HFB will periodically spotlight one of our alumni. If you are interested in being highlighted please contact Miriam Doyle at info@handsforabridge.org
Name: Rebecca West
Year(s) in Hands for a Bridge: 2006-2007
School Affiliation: Roosevelt High School, Seattle, WA
Post-secondary school education and/or work, and future plans:
I completed a BS in Public Health at the University of Washington in 2012. In 2016 I graduated from Columbia University with a Master of Public Health with specializations in Population & Family Health and Global Health. During my masters degree I was an intern at ICAP at Columbia University, a non-profit arm of Columbia that conducts global health research and program implementation. I spent six months in Malawi working on a national bio-behavioral survey that measured HIV incidence and prevalence (new cases and overall burden of disease). During graduate school I also served as a board member for the Sexual Health Action Group and co-authored a paper reviewing resources for girls going through puberty in low-income communities in the U.S. After completing my masters I continued working for ICAP and managed a portfolio of HIV service programs in Zambia, Kenya, Lesotho, and Swaziland. I moved to Acornhoek, South Africa in September 2017 after taking a job as a Project Manager for the Center for AIDS Prevention Studies at the University of California, San Francisco. I currently manage four studies related to HIV testing, treatment and retention in care. I’m currently preparing for an upcoming trip to Amsterdam to present some of my work at the International AIDS Conference, and am working on doctoral applications for the coming fall!
Reflection:
Hands for a Bridge helped me find my voice at a time in life when I was starting to seriously think about what I wanted to do and what kind of person I wanted to be. I have no doubt that my experiences with HFB were an enormous catalyst in setting me on the path I’m on today. My time in South Africa with HFB piqued my interest in learning Sub-Saharan Africa, and I keep coming back – as an undergraduate student in Zambia, a volunteer HIV educator in Tanzania, and now I’ve turned it into my career. The interdisciplinary nature of HFB’s curriculum also opened my mind to the field of public health, which integrates the health sciences, statistics, sociology, and anthropology. My experience with HFB has also really come full circle in my current job. One of the main trials I am in charge of is measuring the impact of community engagement and education on HIV outcomes. It is so much fun to be part of a project that is focused on using the arts to promote discourse and community cohesion around such a critical health challenge. As I move ahead with my career I find that I am able to draw on the skills I developed as an HFB student – facilitating dialogue, fostering creativity, and creating inclusive spaces to learn and grow – to be a more compassionate public health researcher.
