Nicole Vick
Fundraising on behalf of California Black Health Network
Fundraising on behalf of California Black Health Network
$205.89
Raised
5
Donations
$1,000
Goal
My love for public health began over 20 years ago. While trying to finish my undergraduate degree at USC, I was a student worker at the local health department. At the same time, I was a young mother of a 3-year-old daughter born prematurely during my second semester of college. It was quite ironic to be a statistic (a teen mother of a pre-term baby) while trying to forge a path that would ensure my family’s future economic stability. Although I was just learning about public health, the impact of the systems that perpetuate poor health had already impacted my life in many ways. I bore witness to:
-Lack of access to healthy food in my South Central Los Angeles neighborhood
-Violence that hovered over my community and the trauma that surfaced afterwards
-Lack of jobs and economic growth that crippled the area The short time I spent as a student worker all those years ago ultimately set me on a fulfilling career path in public health and academia.
I have spent the majority of my career in South Central Los Angeles developing relationships with community partners and other stakeholders to create health programs and interventions on topics such as violence and sexually transmitted disease, finding ways to meaningfully operationalize concepts such as health equity and the social determinants of health, and uncovering new and innovative ways to offer high quality public health services to residents. I have also used my unique balance of education, professional experience, and personal expertise to teach undergraduate students both online and in-person about the basics of public health. My strong suit is my ability to provide students with real-life examples of public health in practice and to help them see public health in action in their daily lives. I also make a concerted effort to share my lived experience with them, framed around the concepts taught in class. I think it’s very important to do, when many of my students have not interacted with a black instructor, much less one from South Central Los Angeles.
Serving on the CBHN Board gives me the opportunity to share my two decades of experience to improve the lives of Black Californians. I am honored to have the opportunity to serve alongside my Board colleagues to reduce health disparities and improve health outcomes for us all.
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