Who are PLNs?

PLNs are bilingual and multilingual people in Anchorage who have been trained to find and evaluate reliable information. They help people find the services they need.
In 2023 we began to recruit PLNs in other regions in Alaska. In 2024, a PLN from Fairbanks graduated from the training program.

PLN BACKGROUND:

In 2013, The Anchorage Health Literacy Collaborative (TAHLC) partners teamed up with Alaska Literacy Program adult students to empower each other with reliable information pipelines and connections to community healthcare providers. Peer Leader Navigators (PLNs) serve as information beacons in their communities, connecting their friends and families to vital health tips and community resources.

The Peer Leader Navigator (PLN) program trains multilingual people to be health and wellness information promoters within their familial, social, and cultural groups. PLNs become empowered with research methods and access to trustworthy information. They, in turn, empower their communities. As a result of this initiative, educators, community partners, and healthcare providers are better able to meet traditionally underrepresented community members where they are; helping to provide vital information and services across Alaska.

In 2022-2023, ALP received a grant from the Alaska Department of Labor to expand this critical program into four new regions: Matanuska-Susitna Valley, Valdez, Fairbanks, and Juneau. This pilot seeks to train new PLNs from these regions to do for their regions what Anchorage PLNs do for theirs.