What do you love most about working in health equity?

One of the most rewarding aspects of working in health equity is the opportunity to find the good in people and programs. Most people working in public, or community health already have the foundational tenant rooted in equity but often we look for the areas that are lacking.

It is important to identify, celebrate, and when appropriate replicate what is going well in our programs and services. As we turn our attention to improvement, we can learn from past mistakes and history.

Another rewarding aspect is the learning of areas of history that have influenced current policies and programs of which many are unaware. This is an opportunity to learn, grow and change our actions and expand our worldview.

What do you think are the biggest challenges to implementing programs that increase equitable access?

I think the first challenge is universal. The challenge of intentions is an obstacle we face every day. We often talk about intent and impact. It’s fair to say we have good intentions in our work related to sexually transmitted infections and health overall, but often those intentions allow us to have limited focus on the impact and unintentional consequences of the policies, service delivery, and accessibility of programs and services.

Secondly, we often perceive change as costly, and while there may be in some instances a cost to ensure equitable service delivery and programming, the return on investment far exceeds those costs. Sometimes the greatest change is within the mindset of the people navigating challenging systems.

When you are not working what do you do in your free time?

When I am not working, I enjoy beading and crafting. I am an avid scrapbooker and have a large collection of beads.