EDUCATION

University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill- Chapel Hill, NC                                                                 Expected Graduation May 2023

Master of Public Health; Concentration: Health Policy

 

University of Florida- Gainesville, Florida                                                                                                                                  August 2017

Bachelor of Science in Health Education and Behavior                                                                                                     GPA: 3.74/4.00   

• Minor: International Studies in Agriculture and Life Sciences

• Honors: Magna Cum Laude

 

AWARDS                                                                                                                                                    

UNC Gillings Department Merit Award (2021-2022 Academic Year)

UNC Dreamers-Who-Dream Award (Spring 2022)

UF College of Health and Human Performance Deans List (Fall 2014-Summer 2017)

Florida Bright Futures Academic Scholar Scholarship Recipient (Fall 2014-Summer 2017)

Briana Marie Cox Scholarship (Fall 2014)

International Scholars Program and Peace Corp Prep (Fall 2015-Summer 2017)

Presidential Service Award in Childhood Development (April 2016)

Civic Scholars Program (Spring 2017-Summer 2017)

 

WORK EXPERIENCE

Research Assistant | UNC Center for Health Promotion & Disease Prevention, Chapel Hill, NC                December 2021-Present

• Supporting study activities for a 5-year effectiveness-implementation hybrid study of a healthy lifestyle intervention, such as recruiting participants and working with prepaid health plans. The Med-South Lifestyle Program is an evidence-based behavior change intervention that translates a Mediterranean dietary pattern for a Southeastern US population and includes support for increased physical activity.

• Creating guides and tools translated into public health (local health departments) and clinical practice (community health centers) to positively impact chronic disease risk reduction among minority, rural, and medically underserved populations.

• Recruiting participants to study and using REDCap as data management tool

 

Communications Graduate Assistant | Applied Physical Sciences, Chapel Hill, NC                                           August 2021-Present

• Direct and coordinate all aspects of Applied Physical Sciences and BeAM communications, including departmental websites (about page, news, publications, general design), social media channels, and broader promotion of programs and events to UNC community

• Create flyers, tables, and other graphic design projects to enhance aesthetics of websites

• Collaborate with faculty to share their programs, journal articles and other promotional materials to reach more students at UNC

• Analyze data and interactions on websites and Twitter account and make recommendations on improvements and provide a higher quality experience for site visitors and increase use of APS and BeAM resources

 

Health Promotions Coordinator | American Lung Association, New York, NY                                                 April 2019-August 2021

• Implemented the New York City Asthma Initiative including planning and executing grant-supported ‘Open Airways For Schools’ education program which including creating trainings, technical and materials support

• Successfully spearheaded the development/implementation of the Connecticut LUNG FORCE Expo, educating over 80 attendees through establishing venue, planning committee and agenda, applying for CEUs, marketing the event, and creating a budget

• Led the Better Breathers Clubs and Freedom from Smoking programs in Connecticut, such as training over 30 facilitators, attending meetings, providing support and resources, and other program management tasks

• Assisted with implementation of Asthma Educator Institutes in NYC, including preparing materials, helping with day of tasks, and presenting “Educational Principles for a Partnership in Asthma Care”

• Successfully marketed the American Lung Association resources and mission by presenting to 150+ people in 15 community centers across Connecticut and New York City

• Worked on New York State Asthma Management in Schools grant, including expanding program and environmental initiatives, data collection, marketing, building a learning management system and budgeting

 

Health Education Intern | UF/IFAS Extension Office, Martin County, Stuart, FL                                               May 2017-August 2017

• Selected by UF’s Institute of Food & Agricultural Sciences to prepare and present nutrition materials for SNAP recipients of Martin County

• Facilitated teaching students about gardening, nutrition, embryology and other natural science topics, resulting in greater knowledge, skills and learning outcomes for low-income students in Martin County

• Organized monthly events for the community that drew over 100+ people on river protection and local food awareness as well as food pantry produce section reboot

