Courageous Public Health

What does it take to step into something when there isn't a roadmap?

Dr. Alexis Travis has done that more than once.

At 28, in her first directorship, she was asking hospital leaders across Massachusetts to change maternity-care practices.

Years later, she became the first person of color to lead Michigan's aging network.

And today, she's building a model for health and well-being at Michigan State University that didn't exist before she arrived.

But Dr. Travis isn't only interested in what it takes to go first.

She's also asking what it would look like for public health to get there first.

What if, instead of responding after something has already affected our health, public health was there at the beginning?

Meet Dr. Alexis Travis ✨

Alexis Travis, PhD, is a public health and wellbeing executive, systems strategist, and nationally recognized leader working at the intersection of population health, mental health, organizational culture, and leadership. With more than 20 years of experience across higher education, state government, healthcare, and nonprofit organizations, she has built her career around a fundamental question: How do we design healthier systems, cultures, and institutions so people can actually thrive?

Dr. Travis serves as the inaugural Senior Associate Vice President for University Health and Wellbeing at Michigan State University, where she leads an integrated health and wellbeing enterprise serving more than 68,000 students, faculty, and staff. She led MSU's first university-wide health and wellbeing assessment and used that work to help shape the university's first comprehensive wellbeing strategy. She also created the Spartan Wellbeing Collective, bringing together health promotion, mental health, clinical care, accessibility, employee wellbeing, and student support around a shared vision of a healthier university. Under her leadership, MSU adopted the Okanagan Charter and became a Health Promoting University.

Before joining MSU, Dr. Travis served as Senior Deputy Director of Public Health Administration and State Health Official for the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services, where she provided executive leadership for a $1.75 billion public health portfolio and more than 1,200 employees. She helped lead Michigan's COVID-19 response and vaccination strategy and advanced statewide work in public health modernization, health equity, aging, workforce development, and community wellbeing. She was the first person of color to lead Michigan's Aging and Adult Services Agency, championed Michigan's recognition as an AARP Age-Friendly State, and launched the state's Direct Care Worker Advisory Committee.

Throughout her career, Dr. Travis has challenged traditional approaches to public health by focusing not only on services and programs, but on the systems, cultures, policies, and leadership practices that shape health. She is particularly passionate about helping organizations move from fragmented approaches to wellbeing toward integrated strategies that improve both human and organizational outcomes.

A committed mentor and developer of leaders, Dr. Travis serves as Vice President of the Michigan Public Health Institute's Board of Directors, Trustee for Common Ground Crisis Services, and Chair Emeritus of the ASTHO Alumni Society. She is a de Beaumont Foundation 40 Under 40 in Public Health honoree and an alum of Harvard Business School's Women's Leadership Forum and Stanford Medicine's Chief Wellness Officer program.

Dr. Travis holds a PhD in Public Health from Walden University and a master's degree with honors in Pharmacy from the University of Bradford in the United Kingdom. Her work reflects a belief that the future of public health is not simply about treating illness, but about designing the systems, workplaces, institutions, and communities that make health and wellbeing possible.

Conversation Highlights 🎙️

• How Dr. Travis learned courage from her mother and grandmother—and came to recognize courage in her own choices.
• What it means to step into leadership without a roadmap, especially when you are the first.
• How mentors, sponsors, and leaders can create conditions that help people thrive.
• Why Dr. Travis is working to make health and wellbeing part of the university itself—not simply a collection of services.
• What could change if public health helped shape new technologies and systems from the beginning instead of responding after the consequences emerge.

"I think what I know about courage came from osmosis from those around me." — Dr. Alexis Travis

Stay in Touch 🔗

With Dr. Alexis Travis

LinkedIn ↗: https://www.linkedin.com/in/alexistravisphd/

University Health and Well-Being at Michigan State University

Website ↗: https://uhw.msu.edu/

With Dr. Kristi McClamroch

LinkedIn ↗: https://www.linkedin.com/in/kristi-mcclamroch

Follow for weekly reflections on courage and leadership ↗: http://eepurl.com/jcgQv6

Speaking & Leadership Development 🤝

Dr. Kristi McClamroch partners with organizations navigating complexity through keynote presentations, workshops, and leadership development.

