This past summer has been an exciting one! Our team at the Center has had the privilege of collaborating with partners from coast to coast. These experiences have left us feeling energized and inspired by the opportunity to connect with passionate professionals who share our commitment to creating positive change in communities.

One theme that has consistently emerged in our recent work is the power of unity. At the Center, we intentionally seek opportunities to foster connection rather than division and to grow what is already positive in individuals, organizations, and communities. It has been truly affirming to see these same values reflected in our partners’ approaches.

As we head into the fall, we’re excited to continue this momentum. Whether it's through research, training, or community engagement, we remain dedicated to supporting your efforts in improving health and safety.

Warm regards,

Dr. Kari Finley

Director, Center for Health and Safety Culture

We are fortunate to have outstanding graduate research assistants contributing to the Center for Health and Safety Culture. This fall, we are proud to highlight their academic achievements, professional growth, and the meaningful work they bring to our projects.

In September, professionals from across the country joined us for the Center’s virtual Positive Culture Framework (PCF) Training, an engaging three-day experience designed to build the skills and strategies needed to create sustainable, positive change in communities and organizations.

Participants explored how to strengthen shared values, improve leadership, and foster meaningful engagement, all grounded in the Framework’s research-based approach to transforming culture to support health and safety.

Interested in attending our next PCF training?

We’re now building a waitlist for our spring 2026 training. To be added to the spring 2026 waitlist or to inquire about PCF Training for your organization, please email chsc@montana.edu. Details will be announced on our training website.

September was Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorders (FASD) Awareness Month, a time to raise awareness about FASDs and the importance of alcohol-free pregnancies. As part of our partnership with the National Association for County and City Health Officials (NACCHO), CHSC recently recorded a webinar highlighting resources, opportunities, and information for local health departments on preventing substance-exposed pregnancies and addressing FASDs.

Read NACCHO's blog FASD Awareness and Support here.

In June 2025, the Center for Health and Safety Culture and the Montana Department of Transportation hosted the Technical Advisory Committee (TAC) for the Traffic Safety Culture Transportation Pooled Fund (TSC-TPF) annual meeting in Bozeman, MT. This was the first annual meeting of Phase 3 of the pooled fund, a national consortium of State Departments of Transportation dedicated to growing positive traffic safety culture to reduce roadway fatalities and serious injuries.

TAC members shared innovative campaigns and strategies their states are using to address risky driving behaviors. Following these presentations, CHSC researchers provided a research update and linked the state efforts to existing research, emphasizing strategies that support intentional behavior change, encourage thoughtful decision-making, and elicit positive emotional responses. The discussion also highlighted the importance of promoting safe behaviors across the social ecology and recognizing common factors that influence multiple risky driving behaviors.

During their time together, the group prioritized future research topics, including the influence of roadway design on speeding, generational differences in driver engagement, and rural and frontier traffic safety messaging. Looking ahead, members plan to launch a new pooled fund research project later this year and develop additional outreach materials for the Resources and Tools to Improve Pedestrian Safety project that was funded during Phase 2.

Learn more about this pooled fund, the current and past research projects, and how to participate here.

Dr. Kari Finley, CHSC Director, and Sam Pinzl, CHSC Research Scientist, presented at NACCHO360 in Anaheim, CA in July. NACCHO360 is the largest convening of local health department leaders and public health professionals in the United States. Dr. Finley and Sam presented alongside Elana Filipos, Senior Program Analyst at the National Association of County and City Health Officials (NACCHO). Their two sessions were well attended and were a voice for promoting substance-free pregnancies:

• Pregnancy Prevention Approaches to Promote Substance-Free Pregnancies: Lessons from Harm Reduction
• Reducing Stigma Associated with Substance-Exposed Pregnancies and Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorders (FASDs)- What Local Health Departments Can Do

Dr. Finley and Sam Pinzl enjoyed the Disney friends who joined the opening plenary session at the 2025 NACCHO360 conference.

(L to R) Elana Filipos, Dr. Kari Finley, and Sam Pinzl

Dr. Kari Finley presented Growing Positive Traffic Safety Culture: Changing Beliefs to Support Safer Behaviors at ADTSEA’s Annual Conference in July. ADTSEA’s Annual Conference brings together driver education and traffic safety professionals from across the country to share best practices, explore new ideas, and build connections among states and programs. The session focused on the influence of culture, how shared beliefs influence behavior, and strategies to support our driver and traffic safety education efforts. 

Dr. Kari Finley presented Promoting the Healthy Mental, Emotional, and Behavioral Development of Montana’s Children by Growing Their Social and Emotional Skills at the Montana Substance Use Prevention Academy in Fairmont Hot Springs in Montana. This bi-annual training event focuses on substance abuse prevention across the state and brings together people from agencies, communities, coalitions, and those focused on prevention. This session highlighted the resources of ParentingMontana.org, a website designed to support parents and those in a parenting role by providing free, readily accessible tools and resources for children of all ages (0-19). ParentingMontana.org focuses on growing children's social and emotional skills, which are linked to lowered rates of substance misuse and reduced conduct problems and can be integrated into existing community-wide substance use prevention efforts.

Dr. Bridget Hanson, CHSC Senior Research Scholar, Sam Pinzl, CHSC Research Scientist, and project partner Elana Filipos, Senior Program Analyst at NACCHO, joined other grantees of the Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorders (FASD) National Partner Network in Washington, DC. This CDC-funded network contributes to 1) reducing prenatal alcohol and other substance use, 2) improving support services and access to care, and 3) improving identification and health of children and families with FASDs. Grantees spent a couple days together learning, sharing resources, and planning. Dr. Hanson and Sam Pinzl presented a poster of evaluation findings for the project’s new training Reducing Stigma Associated with Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorders.

(L to R) Sam Pinzl, Dr. Bridget Hanson, and Elana Filipos

Sam Pinzl sharing evaluation findings at the poster session.

Center Director Featured in UC Berkeley’s “Stories from the Field”

We’re excited to share that Dr. Kari Finley, CHSC Director, participated in UC Berkeley’s Safe Transportation Research and Education Center (SafeTREC) “Stories from the Field” series to discuss our mission, work, and partnerships in action.

Read the full interview 👉 here.

Empowering Local Health Departments to Address FASDs

We’re pleased to also share a recent FASD United ‘NPN Spotlight’ featuring Sam Pinzl, CHSC Research Scientist. Sam’s passion and leadership in preventing prenatal alcohol exposure and supporting those affected by FASDs shine through in her work with local health departments nationwide.

Read the full interview 👉 here.

Interested in collaborating with the Center for Health and Safety Culture?

Email us at chsc@montana.edu.

RESEARCH

• Conducting, Exchanging, and Applying Research
• Cultural Assessments, Surveys, and Evaluation

TRAINING

• Positive Culture Framework
• Integration Skills
• Stigma Training
• Instructional Videos
• Communication & Leadership Skills

GUIDE SERVICE

• Communities succeed when they team up with our Center staff! Knowing about the Positive Culture Framework (PCF) is the first step. Once you've taken that first step, our Guide Service can help you move forward with confidence. 

Learn more about Guide Service here.

For more information on all our services, visit our website or contact us.