingual Local Program Coordinator
fernanda@ecchowi.org - (608) 291-9791

Fernanda Alayo (She/Hers) is a senior nursing student at Edgewood College with a passion for women’s health and social determinants of health. Fernanda grew up in a Hispanic household surrounded by Peruvian music and food, a culture she holds very close to her heart. She has focused her work on leadership and advocacy, using her voice to build community within Edgewood College through her role as Southern Regional Director for the Wisconsin Student Nurses Association (WSNA). She has further developed her voice through her podcast, Alucina, where she connects her experience as a LatinX woman, student, daughter, and person of color to current events and topics within her community. Fernanda is excited to further develop these skills with ECCOS Dane County, while at the same time learning, reconnecting, and being inspired by the LatinX Community.
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Kadijha Marquardt-Davis
Kadijha Marquardt-Davis, ECCHO Program Director
kadijha@ecchowi.org - (608) 300-8866

Kadijha Marquardt-Davis obtained her Master of Social Work with a focus on health policy and administration from the University of Wisconsin-Madison in 2020. She is passionate about creating radical systemic change through the use of macro and political social work. Throughout her career, Kadijha has been an unwavering advocate for progressive policies that promote social, racial, and reproductive justice. As part of the Wisconsin Alliance for Women's Health (WAWH) family, Kadijha  serves as the Director of Advocacy & Civic Health, where she will oversee the development and implementation of ECCHO  - WAWH’s statewide civic health program.