Her work helps leaders better understand themselves, one another, and the conditions that shape what's possible.

To explore speaking or consulting opportunities, connect on LinkedIn ↗ or visit Courageous Public Health ↗.

What does it mean to take up space?

For Marcella Juarez, that question is tied to land that has been in her family for more than 160 years—land she is now using to grow food for her community.

It's also tied to her own place in agriculture, where she is still learning to take up space as a Mexican-American woman.

But as our conversation continues, the question gets bigger.

Who gets to farm? Where does the food go? Who gets to stay on the land?

And what does any of this have to do with public health?

Meet Marcella Juarez, MS ✨

Marcella (Mar-say-ya) Juarez, MS, is an innovator, local farmer/rancher, and 12th-generation Tejana (te-ha-na) working to build a local food system in Laredo, Texas. After witnessing food insecurity in her community, she dedicated her life to using the ranch that has been in her family for over 160 years to provide Laredo with fresh, local, and healthy food. Marcella co-founded Palo Blanco Farm & Ranch with her family, and together they steward the land and grow food sustainably. Their work aims to better the health of the local environment, community, and economy. Her favorite part of her work is reconnecting with the land, representing young BIPOC farmers, and leading by example.

Marcella holds a master's degree in Agricultural Education with a specialization in hydroponics and sustainable agriculture and has experience in USDA-certified organic and commercial hydroponic production systems. Born and raised in Laredo, she brings a deeply place-based perspective to food systems work, centering health, economic opportunity, and sustainability. Her work demonstrates how local production can reduce supply chain vulnerabilities, support community well-being, and contribute to a more self-reliant and equitable food system.

Conversation Highlights 🎙️

• What it means for Marcella to take up space as a young Mexican-American woman in agriculture.
• Returning to land that has been in her family for more than 160 years—and putting it back into food production.
• Why 100% of the food produced by Palo Blanco Farm & Ranch stays in the Laredo community.
• How fresh food, clean water, healthy soil, and a healthy environment connect agriculture to public health.
• Marcella's vision for a stronger local food system where farmers and ranchers can earn a living, communities have access to healthy food, and land is cared for.

"We are making the space. We are taking up that space." — Marcella Juarez, MS

Stay in Touch 🔗

With Marcella Juarez, MS at Palo Blanco Farm & Ranch

Facebook ↗: https://www.facebook.com/PaloBlancoFarmandRanch/

Instagram ↗: https://www.instagram.com/paloblancofarmandranch/

Website ↗: PaloBlancoFarmAndRanch.com

Linktr.ee ↗: https://linktr.ee/paloblanco

With Dr. Kristi McClamroch

LinkedIn ↗: https://www.linkedin.com/in/kristi-mcclamroch

Follow for weekly reflections on courage and leadership ↗: http://eepurl.com/jcgQv6

Speaking & Leadership Development 🤝

Dr. Kristi McClamroch partners with organizations navigating complexity through keynote presentations, workshops, and leadership development.

Her work helps leaders better understand themselves, one another, and the conditions that shape what's possible.

To explore speaking or consulting opportunities, connect on LinkedIn ↗ or visit Courageous Public Health ↗

In this solo episode, I reflect on what I've learned from 75 conversations—and why I'm getting more curious about what happens around the courage.

What shapes the way someone responds? What changes when the conditions change? And what can we learn when we stay with those questions a little longer?

I also share why I've stopped thinking of this as a podcast only for people who work in public health. Public health is the topic. It's not the target population.

You're listening to the Courageous Public Health Podcast, Episode 75.

Conversation Highlights 🎙️

• Because Human Experience Is Messy — The same circumstances don't always produce the same response. Something can work in one setting and fail in another, and an intervention can solve one problem while creating another. That's exactly where things get interesting.
• The Epidemiologist in the Interview — After a career spent looking for patterns, differences, and relationships, I'm bringing that same curiosity more explicitly into my conversations with guests.
• The Space Between Courage and Vision — We'll still begin with courage and end with vision. What changes is the space between them: following the conversation, widening the lens, and seeing where the questions take us.
• Who Is This Podcast For? — Public health is the topic, not the target population. You don't need a public health degree to be curious about the questions underneath these conversations.