​

Graham Civic Scholar | Bob Graham Center, Gainesville, FL                                                                        January 2017-August 2017

• Used mixed research methods to explore Early Childhood Education in St. Lucie County, FL, in the broader topic of the social determinants of health in Florida, sent to state policymakers

• Researched and wrote a policy brief on Early Childhood Nutrition to aid policymakers and Barometer Florida

 

Peer Mentor/Co-Chair, Student Researcher | University of Florida’s “Get Fruved”, Gainesville, FL                   Jan. 2015-May 2017

• Planned, organized and evaluated weekly health activities for students on campus such as scavenger hunts & fitness classes

• Helped create a 24-week social marketing campaign toolkit with weekly activities and associated social media postings to improve public health outcomes in first year students

• Served as a moderator for Town Hall Meeting to implement social media healthy cooking videos from students

 

Research Intern: UF Family, Youth and Community Sciences Department, Gainesville, FL                                  July 2016-Dec. 2016

• Assisted with data analysis, interviews and library research to create two published articles on nonprofit organization successes: “Needs Assessment of Social Services for the Growing Senior Population of Florida and Capacity Building for Nonprofits Providing Those Services” and “Improving Community Philanthropy in Nonprofit Organizations in Florida and Arkansas”

• By employing the use of effective editing of educational documents, construction of a toolkit for nonprofit organization servicing the elderly population of Florida, interviewing and transcription of interviews with various executive directors regarding community philanthropy in their organization, I was successfully able to analyze the transcribed information to create research documents that would later result in publication to improve these resources for communities.

 

Nutrition Intern | Marilyn Magaram Center for Nutrition at California State University, Northridge                 June 2016-July 2016

• Led tours of the local grocery store to low income students and WIC Parents to make the most of their food dollars

• Gathered and analyzed data for an ongoing department research project on the benefits of gardening for youth called the MMC Research Garden

 

INVOLVEMENT AND SERVICE

Communication Associate - Florida Food Policy Council, Remote                                                                       June 2016-August 2021

• Created and successfully implemented social media postings on food policy related articles, events and updates 2-3 times a week

• Organized initiatives to tackle food policy issues across all regions of the state, resulting in an increase of over 100 new members

 

Mentor - Big Brothers Big Sisters, Remote                                                                                                           August 2011-August 2021

• Arranged community activities for at risk youth aged 5 to 10 in the community while promoting positive behavioral and life skills 

• Taught reading & math to at risk youth /promoting the Character Counts principles to help my mentees overcome challenges, improve their personal & academic life, ultimately igniting their power and promise

 

Nutrition Volunteer - Florida Alternative Breaks, Gainesville, FL                                                              February 2015 & March 2017     

• Participated in a Children’s Nutrition volunteer trip to teach children about nutrition and set up school gardens

• Attended a Sustainable Agriculture volunteer trip to assist with farming tasks in growing organic food for local cancer patients

 

President - UF Campus Juice, Gainesville, FL                                                                                                          August 2015- May 2017     

• Coordinated 5-10 service opportunities a year, such as serving juice for chronically ill children and families

• Organized like-minded students to engage in activities that promote health, such as nutrition workshops and yoga classes

 

 

SKILLS                                                                                                                        

Skills/Training: Certified Health Education Specialist, Proficient in Stata, REDCap, Convio, ROI, Microsoft Office, Google Suite, Stata, Wordpress CSS, & InDesign, Adobe Premiere Certified, Adult/Child/Infant CPR/AED and First Aid Certified, HubSpot Certification in Content Creation, CITI Program (Social and Behavioral Responsible Conduct of Research, Group 2 Social and Behavioral Research, & Social and Behavioral Research Best Practices for Clinical Research), Better Breathers Club Certified Facilitator, Freedom From Smoking Certified Facilitator, Trained in INDEPTH and NOT (Not On Tobacco)

​