Alliance for a Healthier Generation

Ginny Ehrlich. Ginny Ehrlich currently serves as the Executive Director for the Alliance for a Healthier Generation, a joint initiative of the American Heart Association and William J. Clinton Foundation, focused on ending the epidemic of childhood obesity. As Executive Director, Ginny oversees three strategic initiatives that comprise a multi-sectoral approach to combating childhood obesity. She oversees a staff of 88, and… See full bio.

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Story: This is Cindy's story, a mom who switched to healthier eating for her family: There are not too many kids who are willing to give up sugary cake on their birthday, but that is exactly what my son Austin did when he turned 11. A couple of years earlier I had been diagnosed with type-2 diabetes and I called my entire family together and asked them to join me in making healthy changes to help me save my life. The biggest changes I asked my husband Dan and our three kids Zachary, 10; Samantha, 11; and Austin, 12; to make were to eat healthy fresh foods and increase physical activity every day. The support they showed me was incredible, as evidenced by Austin’s willingness to pass on having a sugary cake at his 11th birthday party, but it took the work of the whole family and a little creativity to make the changes. For instance, that big birthday cake became a watermelon decorated on the outside with pictures drawn with markers and candles stuck in the juicy fruit with pumpkin-carving tools. The kids loved it and thought it was a cool way to celebrate Austin’s big day. My kids are really wonderful, but I’ll bet they’re no different than yours when it comes to picky eating. They were cautious when we asked them to try new foods like kiwis, Brussels sprouts, and spinach, but we tried new things together as a family and we had a few ground rules that helped us all make the healthy choice. First rule at our table is that every new food gets three chances. We ask the kids to give new foods a chance and to return to something a couple of times to give it a fair shake. Sometimes fruits and vegetables that were pushed aside the first time seem more approachable the second or third time they are presented. I find sometimes simple substitutions make a difference, too. Austin would not eat onions until we asked him to try sweet Vidalia onions. Now he absolutely loves them. Another rule we follow as a family is that the only dishes that sit at the table with us are vegetables. We are all welcome to as much of the veggie dishes as we can eat and are encouraged to help ourselves to seconds and thirds, but each meal’s serving of meat and starches is dished out at the stove. Finally, we are a low fast food frequency house. Like all busy families, every once in a great while we bring in the healthiest choices we can from outside, but we really try to focus on making dinner time into family time. My husband and I often work opposite shifts, but we stagger our schedules so that one of us is almost always home to cook dinner with the children (and it is “with,” not “for”) and eat together as a family. These changes, which I am so grateful to my family for embracing, have helped our entire family lose more than 200 pounds. Our improved eating and increased physical activity has made a huge difference in everyone’s lives. (Hear more voices for healthy kids at: http://www.healthiergeneration.org/blogs.aspx?id=4889)

Evidence of Impact Summary:

The Alliance for a Healthier Generation works to improve childhood nutrition by encouraging physical activity and healthy eating habits. The organization's high profile partners have helped them influence schools and policymakers on a national scale.
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Organization Strengths Summary:

The leadership of the Alliance receives frequent praise in terms of their staff and key figures within their major partners.
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Areas for Improvement Summary:

Expanding programming was the most frequently cited area for improvement. Other elements noted included capacity, funding, and communications.
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Ginny Ehrlich currently serves as the Executive Director for the Alliance for a Healthier Generation, a joint initiative of the American Heart Association and William J. Clinton Foundation, focused on ending the epidemic of childhood obesity. As Executive Director, Ginny oversees three strategic initiatives that comprise a multi-sectoral approach to combating childhood obesity. She oversees a staff of 88, and a $13 million annual budget. During her tenure at the Alliance, she has developed the organization’s strategic plan, built its infrastructure, and established its policy and operations system. She has quadrupled the organization’s budget through her development efforts, and led the Alliance's Healthy Schools Program from its inception through its growth to reaching more than 9,000 high-needs schools in all 50 states. Prior to joining the Alliance, Ginny served in many leadership positions at the state and national levels. In 1999, Ginny founded Oregon’s Healthy Kids Learn Better Partnership (HKLB Partnership), a public-private partnership comprised of four state agencies, state and local education policy makers, and over forty non-governmental organizations that now work together to address the physical, social and emotional health needs of Oregon students. During her tenure, Ginny was instrumental in developing and passing policies/laws that led to tobacco-free campuses across Oregon, the development of statewide standards for health education, and increased funding for school-based health care. Ginny’s success in Oregon positioned her as a sought out consultant at the Rocky Mountain Center for Health Promotion and Education where she provided customized consultation services to national, state and local organizations on strategic planning, results-based partnership and collaboration, and program development. In total, Ms. Ehrlich has spent 18 years as a public health and education professional in a number of capacities ranging from the classroom to national levels. Ginny is the author of many publications, including a recent article in the October 2008 American School Boards Journal, “Health = Performance”. She has been a featured speaker at hundreds of local, state, and national conferences throughout her career, including a keynote presenter at the World Obesity Congress in November 2008. Ginny has also been tapped as a spokesperson on childhood obesity by many media outlets, including “Good Morning America” and ESPN’s “Outside the Lines.” Ginny holds Masters Degrees in both Public Health and in Special Education. She is a doctoral candidate in Educational Policy & Leadership at the University of Oregon. She was awarded the Healthy School Hero Award through Action for Healthy Kids in 2002. She is actively involved in a number of civic and professional organizations committed to improve child health and well-being. In her spare time, she enjoys running, tennis and hiking.

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