"Come because something made you wonder. Stay because there are more lives, more experiences, and more questions to investigate." — Dr. Kristi McClamroch

Stay in Touch 🔗

With Dr. Kristi McClamroch

LinkedIn ↗: https://www.linkedin.com/in/kristi-mcclamroch

Follow for weekly reflections on courage and leadership ↗: http://eepurl.com/jcgQv6

Speaking & Leadership Development 🤝

Dr. Kristi McClamroch partners with organizations navigating complexity through keynote presentations, workshops, and leadership development.

Her work helps leaders better understand themselves, one another, and the conditions that shape what's possible.

To explore speaking or consulting opportunities, connect on LinkedIn ↗ or visit our website ↗.

In this episode of the Courageous Public Health Podcast, Dr. Renée Canady reflects on how our experiences shape what we notice, what we value, and how we respond.

From identity and leadership, to the changing language we use to talk about equity and difference, Dr. Canady explores what it means to stay grounded in what we know matters—even as the words, systems, and circumstances around us change.

This conversation is about courage, fairness, and what becomes possible when we respond intentionally to what we see.

Meet Dr. Renée Canady ✨

Dr. Renée Canady serves as Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of MPHI, a public health institute comprised of process and subject matter experts with a shared vision of a just world that is healthier for all. Dr. Canady is author of the highly acclaimed 2022 book Room at the Table: A Leader's Guide to Advancing Health Equity and Justice. In this well-received book, she elevates the leadership opportunity to leverage difference and justice as assets, pushing leaders to become change agents within health, public health, and other fields.

Prior to joining MPHI, Dr. Canady served as Health Officer and Director of the Ingham County Health Department, located in Lansing, Michigan. In that role she oversaw the county's statutory responsibility to protect and promote the health of county residents and lead the development of innovative and nationally known public health interventions.

Dr. Canady has held faculty and administrative positions at Michigan State University in the College of Nursing, where she developed a research trajectory in maternal health and pregnancy outcomes. Previously, an assistant professor in the C.S. Mott Department of Public Health, and now in an adjunct appointment, Dr. Canady developed and chaired core courses in the Master of Public Health (MPH) program.

Dr. Canady is recognized as a national thought leader and sought-after speaker. She is a passionate and relationship-driven leader who tackles forces that damage relationships whether interpersonally or systemically. She has published and presented broadly on these topics and her passion for this work is evident in her personal, academic, and professional life. While serving on numerous national boards, review panels, and advisory groups, Dr. Canady has been highly influential in broadening the discussion of working across difference for the health of all.

Dr. Canady earned her PhD in Medical Sociology from Michigan State University, a master's degree in public administration from Western Michigan University, and bachelor's degree in public health nutrition from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.

Conversation Highlights 🎙️

• Productive Outrage — Dr. Canady describes the "knot in your throat" when you know something isn't right—and what it means to turn that response into intentional action.
• When Vulnerability Feeds Courage — We explore an interesting reversal: vulnerability doesn't always require courage first. Sometimes allowing ourselves to be vulnerable can actually make courage more possible.
• Who You Know Yourself to Be — Dr. Canady reflects on entering difficult spaces grounded in her identity and experiences—and how knowing who she was changed what she was able to do.
• Managing Needs Across Difference — The language of public health changes. Dr. Canady reflects on what remains underneath terms like cultural competence, cultural humility, diversity, and equity: the work of recognizing and responding fairly to difference.
• We Can Do This Together — Looking toward the future, Dr. Canady turns to history as evidence that the changes public health needs aren't impossible. We've done difficult things together before, and we can do them again.

"The bottom line is everyone deserves fair and just and right treatment." — Dr. Renée Canady

Stay in Touch 🔗

With Dr. Renée Canady

LinkedIn ↗: https://www.linkedin.com/in/reneebranchcanady-phd-mpa/

Website ↗: https://www.reneebcanady.com

Book ↗ : Room at the Table: A Leader's Guide to Advancing Health Equity and Justice by Renée Branch Canady

With Dr. Kristi McClamroch

LinkedIn ↗: https://www.linkedin.com/in/kristi-mcclamroch

Follow for weekly reflections on courage and leadership ↗: http://eepurl.com/jcgQv6

Speaking & Leadership Development 🤝

Dr. Kristi McClamroch partners with organizations navigating complexity through keynote presentations, workshops, and leadership development.

