As an MCAH LEAP Scholar, I had the privilege of participating in the National MCH Workforce Development Center's Title V Summer 2024 Internship Program, where I was placed with the Kansas Department of Health and Environment's (KDHE) Bureau of Family Health. This opportunity allowed me to spearhead KDHE’s Title V Fatherhood/Non-Birthing Partner Needs Assessment and address a critical gap in maternal and child health: the exclusion of fathers and gender-expansive non-birthing partners from MCH state action plans and entities that provide guidance for MCH priority areas....
This past summer I interned with GESMujer, a cooperative women’s organization in Oaxaca, México, as part of UC Global Health Institute’s Center for Gender and Health Justice. GESMujer is composed of twelve different communities across Oaxaca each with two promotoras representing every region in Oaxaca. GESMujer allows for the representation of all Indigenous, Mestizo, and Afro-Latine women and girls that are scattered across the country and gives them the opportunity to share the unique challenges they face in their regions. GESMujer’s mission is to promote better living conditions...
Esmeralda Navarro is a second-year student in our Maternal, Child, and Adolescent Health MPH program. Esmeralda is a Double Bear who earned her bachelor’s degree in Public Health. A proud first-generation Latina from Salinas, California, Esmeralda developed a passion for maternal and child health while studying the impact of pesticide use in agricultural communities. This interest has driven her focus on health policy and initiatives aimed at addressing environmental health disparities.
This article makes the public health case for abolishing ICE. Author Joel Rubio describes the negative impacts of immigration enforcement on Latinx/e adolescents and outlines the limitations of current state and local policies. He recommends ending the current U.S. approach to immigration enforcement and replacing it with a system that prioritizes the needs and safety of young people.
This September, I was honored to present my poster “Developing Policy to Address Prenatal Diet Inequities in California: The California Community Prenatal Nutrition Initiative” at the CityMatCH Leadership & Epidemiology Conference in Seattle, WA! This poster was adapted from my policy proposal in the MCAH Foundations course from last year - it outlines a collaborative WIC and CDPH effort...
Students featured in this section are graduating seniors who are a part of our second cohort of Advanced LEAP Scholars. Read below to learn more about Jaimie and Samantha’s undergraduate experiences at UC Berkeley!
All of the students featured in this section are graduating seniors who are a part of our second cohort of Advanced LEAP Scholars. Read to learn more about Cat, Ivy, and Yucca's undergraduate experiences at UC Berkeley!