PoWER Lead Community Health Worker (CHW)

CDC Foundation; Kentucky; Hybrid; USD 63,000 - 80,000; Full time

Job summary

CDC Foundation seeks a Lead Community Health Worker (CHW) to support the PoWER Maternal and Infant Health program in Kentucky. The role centers on building rural health infrastructure, leading CHW teams, and ensuring consistent, data-driven practices across pilot sites.

The Lead CHW coordinates with Program leadership, ensures alignment with Kentucky CHW standards, and mentors frontline CHWs to deliver high-quality, culturally competent care in diverse communities.

Qualifications

• Active Kentucky CHW Certification issued by the Kentucky Office of Community Health Workers.
• Maternal/infant/child work experience.
• Minimum of five years of relevant experience as a CHW, social worker, public health professional, or in a related field.
• HIPAA training/certification.
• Microsoft Office proficiency.
• Demonstrated leadership experience with diverse audiences, trainings, presentations, and collaborative problem solving.
• Strong understanding of CHW certification, continuing education, and renewal requirements.
• Ability to facilitate productive conversations and build consensus among stakeholders.

Responsibilities

• Serve as the primary liaison between pilot site PoWER CHWs and the PoWER Program Team.
• Provide leadership in developing and improving the PoWER CHW model, workflows, training, and operational standards.
• Collaborate with Medical Director, Lead Doula, Lead Nurse, and Peer Support Specialist to support program outcomes.
• Align PoWER CHW expectations with perinatal training/certification directions and ensure home visiting readiness.
• Standardize visit approaches and strengthen navigation of Kentucky resources for CHWs and families.
• Coordinate with PoWER CHWs to ensure consistent program application across sites.
• Conduct quarterly site visits to support implementation and gather feedback.
• Elevate barriers to care to the Program Team for resolution.

Skills

CHW Certification

Maternal/Infant Experience

Public Health

Leadership

Communication

HIPAA

Microsoft Office

Stakeholder Engagement

Policy Understanding

Education

Bachelor's degree in public health or related field

Tools

Microsoft Office Suite

Job description

Position Title: PoWER Lead CHW

Salary: $63,000-$80,000, depending on experience (plus benefits)

Position End Date: 6/30/2028

Location: Kentucky Department for Public Health (hybrid)

About the CDC Foundation

The CDC Foundation helps the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) save and improve lives by unleashing the power of collaboration between CDC, philanthropies, corporations, organizations, and individuals to protect the health, safety and security of America and the world. The CDC Foundation is the sole entity authorized by Congress to mobilize philanthropic partners and private-sector resources to support CDC’s critical health protection mission. Since 1995, the CDC Foundation has launched approximately 1,000 programs and raised over $740 million. The CDC Foundation managed over 300 CDC-led programs in the United States and in more than 130 countries last year.

Overview:

The CDC Foundation is seeking a mission-driven Lead Community Health Worker (CHW) to support the Kentucky Rural Health Transformation Program (RHTP). Kentucky’s RHTP launches five interrelated programs designed to build rural health infrastructure and provide sustainable, long-term improvements. This plan directly supports Kentucky’s rural counties while advancing statewide impact through innovation, technology-enabled care and strengthened workforce recruitment pipelines for both clinical and non-clinical staff. This strategy will help build a resilient, integrated and technology-forward health system across the Commonwealth. PoWERing (People who Work for Engagement and Resilience) Maternal and Infant Health is one of these programs and aims to expand timely prenatal and postpartum care by deploying telehealth-enabled maternal care teams who will serve maternity-care deserts and high-risk regions, to help mothers and infants receive seamless, high-quality support.

The PoWER Lead CHW will bring strong expertise in community-based care, wraparound support services, and maternal and infant health service delivery, serving as a key member of the PoWER Program Team and supporting the design, implementation, and continuous improvement of the Program statewide. The role will function as a liaison between the pilot site-based PoWER CHWs and the PoWER Program Team leadership, helping translate program design into consistent, effective practices across pilot sites. The Lead CHW will provide guidance and coordination to support effective implementation of PoWER CHW led activities at pilot sites, promote alignment with PoWER Program goals, and ensure consistent documentation and data collection to inform performance monitoring and program improvement. This position provides leadership, technical assistance, and implementation support to pilot site CHWs to ensure services are delivered consistently, within the Kentucky CHW scope of practice established by Kentucky Administrative Regulations, and in alignment with the goals, standards, and evidence-based model of the PoWER program.

