Feingold Excellence in Diversity Staff Award: Dany Zemmel

Established in 2004, the Eugene Feingold Excellence in Diversity Award recognizes faculty, staff and students who excel at advocating for a more equitable, inclusive and just School of Public Health. Dany Zemmel is the 2023 staff recipient of this award for her tireless work advancing racial justice and health equity at Michigan Public Health and beyond.

“Dany’s leadership in diversity, equity and inclusion has an impact at many levels, from the broad public health workforce to individuals on our team and at SPH,” said Laura Power, director of the Office of Public Health Practice. “Her dedication to DEI is seen across her work and personal life.”

Zemmel is the Training and Engagement Manager for the Region V Public Health Training Center and Public Health Prepared. She was a founding member of the Michigan Chapter of Public Health Awakened, an organization focused on social justice and health equity, and is still an active member today. She has spearheaded many projects for the organization, including an anti-racist webinar series and a social media toolkit for the 2020 presidential election that encouraged citizens to consider health when voting.

In 2021, she bridged her work with Public Health Awakened and Michigan Public Health by facilitating a co-sponsored training webinar, A Public Health Approach to Public Safety: Examples from the Field. This webinar examines public safety responses that are alternate to policing and explores how they are structured, how they operate and their impact. The training provides public health practitioners with insights from unarmed public safety models so that public health and public safety agencies may explore implementing similar programs.

Zemmel also leads a racial equity special interest group in the Region V Public Health Training Center that convenes partners from a six-state region to advance racial equity through learning, partner engagement and student development. She has also begun to co-lead a national effort across training centers to develop a racial justice competency set for public health professionals.

“Not only is Dany an active contributor to the Epidemiology Department’s DEI committee, she also embodies these principles in everything she does,” Power said. “From developing training content, collaborating with practice partners and interacting with our teams and colleagues, she has inspired many of us, including myself, to reflect and grow in our journey towards diversity, equity and inclusion.”

“I am by no means an expert in this area. I am just on my journey, learning and growing, and trying to advance health equity and racial justice,” Zemmel said.

“I hope that others are empowered to tap into their networks and tap into their own power to move this work forward.”