Her work helps leaders better understand themselves, one another, and the conditions that shape what's possible.

To explore speaking or consulting opportunities, connect on LinkedIn ↗ or visit our website ↗.

In this episode of the Courageous Public Health Podcast, Dr. Tyra Gross reflects on what becomes possible when we give ourselves permission to follow an idea—even when we don't know exactly where it will lead.

From choosing to study public health in Louisiana after Hurricane Katrina, to building a career in maternal and child health, to imagining new ways to give others the time and space to pursue their own ideas, Tyra shares how some of the most meaningful paths begin with a willingness to take a leap.

This conversation explores courage, curiosity, mentorship, and the conditions that give us room to imagine—and pursue—what might be possible.

Meet Dr. Tyra Gross✨

Dr. Tyra Gross is an Associate Professor and Department Chair of Public Health at Xavier University of Louisiana, where she has worked as a public health instructor, researcher and mentor since August 2015. Her research expertise is in maternal and child health disparities.

Prior to joining Xavier, she completed a postdoctoral fellowship in reproductive women's health at University of Texas Medical Branch. Given her interest in maternal and child health, the majority of Dr. Gross' research has focused on the health of reproductive-age women. In 2024, Dr. Gross launched the Maternal and Child Health Equity Research and Engagement (MA CHERE) Lab at Xavier. Her current research projects explore the health of Black postpartum women in Louisiana, and maternal and child health during natural disasters and climate crises.

Dr. Gross is a member of the American Public Health Association (APHA), Academy Health and Society of Behavioral Medicine (SBM). She also proudly serves as a speaker, coach, trainer and mentor.

She is a proud wife and mother of four spunky kids and also an aspiring entrepreneur and philanthropist.

Conversation Highlights 🎙️

• Permission to Take the Leap — Dr. Gross reflects on following ideas even when the path isn't clear and staying open to where they might lead.
• Choosing New Orleans — She shares why she chose to study public health in Louisiana after Hurricane Katrina, despite being told the decision was "crazy," and how that choice shaped her life and career.
• A Maternal Health Story Close to Home — Dr. Gross explores the connection between her work in maternal and child health, her own experience of motherhood, and the story of her great-grandmother, who died seven weeks postpartum.
• Open to What Comes Next — She reflects on having a vision without holding it so tightly that there's no room for mentorship, guidance, or unexpected opportunities.
• Creating Space for Other People's Ideas — Looking ahead, Dr. Gross imagines ways to give others the time, resources, and support to explore their own ideas—and feel like they have permission to make a leap.

"I don't think my vision was so tight for myself that I wasn't open for guidance and feedback." — Dr. Tyra Gross

Stay in Touch 🔗

With Dr. Tyra Gross

LinkedIn ↗: https://www.linkedin.com/in/tyragross/

Instagram ↗: https://www.instagram.com/tygrss2020/

With the MA CHERE Lab

Instagram ↗: https://www.instagram.com/macherelab/

With Dr. Kristi McClamroch

LinkedIn ↗: https://www.linkedin.com/in/kristi-mcclamroch

Follow for weekly reflections on courage and leadership ↗: http://eepurl.com/jcgQv6

Speaking & Leadership Development 🤝

Dr. Kristi McClamroch partners with organizations navigating complexity through keynote presentations, workshops, and leadership development.

Her work helps leaders better understand themselves, one another, and the conditions that shape what's possible.

To explore speaking or consulting opportunities, connect on LinkedIn ↗ or visit our website ↗.

In this episode of the Courageous Public Health Podcast, Le'Jon Godwin-Chumley, MPH, HTL (ASCP), reflects on what happens when we stop waiting to feel qualified enough and recognize that we already have something valuable to contribute.

From walking into a public health business summit where she didn't know anyone, to shifting from laboratory science into maternal and child health equity, to starting her own consulting business, Le'Jon shares how curiosity, authenticity, and a willingness to ask questions have helped her step into unfamiliar spaces.

