While the work of advancing equity and belonging is everyone's responsibility, the YSPH student ambassadors play an important role in building community and supporting students. We asked YSPH's three ambassadors to reflect on their year of service.
My Ambassador Journey
By Felicia Annan-Mills
As someone deeply committed to health, I’ve always believed that equity isn’t a side note in public health – it’s the core. My role as an ambassador has allowed me to live out that belief in community, helping to foster spaces where everyone feels seen, valued, and heard.
I’m originally from Ghana and am graduating from the two-year MPH program in social and behavioral sciences. To me, being an ambassador means serving as a dedicated advocate and catalyst for positive change. My educational background – having studied in Ghana, the United Arab Emirates, China, and the United States – has shaped my worldview and strengthened my cultural competence. These experiences gave me a deep sense of empathy and helped me recognize how important it is to create space for people with different lived experiences.
Advocacy often feels like something we care about but don’t always know how to approach.
Felicia Annan-
When I applied to be an ambassador, I highlighted my desire to uplift religious voices and international student experiences – two identities that often feel unseen in the broader public health conversation. As a person of faith, I’ve sometimes found it difficult to navigate the evidence-focused environment of public health while holding onto my beliefs. I wanted to support other students navigating similar tensions. I also hoped to ensure international students felt seen and had the resources they needed.
Rather than focusing solely on student-facing events, my fellow ambassadors and I supported existing structures behind-the-scenes. Together we worked with affinity group leaders to gather feedback, collaborated on marketing materials for public health fellowships, and supported events such as study corners and social hours. One of the most important lessons I learned was that visibility doesn’t always equal impact. Sometimes the best way to serve is by amplifying what’s already working and ensure that support is consistent, thoughtful, and aligned with students’ needs.
Of all our efforts this year, I’m most proud of the advocacy session we organized with Dr. Tekisha Everette during National Public Health Week. This event directly supported YSPH’s strategic priorities by educating public health leaders through real-world, skill-based learning; building inclusive communities that reflect the diversity of our student body; and enhancing trust in public health by equipping us to be better communicators and advocates.
Many students, including myself, had wanted to take Dr. Everette’s advocacy course but couldn’t due to scheduling conflicts. So we collaborated to offer a “crash course” in advocacy that responded to the shifting political landscape.
I was excited to attend Dr. Everette’s workshop because advocacy often feels like something we care about but don’t always know how to approach. Her session gave us a framework to think long-term – beyond reacting to crises – and offered practical tools that felt grounded and sustainable. I felt empowered to learn how we can stay engaged and hopeful, even in uncertain times. It reminded me that advocacy is a discipline, not just a reaction.
My hope is that future students will feel empowered to bring their full selves into this work. Because, when we all show up as we truly are, public health becomes not only more just, but also more human.
The Joy of Engaging with Students
By Alice Jiang
I’m a second-year student in the Chronic Disease Epidemiology Department. I did my undergraduate studies at NYU, majoring in global public health and sociology. I came to YSPH because I wanted to further my studies in epidemiologyand gain more technical skills. In doing so, I’ve met some wonderful people and enjoyed the privilege of being a student at Yale.
I struggled during my first year at YSPH because I felt I did not have a solid sense of community. This sense of “unbelonging” and otherness is what drove me to apply to become a student ambassador for two reasons: to get more involved in YSPH activities, and to serve others to hopefully make their experience better – even if just a little bit.
It has been truly enlightening and joyful to engage with multiple students and affinity groups at YSPH, and to hear different perspectives and points of view about how to better serve the people who make our work rewarding.
As an ambassador, I’ve learned the importance of being an advocate. As institutions meant for public service and health are being eroded, silence can be complicit and seen as a form of consent. This is precisely why the National Public Health Week event in April on public health and advocacy with Dr. Tekisha Everette, assistant professor adjunct, was important. Dr. Everette educates public health students on how they can make their voices heard using advocacy andstorytelling. Also, encouraging dialogue by using deep listening to engage with diverse populations to promote knowledge serves YSPH’s key strategic priority to convene and lead in public health trust-building and communication strategies.
As I learned in a health policy course, research and science are important, but the humanistic side of public health also drives change. To best advocate for change, and to stand up for what is just and equitable, we must serve as trusted spokespeople for, and translators of, public health science.
On Becoming a YSPH Ambassador
By Dilcia Rodriguez Diaz
Becoming an ambassador at YSPH felt like a continuation of the path I started on as an undergraduate. As a student ambassador, I had an opportunity to uplift voices, create space for meaningful dialogue, and to represent the diverse perspectives that strengthen public health.
My path to public health has never followed a straight line. I completed my early education in Honduras before earning a scholarship that brought me to the United States to attend college. As a first-generation student navigating a new country, language, and systems, I learned quickly how vital it is to have advocates who reflect and understand your experience. That understanding deepened when I became a student ambassador at my HBCU, an experience that showed me what inclusive leadership looks like and inspired me to keep creating space for others.
We define our own victories. You decide your success.
Dr. Tekisha Everette
Much of our work as ambassadors happened behind-the-scenes. We focused on building relationships, facilitating conversations, and doing the quiet but necessary work of connection. We spent time reaching out to affinity groups, setting up meetings, and simply listening. We wanted to understand their needs, hear their concerns, and ask how we could support them. That kind of groundwork doesn’t always show up on event flyers, but it is essential to building trust and making sure the work is rooted in real community priorities.
One of the most impactful moments this year was organizing an event featuring Dr. Tekisha Everette. I feel incredibly lucky to be taking her class on advocacy and activism, so when I learned that the focus of National Public Health Week was on advocacy, I knew she would be the perfect voice to guide that conversation. Dr. Everette’s talk advances YSPH’s strategic priority to educate generations of public health leaders and the initiative that focuses on supporting students and graduates in becoming leaders in the science and practice of public health.
Something that has stayed with me from that workshop that I know I’ll carry with me is when Dr. Everette said, “We define our own victories. You decide your success.” That message resonated deeply, especially in today’s climate when public health is being tested and redefined every day. As a young scientist and advocate, hearing that was both empowering and grounding. It reminded me that impact doesn’t have to look just one way and we each get opportunities to shape what success means in our work and communities.