Grassroots Health’s Team Commits to Advancing Leadership & Learning

Grassroots Health has—since its origins in 2009 as a youth-led grassroots movement—valued next-generation leadership, constant learning and iteration, and public advocacy. 

Now, 14 years later, we are proud to have many of our staff not only supporting the public health leadership development of young college athletes, but also pursuing their own engagement in nonprofit leadership, local advocacy, mentorship, and health equity more broadly. Read about how some of our team members have been involved in advocacy and leadership development programs.

PROGRAM: Laureus USA’s Sport for Good Cities Emerging Leaders Program

1. Tell us in a sentence or two what this program is all about, and why you joined?

The Laureus USA’s Sport for Good Cities Emerging Leaders Program is designed to help the next up-and-coming leaders in the sport-for-development space learn critical skills and higher-level strategic thinking to develop and manage a team. This program engages a variety of leaders in different positions in their professional careers to discuss with one another and gain insight into effective leadership and team management. I joined this program with one main goal in mind: to help lead the expansion of Grassroots Health into Philadelphia.

2. What have you/do you hope to bring to this experience from your work at Grassroots Health?  What do you hope to learn in this program that will help you in your work at Grassroots Health?

Since our organization is small and constantly growing, I hope to bring the real-time experience of our challenges and success as we expand. In the fellowship, we work in small groups, similar to our model of facilitation, to discuss and contemplate questions from our own perspective. As a result, I am providing a perspective from a coordinator level to directors in their organization about leadership style, strategic planning, etc. As we move into summer and the new school year, I hope to use the modules and conversations we have about planning, team management, and planning to help recruit athletes, engage them long-term, and build a sustainable team in for our first year in Philly.

3. What’s one fun and/or impact story or memory you have from these experiences?

During our first week of the program, we had to take different personality and leadership-style tests to learn about our own personal strengths and areas for growth. I identify with the “IFNJ” personality trait, and it turns out that it’s the rarest personality trait. It is exhibited in 2% of women and in 2% of the general population. The character traits and attributes are similar to Mahatma Ghandi and Nelson Mandela. Originally, when I took the test in my teenage years, I was something else, so apparently my personality has changed over the years. I believe my connection to this trait occurred when I was a rising sophomore at Duke. I had traveled to Johannesburg, South Africa and had the chance to visit the Apartheid Museum and Constitution Hill where most of the world leaders in the fight for racial and systemic justice were detained. I saw where the prisoners ate, slept, socialized, and so on. I had the chance to visit the cells of Ghandi, Mandela, and other political prisoners of that time. The realization of their personal struggles that inspired nations of leaders to fight for justice so that I could walk is what stays with me the most. The personality test during our first week of the emerging leaders program was an inspiration and stirring reminder.

Lara Negón Ocasio, Program Coordinator (Washington, DC)

PROGRAM: National Minority AIDS Coalition (NMAC) Youth Initiative at the US Conference on HIV/AIDS (ViiV Healthcare Youth Fellowship, Youth Ambassador)

1. Tell us in a sentence or two what this program is all about, and why you joined?

The NMAC Youth Initiative has the goal to develop future leaders among a group of young students to take action to end HIV/AIDS in their communities through educational training, professional development, and networking opportunities. The ViiV Healthcare Youth Fellowship works to bring young people into the forefront of sexual health conversations and move toward a future where stigma doesn’t have to stop people from assessing services, people can openly talk about their own experiences, and feel confident that they have the resources they need to live happy and healthy. Through these fellowships, I was able to attend the US Conference on HIV/AIDS in San Juan, Puerto Rico which highlighted the importance of serving marginalized communities and emphasized the amount of work it will take to not only treat HIV/AIDS but also work with the community to combat stigma and educate the youth on prevention to end the epidemic.

I applied to serve under the Youth Initiative and the Youth Fellowship to learn from the nation’s leading HIV scholars and advocates on how to best implement progressing methods to enact change in my community. The Latine community is one of the fastest-growing ethnic groups in the country, and their health needs are different from those of other populations. We must seek to develop health strategies that are both culturally relevant and realistic regarding structural, ethnic, economic, etc barriers. I am excited to keep unraveling my takeaways from these fellowships, and how they can inform and guide my organization’s work during a critical time for health education. Through my participation in these programs, I have had the opportunity to branch out to other sectors of the HIV awareness and prevention sphere to connect with others doing similar work. As our organization continues to expand (hello Philly!), we know partnerships are important as ever.

2. What have you/do you hope to bring to this experience from your work at Grassroots Health? What do you hope to learn in this program that will help you in your work at Grassroots Health?

