GW Urban Health Program

The Urban Health Fellowship Program was proud to recognize hosted by as its Community Partner of the Year at the 4th Annual Practice Partner Awards & Recognition Ceremony at this month.

Over the past three years, the organization has welcomed upwards of 50 Urban Health Fellows, including eight during this current academic year, to collaborate on projects related to substance use and prevention. This year, Fellows have had the opportunity to work alongside the DC Prevention Center on the Look Out, Lift Up project, with the aim of empowering youth to become effective public health advocates for their communities. Leaders Nola Rich, Carmen Bonilla Araujo, and Rubini Hernandez further enrich the Fellowship experience by supporting several students with their practicum experiences. Beyond serving as collaborators and educators, the DC Prevention Center has also provided job placements to outstanding Fellows, reinforcing a strong pipeline from learning to leadership.

This recognition comes full circle, as Nola herself is a UHP alumna who participated in UHP while pursuing her MPH at the Milken Institute School of Public Health from 2020–2022!

We extend our deepest appreciation to the DC Prevention Center Wards 1 & 2 team for their unwavering commitment to this partnership and for the lasting impact they continue to have on our students and our community. Thank you!

At the 4th Annual Practice Partner Awards & Recognition Ceremony at , two outstanding Urban Health Fellows shared powerful reflections on this past year, highlighting their contributions to community health interventions, their experiences learning directly from DC community members, and their growth as emerging public health leaders. Thank you, Brayden Alexis and Devin Murphy-Stanley, for representing the Urban Health Fellowship Program with such remarkable distinction. 👏

We are excited to welcome Kelly Velazquez-Umaña, Special Assistant to the Chief Health Officer at the Montgomery County Department of Health and Human Services as our guest lecturer for today’s Community Conversation! Fellows will learn how language can reinforce or challenge inequities, develop greater cultural and structural awareness, and gain practical approaches for communicating in ways that promote trust, inclusion, and equity. See you soon!

Last Month, Fellows had the opportunity to learn more about health policymaking in Washington, DC from guest lecturer, Ona Balkus, Committee Director for the Committee on Health. Ona outlined the structure of the DC government and the role of the Committee on Health, including its responsibilities for health-related legislation, budget approval, and agency oversight.

From understanding the power of testimony in November with Rachel White of to learning how that advocacy translates into concrete policy decisions and budgetary outcomes through Ona Balkus’s conversation, Fellows are now equipped to engage more intentionally with community partners by centering their work not only in lived experience but also in a clear understanding of how funding and legislation shape public health outcomes across the District.

Thank you for sharing your insight into the public health policymaking process, as well as your experience in health policy leadership, Ona!

Thank you to everyone who registered for our Resiliency Shoebox Workshop!

Due to the closure of GW campuses and centers because of ongoing weather, the workshop scheduled for today has been postponed. We will be in touch soon with an updated date.

We appreciate your understanding and look forward to connecting with you soon!

We are honored to welcome Ona Balkus, Committee Director for the DC Council Committee on Health as our guest lecturer for tomorrow’s Community Conversation from 1:00–3:00 PM in GWSPH Room B100A. Fellows will gain insight into the policymaking process in Washington, DC, as well as Ms. Balkus’s career trajectory in health policy leadership. We look forward to this engaging conversation!

We are honored to be featured in the 2025 Impact Report!
Our Fellows continue to inspire us as they build meaningful partnerships with organizations across DC and create lasting impact in the community. We could not be more proud of their dedication and leadership.

We are very excited to welcome Deanna Troust from as our guest lecturer for this Friday’s Community Conversation on effective strategies to address mis- and disinformation. This conversation will explore how mis- and disinformation shape community perceptions and health outcomes, and what actionable steps we can take to counter them. Looking forward to an engaging and informative discussion!

Answering the Call: Cadence Gillaspie

“I’m involved with UHP because the project we are doing at Eastern is very similar to a project that I had to do in high school, which introduced me to what public health was. It means a lot to me to have this opportunity to share what public health is to the next generation of leaders, the same way it was passed down to me.”

Cadence is an Urban Health Fellow working on the Healthy Teen Scholars Project in partnership with Eastern Senior High School. She has gone above and beyond, not only supporting her own team but also joining additional Healthy Teen Scholars classes to program success. Thank you for your dedication, Cadence! Your commitment to fostering team collaboration and strengthening engagement is very much appreciated!

Just $2.50 provides one nutritious meal to a family in need!

Last year during National Public Health Week, the Urban Health Fellowship Program and T.E.A.M. Milken partnered with to host a campus meal-packing event, where our GWSPH community successfully packed 10,000 meals for individuals experiencing food insecurity in the Philippines. It was an incredible success, and we’re ready to make it happen again!

To host Rise Against Hunger for this year’s meal-packing event in April, we must raise $4,000! We can do this!

Just $2.50 provides one nutritious meal and moves us closer to our goal. Every dollar and every donor counts. Major Bonus: the academic level (undergrad vs grad) with the most donors will have a chance to win a lunch with !

If you’re able, please consider contributing!
Donate via the link in our bio or visit our table tomorrow at the entrance of the school (venmo accepted). If you are interested in packing meals with us come April, please feel free to reach out to [email protected] for more information.