MPP, the Nelson A. Rockefeller College of Public Affairs and Policy at the University at Albany with a concentration in health policy, and was a National Urban Fellow in 1979-80. Health policy and advocacy consultant with more than 30 years of experience advocating for reproductive health, LGBTQ+ health and health equity. Most recently served as Senior Advisor to the Hospital Equity and Accountability Project at Community Catalyst, where she founded the Women’s Health Program. Previously was Director of MergerWatch, a national initiative she created in 1997, and co-founder of Raising Women’s Voices for the Health Care We Need. Active in leadership of Community Voices for Health System Accountability (CVHSA) and Health Care for All New York (HCFANY), two statewide coalitions, and is a member of the NYS Department of Health’s Community Stakeholder Council on Health Equity and Human Rights. She is Past President of the Public Health Association of New York City, past chair of the American Public Health Association national Action Board and co-chair of its Joint Policy Committee. Served as Vice President of Family Planning Advocates of NYS and Director of Public Affairs for the New York State Health Department. Received numerous awards, including the Gloria Award from the Ms. Foundation for Women, the Felicia Stewart Award from the American Public Health Association “in recognition of leadership, commitment and vision in advocacy for reproductive health,” and was an award-winning journalist covering state government in Albany, NY.
Previous Courses
MA Health Advocacy
Models of Advocacy: Theory and Practice II
Graduate Seminar—Spring
This course explores the multiple roles that health advocates assume as they create productive change on behalf of patients/consumers, families, and communities. Advocacy is practiced by improving the way health care is delivered within existing systems, by restructuring or reinventing areas of the health-care system, and by eliminating barriers to health caused by environmental destruction, poverty, and illiteracy. Throughout the year, students will be exposed to leaders who practice in diverse arenas within this interdisciplinary field, including clinical settings, community-based organizations, advocacy organizations, the media, interest groups, governmental organizations, and policy settings. They will learn to analyze organizations and communities in order to understand hierarchies and decision-making within them, and to be exposed to frameworks for conceptualizing and promoting the right to health. The course will also explore strategies to give health advocates and consumers more power in making decisions, defining issues, designing programs, and developing policies. The experiences of individuals and communities, as well as how systems respond to those experiences, will remain a central focus as students explore concepts, models, and practices of health advocacy.