As part of these fellowships, I have had the opportunity to engage with the latest HIV/AIDS data, government strategies, and implementation efforts. I have spent time learning how to best tackle the stigma around and criminalization of HIV – which I feel has transferred well into my work at Grassroots Health especially during our meetings with parents and families. The workshops hosted by NMAC and ViiV have allowed me to build my own toolkit and prepare me to facilitate my own HIV community project, which is evaluating Grassroots Fam. We know, especially when speaking to outside stakeholders that can be skeptical of the importance of sexual health education in middle schools, we must bring the latest health information so they can fully understand the importance of discussing HIV, STIs, and the risk for unplanned pregnancy at a young age. After a few months in the programs, I feel better suited to engage with our community members who may be doubtful of our programming without seeing the bigger picture of the epidemic across the country. That is my biggest takeaway so far that I feel falls in line with the work we do at Grassroots Health.

3. What’s one fun and/or impact story or memory you have from these experiences?

Getting to attend the USCHA in San Juan, Puerto Rico was unforgettable. As a Latina with a Puerto Rican family, it was incredibly humbling to learn from leading Puerto Rican activists and advocates on how we can lower barriers to access, meet our communities where they are, and acknowledge our own positionality when serving others. The sessions and overall experience was incredible. Aside from the daytime aspect, it was really special to be around a young group of fellows all passionate about public health in a beautiful island where we can also practice self-care.

Tyler Spencer, Founder and Executive Director

PROGRAM: Senior Atlantic Fellow in Health Equity (US and Global)

1. Tell us in a sentence or two what this program is all about, and why you joined?

The Atlantic Fellowship in Health Equity develops leaders who have the knowledge, skills, and courage to build more equitable health systems, organizations, and communities. Health equity aims to close the healthcare gap between wealthy and marginalized communities by realizing the benefits of public health and health care. The program aims to create a global network of committed leaders by training them to recognize, understand, and work towards resolving these inequities.

I joined this program initially because I wanted to be sure that I was not getting “tunnel vision” with our very intense and focused work at Grassroots Health. I wanted to know what else was happening more nationally, globally, and outside of the specific realm of school health, and to think more broadly about systems and solutions to improve health at the community and population levels.

2. What have you/do you hope to bring to this experience from your work at Grassroots Health?  What do you hope to learn in this program that will help you in your work at Grassroots Health?

I’ve brought a lot of concrete “case studies” from our work at Grassroots Health into broader dialogues about nonprofit/NGO public health work and its achievements and limitations. I’ve been grateful that my peer fellows have shared critiques, solutions, etc. (and sometimes as many questions as answers!) that have shaped my thinking in my role at Grassroots Health.

3. What’s one fun and/or impact story or memory you have from these experiences?

For me the fellowship has been most valuable because of the other people I’ve been able to meet, build friendships with, and learn from. But probably the most memorable message from our work together is to remember to have fun in this work, no matter how taxing, heavy, or difficult it gets. And we have definitely found ways to find fun experiences when we’ve met in person as fellows.

Jane Wallis, Associate Director

PROGRAM: Commissioner and Community Vice-Chair Washington D.C. Regional Planning Commission on Health and HIV.

1. Tell us in a sentence or two what this program is all about, and why you joined?

The Washington, DC Regional Planning Commission on Health and HIV (COHAH) is a group of mayoral appointed Commissioners, government partners, and community stakeholders that come together to conduct regional community planning for HIV prevention and care services in the DC-eligible metropolitan area. The goal is to increase collaboration, efficiency, and innovation in response to the HIV epidemic while striving to end the epidemic by 2030. I joined to better understand the landscape of sexual health services in DC and to ensure that education and promotion/prevention work has a voice at the most influential and important tables of decision-making.

2. What have you/do you hope to bring to this experience from your work at Grassroots Health? What do you hope to learn in this program that will help you in your work at Grassroots Health?

I have served as a commissioner since September 2018 and one of the things I am most proud of through this experience is the amount that I have learned by committing to one group intentionally and meaningfully for so long. During this time, I’ve built relationships, learned how DC Health and HAHSTA operate, connected with other community-based organizations, and have established a voice that is valued and heard. I am known in the commission to bring the voice of prevention, and even more, the voice of the youth and families we serve, while simultaneously bringing back best practices, research, lessons, surveillance data, and opportunities back to Grassroots Health.

3. What’s one fun and/or impact story or memory you have from these experiences?

All commissioners devote additional time to serving on at least one sub-committee. Since joining, I have served on the Integrated Strategies Committee. After several years on the committee, there was a new opening to be the chair of the committee. I did not previously perceive myself as a leader before being nominated and unanimously elected into this role. Now, after more than a year of service as the committee chair, I recognize that my role is less about the knowledge or experience that I bring, and much more about the ability to connect voices and people, amplify others’ experiences, and create a group that is not only successful but also is critically thinking about how we advance health equity across the field. This is a skill that we impart in our student-athlete volunteers at Grassroots Health and it feels both authentically me and within the Grassroots spirit to bring this type of leadership to COHAH.