This conversation explores what becomes possible when we recognize that we don't have to know everything to belong in the room—and that our own knowledge and experience belong there too.

Meet Le'Jon Godwin-Chumley, MPH, HTL (ASCP)✨

Le'Jon Godwin-Chumley, MPH, HTL (ASCP), is a public health researcher and Founder of Linea Health Strategies, LLC, a maternal and child health equity research consultancy currently in development. She brings more than two decades of clinical laboratory experience — including work as a certified Scientist in Histotechnology — to the study of population-level health disparities. Her path from microscope to population health reflects a career-long commitment to rigor: the same precision she once applied to cellular diagnostics now drives her geospatial and equity-centered analysis of maternal and child health outcomes.

Le'Jon holds an MPH in Global Health from Southern New Hampshire University and is currently completing a Graduate Certificate in Public Health Informatics at the University of Missouri. As a Risk Resources Intern with the Policy Center for Maternal Mental Health, she contributes to policy analysis and evidence translation that advance equitable maternal mental health systems nationwide.

Through Linea Health Strategies, she is building a practice grounded in patient-centered outcomes research (PCOR) and real-world evidence (RWE). She uses GIS mapping and equity-centered data analysis to help maternal-child health organizations translate complex research into clear insights, disparities maps, and policy-ready evidence.

Conversation Highlights 🎙️

• I Deserve to Be Here — Le'Jon reflects on recognizing that her own knowledge, experience, and perspective belong at the table.
• Walking Into the Room — From attending a public health business summit alone to reaching out to CEOs, Le'Jon shares the value of entering unfamiliar spaces, asking questions, and making connections.
• From the Laboratory to Public Health — Le'Jon discusses bringing her love of data from laboratory science into public health and using it to understand people's health.
• Finding Her Place in Maternal Health — Le'Jon shares how learning about maternal health inequities shaped her commitment to maternal and child health equity.
• Just Being Me — Le'Jon reflects on authenticity, connection, and realizing that what others see as her "superpower" is simply being herself.

"I deserve to be here and sitting at the table 'cause I have a lot to say." — Le'Jon Godwin-Chumley, MPH, HTL (ASCP)

Stay in Touch 🔗

With Le'Jon Godwin-Chumley, MPH, HTL (ASCP)

LinkedIn ↗: https://www.linkedin.com/in/le-jonchumley/

With Dr. Kristi McClamroch

LinkedIn ↗: https://www.linkedin.com/in/kristi-mcclamroch

Follow for weekly reflections on courage and leadership ↗: http://eepurl.com/jcgQv6

Speaking & Leadership Development 🤝

Dr. Kristi McClamroch partners with organizations navigating complexity through keynote presentations, workshops, and leadership development.

Her work helps leaders better understand themselves, one another, and the conditions that shape what's possible.

To explore speaking or consulting opportunities, connect on LinkedIn ↗ or visit our website ↗.

In this episode of the Courageous Public Health Podcast, Dr. Danielle M. Campbell reflects on what it means to continue doing equity-centered work when the communities, language, and issues at the center of that work are increasingly under attack.

From challenging assumptions about Black communities and HIV research, to centering community power in science, to refusing to separate her identities as a Black woman, scientist, advocate, and leader, Dr. Campbell shares why she continues to push—even when that work is met with resistance.

This conversation explores courage, power, community, and what it means to refuse erasure while continuing to work toward a more equitable vision of public health.

Meet Dr. Danielle M. Campbell ✨

Dr. Danielle M. Campbell is a translational biomedical mixed methods trained researcher whose research focuses on advancing prevention, care, cure equity and policy among Black women and other populations disproportionately impacted by HIV. Her work considers women's intersectional and syndemic experiences and centers community-informed participatory processes to develop peer and technology driven interventions.

Dr. Campbell's liberatory work aims to bridge research and practice. She collaborates closely with community partners, national research networks, and multidisciplinary teams to ensure that interventions are grounded in lived experience and responsive to the needs of communities most impacted by HIV. Her work emphasizes not only identifying disparities but also translating findings into sustainable, real-world impact through liberatory health frameworks.

