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Advisory Board members met with students in a casual conversation that will yield concrete results.
The College of Public Health works tirelessly to provide opportunities that will help students long past their formal academic education. Opportunities take many forms, from interdisciplinary hands-on experiences to networking with high-level public health professionals. The present met the future when seven members of the CPH Board—Carolyn A. Taylor, Les Taylor, Ondrea McIntyre-Hall, Elma Levy, Patricia Haresign, Anton Arbatov, and Yoshie Davison—gathered with students for a “speed networking” event.
Convening in small groups, the students and Board members, along with Associate Dean Kimberly Holmes and Professor Phillip Zane, held casual roundtable conversations and then switched every 15 minutes. Students gave feedback about their experience at the College, while the Board gave advice for progressing in relevant health field.
"The Speed Networking event was an incredibly enriching experience for me as an undergraduate navigating higher education and a career in public health,” says Janay Hopgood, a sophomore in community health. “The advisory board members were very insightful, sharing their diverse paths and experiences that shaped their careers. I truly appreciated their genuine interest in my feedback about the college, as they aimed to identify areas for improvement.”
The Board, which features prominent members of the public health and health care community, shared their paths to pursuing their passions. “This perspective helped me realize the significance of discovering my calling within public health while remaining open to exploring adjacent fields in my work. It reinforced the idea that a career in public health can mean many different things,” says Hopgood.
The event was a casual conversation and exchange of ideas between professionals who were simply at different points in their careers, rather than a lecture from the top down. Students learned about the experiences of those who came before them, while the Board learned about the challenges that students face as the world—and education—changes.
“Connecting to leaders in the field who can share their career journeys and lived experiences can prove to be a guiding path for students’ futures,” says Advisory Board member Ondrea McIntyre-Hall, senior director of community health at Kaiser Permanente’s Mid-Atlantic Region. “The round-table was the perfect launch to begin intimate conversations between the advisory leaders and those students ambitious about a future health career and all the ways that can take shape.”
Board members said that the experience was just as enriching for them as it was for the students. Connection between generations is necessary for shaping the future of public health care.
“As we center health equity in public health we must be committed to and engaged with our future workforce. It is essential that student’s voices are listened to and lifted in meaningful ways that gets to what is working well and what needs improvement,” says McIntyre-Hall.
Anton Arbatov, vice president of revenue cycle management and compliance at SOC Telemed, welcomes more of these events. “As an Advisory Board member, I was able to gain keen insights into the successes and challenges of the College that will lead to actionable goals,” he says. “In my 12 years of engaging with students at George Mason in various capacities, this event was long overdue. It was a testament to the value that student engagement can derive for the Board and for the College.”
Arbatov was also energized by the group that gathered. “It was encouraging to see a diverse college population: undergrads who are graduating and those just starting, grad students at various points in their careers, and faculty.”
The group felt the energy as well. “I left the event with more connections, information, and a sense of community than I had when I arrived, and I look forward to participating in similar future events hosted by the College of Public Health,” says Hopgood.
Overall, the event was deemed successful and the organizers hope to keep them coming. Associate Dean for Student Affairs Kimberly Holmes says that, while the office has held networking events with the Board online in the past, this was the first that took place in person. “It was a great opportunity for the Advisory Board members to connect with CPH students, and for CPH students to benefit from the Advisory Board members' personal and professional experience,” she says.
Haresign says “a big thank you to Raven McCormick [assistant director of career services] and her staff for assisting us in the planning and coordination of this successful event, and thank you to Elma Levy, Advisory Board Chair, who should receive credit as this was her vision.”