The American Public Health Association defines a Community Health Worker (CHW) as a frontline public health worker who is a trusted member of and/or has a uniquely close understanding of the communities served. This trusting relationship enables the PoWER Lead CHW to serve as a liaison/link/intermediary between health/social services and the community to facilitate access to services and improve the quality and cultural competence of service delivery for the PoWER Program.

$63,000 - $80,000 a year

Required Qualifications:

• Active Kentucky CHW Certification issued by the Kentucky Office of Community Health Workers
• Maternal/infant/child work experience
• Minimum of five years of relevant experience as a Community Health Worker, social worker, public health professional, or in a related field.
• HIPAA training/certification
• Microsoft office proficiency
• Demonstrated leadership experience with the ability to effectively communicate with diverse audiences, facilitate trainings and presentations, solve problems collaboratively, and drive successful implementation of community-based programs and initiatives.
• Strong understanding of the CHW certification, continuing education, and certification renewal requirements as outlined by the Kentucky Office of Community Health Workers.
• Demonstrated ability to facilitate productive conversations, navigate conflict, and build consensus among diverse stakeholders while maintaining positive, collaborative relationships.

Preferred Qualifications:

• A bachelor's degree in public health, social work, or a related field is preferred; however, equivalent experience may substitute for formal education.
• Rural healthcare experience.
• Experience supporting program implementation, quality improvement, program evaluation, data collection, or performance monitoring preferred. Examples may include collecting participant outcomes, documenting client encounters, tracking program metrics, or using data to inform continuous improvement efforts.

Responsibilities:

• Serve as the primary liaison between pilot site-based PoWER CHWs and the PoWER Program Team.
• Provide leadership in the development and continuous improvement of the PoWER CHW model by informing workflows, implementation strategies, training and mentorship programs, operational standards, and best practices to ensure consistent, high-quality implementation across pilot sites.
• Partner closely with the Program Team’s Medical Director, Lead Doula, Lead Nurse, and Peer Support Specialist to support coordinated design, implementation, and achievement of program outcomes.
• Partner with RHT CHW program leadership and the Kentucky Office of CHW to align PoWER CHW expectations with perinatal training / certification direction and ensure CHWs are prepared for perinatal‑specific home visiting work.
• Provide strategic guidance on CHW home visiting, wraparound service coordination, and family engagement by standardizing visit approaches, strengthening navigation of Kentucky‑based resources, and supporting CHWs in effectively engaging families and caregivers to ensure services are accessible, coordinated, and sustained.
• Coordinate with pilot site PoWER CHWs on a regularly scheduled basis to support consistent application of the PoWER model across sites.
• Conduct site visits with each PoWER Team at least once per quarter to support implementation, gather feedback, and identify opportunities for improvement.
• Elevate barriers to care and implementation challenges identified by PoWER site CHWs to the Program Team for resolution and follow-up.
• Use emotionally intelligent communication skills to support collaboration, shared problem solving, and alignment across pilot site teams.
• Collect, review, and analyze data from PoWER sites, as appropriate.
• Collaborate and maintain regular communication with the Kentucky Office of Community Health Workers, Department for Public Health programs, and other Cabinet for Health and Family Services partners whose work aligns with and supports PoWER program goals.

Special Notes:

This role is involved in a dynamic public health program. As such, roles and responsibilities are subject to change as situations evolve. Roles and responsibilities listed above may be expanded upon or updated to match priorities and needs, once written approval is received by both the CDC Foundation and Kentucky Department for Public Health in order to best support the Kentucky Department for Public Health in their public health programming.

This position is currently a hybrid position. CDC Foundation retains the right to make adjustments to this as required.

All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment and will not be discriminated against on the basis of race, color, religion, sex, national origin, age, mental or physical disabilities, veteran status, and all other characteristics protected by law. We comply with all applicable laws including E.O. 11246 and the Vietnam Era Readjustment Assistance Act of 1974 governing employment practices and do not discriminate on the basis of any unlawful criteria in accordance with 41 C.F.R. §§ 60-300.5(a)(12) and 60-741.5(a)(7). As a federal government contractor, we take affirmative action on behalf of protected veterans.

The CDC Foundation is a smoke‑free environment.

Relocation expenses are not included.