News and Stories

On February 28, the San Diego County Childhood Obesity Initiative’s (COI) Community Council came together for a full-day strategic planning retreat focused on reflection, collaboration, and future planning. We met in person to pause, look back on what we’ve accomplished, and reimagine what’s next.

We started the day by celebrating the milestones we’ve reached as the COI Community Council—building strong collaborations with local stakeholders, incorporating public perspectives, and helping shape the priorities of COI. It was energizing to remember how far we’ve come.

Then, we turned our attention to the future. Through a series of interactive discussions, we brainstormed practical strategies and policies to support and identified what matters most for the Community Council to focus on over the next two years. From improving the availability of food resources to more broad-based community engagement, our priorities were based on participant feedback and local data.

By the end of the day, we began drafting action plans to move our ideas forward. These initial plans are just the start as we’ll continue refining and implementing them together over the coming months.

Perhaps most importantly, priorities identified by the Community Council will be shared at the COI's Strategic Planning Retreat laying the foundation for the COI’s direction over the next five years. As noted by David Baber-Dunham Community Council Founding Member and current Tri-Chair “We were able to get together to talk about what we’ve done, where we’re going, and what we want to do and organize it in a nice, neat package.” 

Thank you to all the Community Council members who participated, and to the UCSD Center for Community Health team for planning and facilitating the day. We’re excited about what’s ahead and deeply grateful to be doing this work together.

Want to get involved with the Community Council?
Reach out to sd-coi@ucsd.edu