Uniting the Workforce: Building Capacity for a National Association of Community Health Workers

Community health workers (CHWs), including promotores de salud and Community Health Representatives, have worked in the United States for over half a century. In this chapter, we summarize the complex history of how and why CHWs across the United States and tribal nations have organized themselves over the last two decades at the local, regional, state, and national levels. We describe some of the major milestones that contributed to conceptualizing CHWs, CHRs, and promotores as a single workforce and a recognized health profession. Next, we describe efforts to establish local and state CHW networks across the country. Finally, we provide a detailed history of over a decade of collective work resulting in the launch of the National Association of Community Health Workers (NACHW) in 2019, including the personal reflection of a founding NACHW board member who is active at the state and national levels.