In 1991, the Public Health Practice Program Office of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) began providing support for the establishment of state, regional, and national public health leadership institutes throughout the country. These institutes provided access to a unique professional development opportunity for a broad array of public health professionals and other stakeholders who were integral to the development of healthy communities.   The curriculum of these 1- to 2-year programs was designed to specifically enhance leadership competence in individuals facilitating systems’ capacity to perform essential public health services.
  
In 1994, the Public Health Practice Program Office sponsored a cooperative agreement with the Association of Schools of Public Health (ASPH) and Saint Louis University to establish the National Public Health Leadership Development Network (NLN).   The idea behind establishing the NLN was to support the growth of and improve the access to public health leadership institutes throughout the country, as well as provide a formal means for expanding collaboration among academic and practice institute directors and coordinators, leadership institute alumni, and representatives of other federal, professional, and private organizations.