Participants of the APHA-Kaiser Permanente program gather at APHA's 2025 Annual Meeting and Expo in Washington, D.C.
Photo by Michele Late
Starting a career in public health can be challenging. But for early-career professionals who come from marginalized communities, that path can come with additional barriers.
To help address obstacles and foster a diverse public health workforce, the APHA-Kaiser Permanente Community Health Leadership Program has supported five cohorts of recent graduates who are people of color, come from lower-income backgrounds or are first in family to earn a university degree.
Now in its fifth year, the program has helped build a pipeline for diverse leadership in public health. Fellows spend a year in public health jobs, supporting and leading projects in communities served by Kaiser Permanente.
“Strong public health systems depend on skilled people who are ready to do the work,” Pamela Schwartz, MPH, executive director of community health at Kaiser, told The Nation's Health. “Our partnership has helped early-career professionals gain hands-on experience at Kaiser Permanente and with community partners. That kind of practical experience builds capacity across the public health system and supports healthier communities over time.”
The fellowship, which is supported by a grant from the Kaiser Permanente National Community Benefit Fund at the East Bay Community Foundation, is open to early-career professionals with a master's or doctorate degree from one of 10 partnered schools. Fellows receive mentorship, professional development, coaching and workforce training. The 2025–2026 cohort included five fellows.
With 41 fellows having gone through the program to date, the fellowship has built a diverse community of professionals.
Tyra Parrish, MPH, was a graduate student at the University of California-Berkeley School of Public Health when she applied for the fellowship. She was one of 13 fellows in the 2023–2024 cohort, serving at Kaiser Permanente's Mid-Atlantic office. During the fellowship, she gained hands-on experience in community health, working with uninsured people and people experiencing homelessness.
The fellowship prepared Parrish for her next role as a project manager at the University of California-San Francisco, as well as being a bridge from student to public health professional.
“School took up my entire life,” Parrish told The Nation's Health. “It was such a needed first step into the next part of my life that I honestly did not feel as prepared for.”
The fellows receive formal and informal mentoring through both project and operational work, along with support to attend APHA's Annual Meeting and Expo, offering opportunities to make connections in the field.
“The fellowship really taught me relationship building,” Parrish said. “That's the exact thing that I'm doing in my job now — and I think that's honestly part of the reason why I got the job.”
The fellowship also served as a bridge for Ellana Valladares, MPH, another past participant. When Valladares finished graduate school, she was passionate about social justice but less certain where her career would lead. She was selected for the 2023–2024 fellowship cohort, serving at the CDC Foundation.
Like many students, Valladares left her institution unsure of the next steps or how to translate her education into community-level action. The fellowship gave her a window into the career paths and opportunities in public health.
During her fellowship, Valladares helped develop a report assessing how to strengthen partnerships between public health departments and community-based organizations. Since the fellowship ended, she has returned to the foundation full time as a program evaluator, continuing her social justice work by supporting overdose prevention efforts.
“I feel like I've gained a better understanding on how to have a successful career,” she told The Nation's Health.
In addition to gaining career confidence, Valladares said the mentors she met through the fellowship have played a tremendous role in supporting her career — especially mentorship from women of color who know what it is like to navigate workplaces where they are underrepresented.
Amanda Knights-Shi, MPH, MPA, a 2022-2023 fellow, served at the Tubman Center for Health and Freedom. While the fellowship helped connect her to the center, where she currently serves as director of research and evaluation, the community she found with other fellows was equally crucial to her long-term career success, she told The Nation's Health.
“What's so beautiful about the program is the sense of community created...with others who look like you, who can relate to you,” she said.
For more information, visit www.apha.org/apha-kp-leadership-program.
- Copyright The Nation’s Health, American Public Health Association
