Undergraduate public health student Reem Fawaz always wanted to make an impact in her community. She began her journey to medical school, then decided to include in her education a public health foundation, which she says is vital to achieving her goal of building healthier communities.
Kennedy Dubose studies public health not only for personal and intellectual reasons but also for what she sees as moral, ethical imperatives. Growing up, she saw public health systems failing Black communities. With a combination of local and global training, she is looking to promote more equitable community health in Detroit and around the globe.
Driven by a desire to do something about an emerging water crisis in Pakistan, Omar Ilyas and some friends started fundraising to build a well. About 24 months later, they had completed funding and construction on their 750th water well through their nonprofit Paani. The 2019 graduate is not stopping there.
In eighth grade, Briana Nelson decided to improve her fitness. With personal initiative and family support, a lifetime passion for nutrition was born. “It was a total transformation,” Nelson says, and her ability to focus and move herself forward toward big goals is helping her achieve great things as a student-athlete and as an ambassador for health equity.
In the pool, Michigan water polo student-athlete Kathy Rogers helps her team win games. Outside the pool, she has much bigger aspirations as she chases her dreams of making the world a healthier place through the field of public health.
Amani Echols' chose public health because she wanted to make the most impact for the most people. As a co-founder of the Health Equity High School summit, and a staff member at doula program, Dial-A-Doula, she's working directly to combat health inequity and inspire new leaders.