Conversation Highlights 🎙️

• We Will Continue to Persist — Dr. Campbell reflects on attempts to restrict the language public health professionals use to name communities and the conditions shaping health. Her response is unequivocal: communities cannot simply be erased by refusing to name them.
• Courage in the Room — She shares what courage has meant throughout her career: being the only person in the room who looks like her and continuing to address issues others consider too difficult to tackle.
• Centering Community in HIV Research — Dr. Campbell describes helping develop a first-of-its-kind HIV prevention research agenda that challenged assumptions that Black communities are difficult to reach or engage and instead centered equity, community, and culture.
• Equity as the Standard — She imagines a public health in which equity is no longer treated as an aspiration, but as the standard by which success is measured—and where the work moves beyond documenting disparities toward transforming the systems in which they are created.
• Being Well, Wholly — Looking toward her own future, Dr. Campbell describes a vision of being well mentally, physically, emotionally, and financially—not only as an individual, but within the communities where she lives, works, loves, and plays.

"Honey, we will continue to persist." — Dr. Danielle M. Campbell

Stay in Touch 🔗

With Dr. Danielle M. Campbell

LinkedIn ↗: https://www.linkedin.com/in/danielle-m-campbell-phd-mph-488632ab/

Instagram ↗: https://www.instagram.com/hdnizm/

With Dr. Kristi McClamroch

LinkedIn ↗: https://www.linkedin.com/in/kristi-mcclamroch

Follow for weekly reflections on courage and leadership ↗: http://eepurl.com/jcgQv6

Speaking & Leadership Development 🤝

Dr. Kristi McClamroch partners with organizations navigating complexity through keynote presentations, workshops, and leadership development.

Her work helps leaders better understand themselves, one another, and the conditions that shape what's possible.

To explore speaking or consulting opportunities, connect on LinkedIn ↗ or visit our website ↗.

In this episode of the Courageous Public Health Podcast, Angela N. Frazier reflects on what happens when we refuse to let difficult moments define what's possible next.

From losing her mother just before graduate school, to leaving the security of a full-time job to lead Sisters in Public Health, to building a national organization dedicated to connection, wellness, and professional growth, Angela shares why some of the most important decisions begin by simply taking the next step.

This conversation explores courage, sisterhood, leadership, and the power of creating spaces where people don't just succeed—they belong.

Meet Angela N. Frazier, MPH, LSSYB✨

Angela is the Founder and CEO of Sisters in Public Health and the Author of A Kids Book AboutTM Suicide. Angela received her Bachelor of Science in Health Sciences and Communication from Portland State University. She also holds a Master of Public Health in Community Health from UTHealth School of Public Health. In 2017, Angela founded Sisters in Public Health (SiPH), a nonprofit to connect all women in public health. SiPH now has chapters in 33 cities nationwide and awards annual scholarships to public health students.

Angela currently serves as a board member of Bradley Angle, a nonprofit with a mission to end domestic violence. In this role, Angela launched The Tami Best Emergency Shelters in honor of her mother for survivors of domestic violence fleeing abusive relationships. Starting in 2025, Angela serves as an Adjunct Professor at Prairie View A&M University (PVAMU) School of Public and Allied Health teaching Mental Health Promotion. Her most recent recognition was being honored nationally as a 40 under 40 honoree by Black Health Connect as a leader in the public health community. Angela is also a proud member of Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Incorporated.

Conversation Highlights 🎙️

• Do Not Stay Stuck — Angela reflects on one of the most important pieces of advice she ever received: don't stay stuck. Whether navigating grief, career transitions, or uncertainty, she shares why forward movement often begins with taking one small step.
• Building Sisterhood — Angela shares how creating the community she needed became a space where thousands of women now connect, grow, and support one another.
• A Leap of Faith — Leaving the security of a full-time job wasn't easy. Angela reflects on trusting herself, embracing uncertainty, and choosing purpose over predictability.
• Creating the Conditions for Well-Being — Angela discusses why professional development isn't enough on its own. Lasting leadership also requires spaces where people can care for themselves, build authentic relationships, and show up as their whole selves.
• Dream Bigger — Looking toward the future, Angela shares her vision for expanding the impact of Sisters in Public Health while encouraging others not to limit themselves by fear, perfection, or timing.

