Cook County Department of Public Health (CCDPH) is proud to announce that five of its programs received achievement awards from the National Association of Counties (NACo) during its 2025 Annual Conference and Exposition, held July 11–18 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Since 1970, NACo’s Achievement Awards have recognized innovative, effective county government initiatives. CCDPH’s award -winning programs were selected in the categories of health, workforce development, equity and growth. CCDPH’s 2025 NACo Achievement Award Recipients:
• Unfriend Tobacco: Your Lungs, Your Rules (Health) A digital campaign, aimed at youth and young adults, promoting the harms of flavored tobacco and vaping products. In two campaign cycles (2024–2025), it achieved over 5.6 million impressions across social media and streaming platforms.
• Good Food Purchasing Program (GFPP) (Health) Promotes equitable, sustainable, and community focused food procurement across county agencies. CCDPH collaborates with the Chicago Food Policy Action Council to shift food systems and purchasing toward transparency and racial equity.
• Emerging Leaders Program (Workforce) A leadership development initiative supporting high potential staff with limited access to growth opportunities. The pilot cohort of 14 team members completed structured learning, coaching and development sessions.
• Healthy Work Initiative: Worker Protection Program (Health) A collaboration with community partners to improve conditions for precarious workers. The program prioritizes education, enforcement, and policy change while promoting worker voice and regional collaboration on safe and fair labor standards.
• Data Ambassadors Program (Equity and Growth) A workforce development effort using a train-the-trainer model to improve data literacy and community access to the Cook County Health Atlas. This initiative strengthens partnerships between CCDPH, local organizations, and the UIC School of Public Health.
Photo Caption: Cook County Department of Public Health team members celebrate their five national achievement awards from National Association of Counties (NACo). Featured from left to right: Kimberley Conrad-Junius, Chief Operating Officer Dr. Kiran Joshi, Alfreda Holloway, Alyssa Deluca, Felipe Tendick-Matesanz, Amy O’Rourke and Ieshia Johnson.
Photo by Cook County Department of Public Health
