Amanda Schultz

I completed my fellowship with UW Population Health Sciences July 07- June 09.

During my fellowship, I worked with the City of Milwaukee Health Department on various planning and evaluation projects and CORE/El Centro´s Proyecto Salud, organizing communities around Latino health on Milwaukee´s South side.I am currently an international volunteer with Asociacion Mujeres Defensoras de la Vida in Choluteca, Honduras. Here I work with women to improve the wellbeing of individuals, families, and communities through female leadership, political engagement, and strengthening of local economies. I feel that much of my experience in the fellowship has prepared me for the work that I am doing here by providing me with a strong base in community organizing, group facilitation, and planning. One of the primary projects I am currently involved in is a county wide effort to unite NGO and government programs and improve efficiency in preventing childhood malnourishment. I am also working with the Hesperian Foundation to create a culturally competent digital health commons in Spanish, where health workers will be able to access and create health literacy materials specific to the needs of their communities. Similarly, I rely primarily on electronic sources of news to stay informed. My electronic subscription to the American Public Health Journal has been a great way to stay up to date and plugged in…when I have time to read!   

If I were to wish for a major public health achievement in the next 25 years, it would be a significant reduction in the income disparities between classes and a reduction in poverty on both a national and international scale. To me, poverty is one of the largest root causes of the public health concerns we face both as a nation and a world. In the next 25 years I think we will see a breaking down of race barriers (especially as whites will become the minority) and an increasing focus on collective efforts to address social determinants of health. Let´s get to work!