"Do not stay stuck." — Angela N. Frazier, MPH, LSSYB

Stay in Touch 🔗

With Angela N. Frazier, MPH, LSSYB

LinkedIn ↗: https://www.linkedin.com/in/angela-n-frazier-mph-lssyb-b7520bb8/

Instagram ↗: https://www.instagram.com/angelanicolef_/

TikTok ↗: https://www.tiktok.com/@angelanicolef_

With Sisters in Public Health

LinkedIn ↗: https://www.linkedin.com/company/sisters-in-public-health/

Instagram ↗: https://www.instagram.com/sistersinpublichealth_/

TikTok ↗: https://www.tiktok.com/@sistersinpublichealth

With Dr. Kristi McClamroch

LinkedIn ↗: https://www.linkedin.com/in/kristi-mcclamroch

Follow for weekly reflections on courage and leadership ↗: http://eepurl.com/jcgQv6

Speaking & Leadership Development 🤝

Dr. Kristi McClamroch partners with organizations navigating complexity through keynote presentations, workshops, and leadership development.

Her work helps leaders better understand themselves, one another, and the conditions that shape what's possible.

To explore speaking or consulting opportunities, connect on LinkedIn ↗ or visit our website ↗.

In this episode of the Courageous Public Health Podcast, Natrina Kennedy reflects on what happens when we stop defining ourselves by our titles and start leading from a deeper understanding of who we are.

From founding a nonprofit at 22, to recognizing when it was time to let it go, to helping students connect their own stories to the work of public health, Natrina shares how understanding her identity has shaped every chapter of her leadership journey.

This conversation explores how our lived experiences shape the questions we ask, the work we pursue, and the impact we're ultimately able to make.

At its heart, it asks a deceptively simple question: Who are we underneath it all?

Meet Natrina N. Kennedy, MPH✨

Natrina N. Kennedy, MPH, is a Public Health Strategist who works at the intersection of community, data, and corporate social responsibility—helping institutions turn complex challenges into clear, human-centered strategy.

She is an Associate Divisional Strategy Consultant at Blue Cross Blue Shield of Illinois, where she leads strategic planning and evaluation across community-based initiatives. Her work includes supporting a $4M+ annual budget for the Blue Door Neighborhood Centers and leading high-impact efforts such as a three-year colorectal cancer screening campaign that distributed 3,078 FIT kits across 314 Illinois zip codes, primarily reaching communities facing socioeconomic hardship.

Beyond her corporate role, Natrina teaches undergraduate students at Loyola University Chicago, equipping future public health leaders to strategically create community-centered solutions led in partnership with those with lived experiences. She is also a Doctor of Public Health (DrPH) student at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, specializing in Women's and Reproductive Health. Previously, she founded and led a nonprofit known as the Women's Health Initiative, Inc, which focused on reducing economic, racial, and social health disparities for women, primarily on the Far South Side of Chicago—an experience that continues to shape her belief that strong strategy is deeply human and grounded in equitable action.

Conversation Highlights 🎙️

• Who You Are at Your Core — Natrina reflects on how identity—not titles, accomplishments, or roles—has become the foundation for her leadership, her work, and the decisions she makes.
• The Courage to Pause — After years of building, leading, and constantly moving forward, Natrina shares why slowing down, prioritizing her health, and making space for reflection have become some of the most courageous decisions of her life.
• From Lived Experience to Public Health Leadership— As a professor, Natrina challenges students to examine how their own stories shape the public health questions they ask, the communities they serve, and the solutions they create.
• Heart Posture — Drawing on a lesson from her mother, Natrina explores the importance of regularly "checking your heart posture"—aligning your values, intentions, and actions before trying to change the world around you.
• Impact, Flexibility, and Legacy — Looking toward the future, Natrina reflects on moving beyond titles and achievements to build a life defined by meaningful impact, flexibility, good health, and a legacy grounded in community.

