Belonging in Public Health

To book a conversation with Robyn please visit: https://www.fph.org.uk/belonging-in-public-health/#anchor-fb9ffbc3-004e-4460-970b-56f1c165b585

In this episode, Robyn (she/they) shares:

• Her career transition from clinical medicine in Jamaica to public health – she recalls seeing patients with preventable conditions presenting in crisis, leading her to ask deeper questions about health and its determinants. She also talks about leading the decentralisation of a rural HIV treatment site in Jamaica as one of her first public health jobs.

• The community initiatives she is passionate about – she co-founded Margin to Centre, an organisation helping health systems to better serve marginalised women and populations. She also serves as a director for Touch Grass, an outdoor community for queer women and trans people of color.

• Her perspectives on equality, diversity and inclusion (EDI) – she considers EDI a vital component of public health and describes inclusion as a continuous process.

• Her advice to new practitioners and challenges to the field – she encourages new practitioners to seek out spaces that align with their core values; and challenges leaders to improve recruitment practices to foster true representation.

• How her identity has shaped her practice – as a queer, Black woman and post-colonial subject, she adopts a critical approach to the status quo.

Key moments

03:29: Journey into Public Health

16:20: What Equality, diversity and inclusion means to me

21:26: Creating space for different voices

24:50: Moving from doing for to doing with: community participation

29:00: Who gets to decide who belongs

34:14: Belonging starts with representation

38:36: Identity, values and challenging the status quo

Download the full transcript here: https://www.fph.org.uk/media/1a3bhvjn/robyn-stephenson-transcript-with-time-stamp-docx.pdf

Find out more about some of the topics discussed in this episode:

• Margin 2 Centre
• Touch Grass
• From Margin to Center, Bell Hooks
• Fair Society, Healthy Lives (The Marmot Review)
• The Lancet series on racism, xenophobia, discrimination, and health

If you would like to find out more about careers in public health, here are some useful websites:

• https://www.fph.org.uk/what-is-public-health/the-public-health-workforce/
• What careers are there in public health?
• https://champspublichealth.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/06/FINAL-CHAMPS_Connect-Learn-Thrive-Pathway…

If you have any problems accessing this content or would like to send us feedback, please email [email protected].

The views expressed in this podcast represent the views of the guest and not those of the host organisations.