Innovating Through Storytelling: Health Campaigns in the Digital Age
2026-02-26 14:00 - 14:45 (America/New_York)
February 26, 2026 | 2:00 – 2:45 p.m. ET

Innovating Through Storytelling: Health Campaigns in the Digital Age
This session is the final learning opportunity in our Community of Learning (COL) Series: Navigating the Future of Health Care. Grounded in innovation and community-centered practice, this session explores how storytelling can be used to co-create health campaigns with community rather than delivering messages to them. Participants will gain practical strategies for meaningfully engaging community voices throughout campaign design and implementation, and learn how to select digital platforms and impact measures that prioritize trust, engagement, and real-world impact over one-way information sharing.
Presenters:

Lyz Best, Manager of Technical Assistance, NCUIH
River Carroll, Policy and Events Communications Associate, NCUIH

Learning Objectives:

Use story mapping to co-create health campaigns with community members, centering lived experience and cultural values.
Identify practical strategies for meaningfully involving community voices throughout the design and implementation of health campaigns.
Select appropriate digital platforms and impact measures that reflect community engagement, trust, and real-world outcomes.

Audience:

UIO ED/CEOs
UIO Staff
Tribal Partners and Tribes

NCUIH Testifies Before Congress This Week on Native Health Priorities
2026-03-17 13:00 - 17:00
March 17, 2026 | 1:00 – 5:00 p.m. ET
The National Council of Urban Indian Health (NCUIH) will testify before the U.S. House Appropriations Subcommittee on Interior, Environment, and Related Agencies during the American Indian and Alaska Native Public Witness hearings. These hearings inform federal funding decisions that affect Native health programs nationwide.
What
Interior, Environment, and Related Agencies – American Indian and Alaska Native Public Witness
Day 1, Afternoon Session
When
Tuesday, March 17, 2026
1:00 PM – 5:00 PM ET
NCUIH Board President‑Elect Robyn Sunday‑Allen is currently scheduled to testify at approximately 2:10 PM ET.
Please note: Testimony times may change based on the flow of the hearing and external factors.
Where
Livestream (public)
The livestream page also includes links to written testimony and the list of witnesses.
https://appropriations.house.gov/schedule/hearings/interior-environment-and-related-agencies-american-indian-and-alaska-native

Rethinking Nutrition: Why Traditional Foods Matter in Wellness and Beyond
2026-03-26 14:00 - 15:00
March 26, 2026 | 2:00 – 3:00 p.m. ET
Despite the critical role nutrition plays in preventing and managing chronic disease, it is often inconsistently addressed in clinical care. This webinar explores how traditional foods and culturally grounded wellness practices can support whole-person health for American Indian and Alaska Native communities. Designed for healthcare teams and community-based providers, the session highlights the connection between food as medicine, cultural knowledge, and improved health outcomes, while offering practical, respectful ways to integrate nutrition and holistic health conversations into clinical visits and community programs to promote healing, connection, and long-term wellness.
Presenters:

Nahla Holland, Senior Research Associate, NCUIH, Eastern Pequot Tribal Nation
Lyz Best, Manager of Technical Assistance, NCUIH

Objectives:

Explain the connection between traditional foods, food as medicine, and improved health outcomes.
Learn practical ways to integrate nutrition conversations and traditional food practices into clinical visits and community programs. Holistic approaches to health conversations.
Identify approaches for using nutrition to strengthen community connection, promote healing, and support long-term wellness.

Audience:

UIO ED/CEOs
UIO Staff
Tribal Partners and Tribes

Continuing Nursing Education (CNE)
Cardea Services is accredited as a provider of nursing continuing professional development by the American Nurses Credentialing Center’s Commission on Accreditation.​​​
Upon successful completion of this activity 1.0 contact hours will be awarded.

Continuing Medical Education (CME)
This activity has been planned and implemented in accordance with the accreditation requirements and policies of the California Medical Association (CMA) through the joint providership of Cardea and National Council of Urban Indian Health. Cardea is accredited by the CMA to provide continuing medical education for physicians.
Cardea designates this live event for a maximum of 1.0 AMA PRA Category 1 Credit(s)TM. Physicians should claim credit commensurate with the extent of their participation in the activity.
Successful completion of this continuing education activity includes the following:

Attending the entire CE activity
Completing the online evaluation
Submitting an online CE Request

Strengthening Vaccine Confidence in Native Communities: Peer-to-Peer Support Session
2026-04-15 14:00 - 14:30
April 15, 2026 | 2:00 – 2:30 p.m. ET

Peer-to-Peer Support Session
NCUIH will host a Community of Learning session titled Strengthening Vaccine Confidence in Native Communities: Peer-to-Peer Support Session on April 15, 2026, from 2:00–2:30 PM ET.
This 30-minute interactive session will provide an open forum for Urban Indian Organization staff and immunization professionals to connect, share updates, and engage in peer-to-peer discussion about immunization practices. Participants will have the opportunity to discuss recent vaccine guidance, exchange strategies for strengthening vaccine programs, and share challenges and best practices with colleagues serving Native communities. Anonymous discussion submissions will also be available to encourage open dialogue and collaborative problem-solving.
The session will feature Alyssa Smith-Longee, MPH, BSN, RN, CPN (Assiniboine/Sioux – Fort Peck), who will help guide the discussion and facilitate peer exchange.
Participants will:

Discuss updates related to vaccines and immunization guidance
Engage in peer dialogue around program challenges, best practices, and communication approaches
Share resources that support vaccine programs serving Native communities

Urban Indian Organization staff are encouraged to attend and participate in this collaborative discussion.