"It is my identity, who I am, that's got me to this space. And so everybody kept asking for the secret sauce and how did I do this? And it was really just me." — Natrina N. Kennedy, MPH

Stay in Touch 🔗

With Natrina N. Kennedy, MPH

LinkedIn ↗: https://www.linkedin.com/in/natrinakennedy/

Instagram ↗: https://www.instagram.com/natrinanekole/

TikTok ↗: https://www.tiktok.com/@natrinanekole

With Dr. Kristi McClamroch

LinkedIn ↗: https://www.linkedin.com/in/kristi-mcclamroch

Follow for weekly reflections on courage and leadership ↗: http://eepurl.com/jcgQv6

Speaking & Leadership Development 🤝

Dr. Kristi McClamroch partners with organizations navigating complexity through keynote presentations, workshops, and leadership development.

Her work helps leaders better understand themselves, one another, and the conditions that shape what's possible.

To explore speaking or consulting opportunities, connect on LinkedIn ↗ or visit our website ↗.

In this episode of the Courageous Public Health Podcast, Chioma Nnaji reflects on what happens when we're clear about who we are, what we value, and why we do this work.

From choosing purpose over a higher salary early in her career, to reimagining what community-led public health can become, Chioma shares how moving with intention has shaped both her leadership and her vision for the future.

This conversation explores courage, purpose, authenticity, community, and what becomes possible when we stop reacting to the moment and start making decisions that are aligned with who we want to be.

Meet Chioma Nnaji, MPH, MEd✨

Chioma Nnaji is an ethnic blend of egusi soup and fufu from her father, who is from Imo State, Nigeria, and okra gumbo packed with everything from her mother, who is from Shreveport, Louisiana. Both her parents and the village that raised her instilled in her the importance of community organizing, justice, and staying grounded. Those values have guided her work over the past 20 years at the intersection of HIV/AIDS, public health, racial justice, and immigrant rights.

Chioma began her career as a community organizer and community health worker, eventually leading initiatives in community-engaged research, capacity-building, and community mobilization.

As a trained and experienced facilitator, she founded Ocha Transformations, a firm that brings leaders, organizations, and communities together to maximize social impact and sustainable change. Chioma is constantly seeking innovative ways to build partnerships, think differently about problems, and challenge dominant narratives.

She has served in leadership positions across academic and community institutions and grounds her work in equity and justice, with a particular focus on the meaningful engagement of people impacted by intersecting oppressions.

Conversation Highlights 🎙️

• Choosing Purpose — Chioma Nnaji reflects on choosing meaningful work over a higher-paying job early in her career and how that decision became the foundation for the way she's navigated every opportunity since.
• Community Has the Answers — Drawing on more than 20 years of community organizing and public health practice, she challenges us to move beyond community engagement toward truly community-led systems and decision-making.
• Listening Before Knowing — Chioma shares why courage sometimes means slowing down, trusting your gut, and allowing clarity to emerge before trying to force the next decision.
• Reimagining Public Health — Rather than rebuilding the systems we've always had, she invites us to envision a future where communities define the questions, shape the solutions, and lead the work.
• Legacy Work — Chioma reflects on this season of her life, where she's investing her time and energy in work that reflects her deepest purpose and the impact she hopes to leave for future generations.

"I'm very clear about my purpose." — Chioma Nnaji, MPH, MEd

Stay in Touch 🔗

With Chioma Nnaji, MPH, MEd

LinkedIn ↗: https://www.linkedin.com/in/chioma-nnaji-mph-med/

With Dr. Kristi McClamroch

LinkedIn ↗: https://www.linkedin.com/in/kristi-mcclamroch

Follow for weekly reflections on courage and leadership ↗: http://eepurl.com/jcgQv6

Speaking & Leadership Development 🤝

Dr. Kristi McClamroch partners with public health, healthcare, nonprofit, philanthropic, government, and higher education organizations through keynote presentations, facilitated conversations, workshops, and leadership development experiences.

Her work explores courage, leadership, systems change, the conditions that shape decision-making, voice, well-being, and values-aligned action.

Whether you're planning a conference, retreat, leadership program, or organizational event, Courageous Public Health can help create meaningful conversations that inspire reflection, connection, and action.

To explore speaking or consulting opportunities, connect on LinkedIn ↗ or visit our website ↗.