Please give a brief background on yourself and your career.
I graduated in 2014, majoring in Women and Gender Studies with a concentration in Public Health and minoring in Middle Eastern Studies. While at Wellesley, I was a member of Ethos, Wellesley Women for Public Health, and Wellesley Women in Business. I was also a Senator for two years and sat on the Campus-Wide Diversity Initiative Committee. For recreational interests, I joined dorm crew and took a fencing class.
Growing up in Washington, DC, I noticed stark differences in the economic and social conditions of communities and recognized early on that the health of people in my city was determined by which metro stop they lived near. These inequalities sparked my interest in public health and eventually led me to embark on a career addressing health inequities from different perspectives. Since graduating from Wellesley, I have worked in health policy from the advocacy and nonprofit side, as well as the executive and municipal levels of government.
I am currently working for the Deputy Commissioner at the NYC Department of Health and Mental Hygiene on the city’s health agenda to address health disparities.
How has your career changed since you originally envisioned it at Wellesley? What other careers did you consider as a student?
I’ve always had an interest in health but initially wanted to become a doctor so I started my first year as a pre-med. I realized early on that it wasn’t the route for me and wanted to pursue a track that would allow me to focus on prevention and improving population health. It was actually Dean O’Keefe that told me about concentrating in Public Health through the Women and Gender Studies department, so that is the major that I declared and I absolutely loved it! We spent a lot of time discussing the social determinants of health and brainstorming policies that could be put in place to address these issues. These class discussions and activities prepared me well for the work I do in health policy.
How has Wellesley contributed to your career?
Wellesley (or should I say Professor Viti) shaped me into the strong writer that I am today. There has not been a time at work when I did not have to write a briefing, policy proposal, or a report. All of the tears and stress from rewriting papers in my Writing 125 course paid off! It is amazing how much good writing matters. It is a skill of mine that my colleagues always acknowledge.
Wellesley also taught me how to:
- be a leader
- ask good questions
- communicate effectively and stand up for my point of view
- be inclusive
In the workplace, it is important to have a voice and to perform well. Having access to high level officials who are much more experienced makes it easy to fall in the shadows and agree with everything your boss says, but Wellesley taught me that my opinion matters just as much as anyone else’s and that my voice should be heard. I find that people respect a person with their own mind – this is part of what being a good leader entails.
Asking good questions is also important because it drives necessary discussions.
Because Wellesley was diverse, I was able to learn a lot from my peers. Our differences in opinions and experiences helped me challenge my own way of thinking and see things from different perspectives.
What is a typical work day or work week like for you?
Every day varies, but this past week I have been working on the state’s Delivery System Reform Incentive Program and ways hospitals can collaborate with community-based organizations and other partners to improve population health and drive the goals in our upcoming health agenda. I am also helping to plan for our upcoming community consultations, where we go into communities and have discussions with residents about what is impacting their health and what changes they want to see in their neighborhood.
We also have many visitors. You never know who to expect in our office. Just last week, Tom Frieden, the Director of the CDC, visited for a day of meetings. The week before that we had a brown bag series lecture from Dorothy E. Roberts on the history of health inequities in our country.
It is rewarding to work for a Commissioner who is passionate about improving the health of vulnerable communities and who also seeks to educate her employees on the history of health inequities in our country and why it matters today. So often we shy away from these topics in the workplace when they should be discussed.
What piece of advice would you offer students looking to get into your area of interest and expertise?
I strongly recommend that students network, and seek internships and mentors. Grades are important but so are the connections that you have in life. Having a mentor or knowing someone that works in your field of interest can be the extra push that gets your foot in the door. With Wellesley’s reputation of excellence, it is so easy to just focus on grades and forget to have a social life and build a network outside of your friends.
What do you wish you had known as a student?
I wish I would have relaxed a bit and trusted the process. I’ve always been a planner. I always felt like I needed to know what I was going to do next and was the person planning the next 3 to 5 years of my life. Not saying that it is a bad thing, but I never really took time to enjoy the college social life until my senior year. I wish I had gone to more social events.
It is important to know that it is okay to not have life not figured out 100%. Your interests may change with time and different life experiences. It is also important to be open-minded. You can stay committed to your passion and work on things you are really interested in from many different perspectives.
If you could come back and take one class at Wellesley what would it be?
I always wanted to take Beats, Rhymes, and Life: Hip-Hop Studies taught by Professor Jeffries. I am a huge fan of music; especially hip-hop, so dissecting the movement and having academic conversations about hip-hop culture would have been amazing! Unfortunately, this course was always offered the same time as my major requirements.