NCUIH 2026 Annual Conference
2026-04-27 - 2026-04-30 | The Westin Downtown, 999 9th St NW, Washington, DC, DC, 20001, United States
April 27-April 30, 2026 | Washington, D.C.

2026 NCUIH Annual Conference: Celebrating 50 Years of the Indian Health Care Improvement Act

Join us for the NCUIH Annual Conference on April 27 – April 30, 2026 in Washington, D.C.
This year’s conference will commemorate the 50th anniversary of the Indian Health Care Improvement Act (IHCIA) and highlight five decades of progress, collaboration, and continued commitment to Native health.
The conference provides a vital platform for Urban Indian Organizations, health care professionals, policymakers, community leaders, and advocates to come together and discuss critical issues related to urban Indian health.

Monday, April 27: Training for Urban Indian Organization Boards of Directors
Tuesday and Wednesday, April 28 – 29: Conference Programming
Thursday, April 30: Hill Day
Note: Hill Visits are for IHS UIOs only and will require pre-registration.

Register now to secure your spot, and stay tuned for more information, including the full conference agenda, which will be shared soon.
Should you have any questions or require additional information, please do not hesitate to contact our conference organizers at conference@ncuih.org.

Information Session: National Institutes of Health’s All of Us Research Program (IN PERSON)
2026-04-28 11:00 - 11:45 | The Westin Downtown, 999 9th St NW, Washington, DC, DC, 20001, United States
April 28, 2026 | 11:00 – 11:45 a.m. ET
Information Session: National Institutes of Health’s All of Us Research Program (IN PERSON)
Accelerating Discovery Through Partnered Research Studies Using All of Us Participant Data and Biosamples
The National Institutes of Health’s All of Us Research Program is hosting an information session to discuss an upcoming program initiative requiring Tribal community input.
The All of Us (AoU) Research Program was established to accelerate health research and medical discoveries so that everyone can get personalized healthcare to prevent and treat disease through an approach called precision medicine. The program remains committed to respectful and ongoing engagement with Tribal Nations regarding the use of data and samples (like blood, urine or saliva) from self-identified American Indian and Alaska Native (AI/AN) participants.
In 2026, AoU will accept researcher proposals for new studies using de-identified participant samples. Researchers outside of NIH will have the opportunity for the first time to propose Partnered Research Studies (PRS) and apply for access to AoU participant samples. Researchers from universities and colleges, non-profit organizations, private companies, government agencies, and other research institutions in the United States and around the world can apply to use AoU participant donated samples.
Understanding Tribal sovereignty and consultation, All of Us plans to exclude samples from self-identified AI/AN participants for selection until meaningful engagement and guidance is received from Tribal leaders, Urban Indian organizations, and Indigenous communities.
Presenters:

Dr. Minnkyong Lee, Ph.D., Acting Chief Engagement Officer
Dr. Lee is the Acting Chief Engagement Officer for the NIH All of Us Research Program. Since 2017, Dr. Lee has been working with All of Us awardees to identify and disseminate best practices in the engagement and retention of participants and researchers. Prior to All of Us, she worked with animal models and big data at the National Human Genome Research Institute. In her spare time, she has taught and volunteered at local institutions, including Northern Virginia Community College, the University of the District of Columbia, the University of Maryland, and the Marian Koshland Science Museum.
Dr. Josh Denny, M.D., M.S., Chief Executive Officer
Dr. Denny is a medical doctor, proud father of four children, and Chief Executive Officer of the All of Us Research Program at the National Institutes of Health. Before leading All of Us, he was a practicing physician and a leader in personalized medicine at Vanderbilt University Medical Center, where he focused on using electronic health records and genetic information to better understand and treat disease. He is an elected member of the National Academy of Medicine and the American Society for Clinical Investigation, and he has authored over 400 peer-reviewed publications.
Dr. Sheri Schully, Ph.D., Deputy Chief Medical and Scientific Officer
Dr. Schully is the deputy chief medical and scientific officer and the lead for ancillary studies in the All of Us Research Program at the National Institutes of Health. Through her leadership, she is establishing ancillary studies as a core and scalable capability of the program that will expand the cohort and deliver new phenotypic, lifestyle, environmental, and biological data to the All of Us Researcher Workbench. Dr. Schully has been involved with shaping the program and setting the scientific vision and strategy since its inception. Prior to this role, she was a team lead and senior advisor for disease prevention in the Office of Disease Prevention (ODP). There, she led the effort to systematically monitor NIH investments in prevention research and assess the progress of that research. She also served as the team lead for the Knowledge Integration Team as well as a program officer in the Epidemiology and Genomics Research Program at the National Cancer Institute (NCI). She came to the NIH as an NCI-designated Presidential Management Fellow in 2005. Dr. Schully’s research interests include genomics, personalized medicine, and the integration of genetic and genomic information into clinical and public health practices. Her work has been published in numerous high-impact scientific journals. She earned both a Ph.D. in biological sciences with a concentration in population genetics and a B.S. in zoology with a minor in chemistry from Louisiana State University.

Audience:

UIO ED/CEOs
UIO Staff
