What is your official title at Drexel?

Program Director, Office of Community Engagement (OCE), College of Medicine

Explain what you do in under 50 words.

My job is to connect future health professionals to community sites so they can learn from community members and understand that health is so much larger than just not coughing. The scaffolding for those connections includes two courses, a summer internship, volunteer opportunities and the Health Outreach Project clinics.

Have you ever wished you could make up a more accurate title for yourself? If so, what would it have been?

“Door Opener.” I am often not “in the room where it happens” — where students are engaging with community members and site personnel. But I prepare the way, brainstorming and planning with sites, communicating possibilities with students, and helping to connect all parties with a vision and a schedule. That’s when the magic happens. I just open the doors.

Who do you interact with most on a daily basis?

I work closely with a great team in the OCE: Steve Rosenzweig, MD, Laura Mullin and Sammy Brink. Along with first- and second-year medical students, I am also frequently engaging with leaders in community sites (schools, social service, educational and health organizations), as well as with colleagues across the University.

What is your typical day like?

I am often in meetings (in-person and Zoom), or preparing for meetings, or inviting people to meetings. I like to start my days early — which is usually when I send out and answer a lot of email.

How do you see your work fitting into the big picture of the missions of the College?

President Fry has always envisioned and supported Drexel to be the most civically engaged University. My work fits with the work of so many others at the University in establishing ties between our students and community programs, building relationships that help further the work of those sites while, at the same time, our students are gaining skills, confidence and understanding.

What are your favorite and least favorite tasks?

I love meeting with new sites and crafting a mutually beneficial connection based on their goals and our students’ strengths. I love reaching out to community sites with whom I’ve been in partnership over many years. I love introducing students to innovative community partners, and community partners to students. My least favorite tasks include organizing my desk and taking care of bureaucratic duties.

What is your educational and previous work background? How did those prepare you for what you do now?

I have a master’s degree in social work — but between undergraduate and graduate school, I was a professional cook and baker. While my education in social work prepared me for better understanding social structures and human interaction, my time in professional kitchens helped me to be organized, efficient and creative in terms of setting up opportunities and problem-solving.

When you are working on site, do you bring your own lunch or eat out?

I usually bring my own lunch. Now that we have moved to the Health Sciences Building, that is a more challenging commitment (given all the great restaurants nearby), but having my own food is more economical and quicker.

What’s a piece of media you enjoyed or that really made you stop and think?

I recently finished reading Demon Copperhead, by Barbara Kingsolver. Actually, I’m not sure if “reading” is the right verb, since I sort of consumed it. The story takes place in a rural community in the Appalachian Mountains of Virginia, an area that has suffered from the opioid and methamphetamine crises. Kingsolver’s characters are written as full, complicated people. The novel gave me insight and greater empathy for a part of the world I know little about.

Is there a piece of Philly culture that you return to over and over again?

Any hoagie on a Sarcone’s hoagie roll. When I first moved to Philly from the West Coast, I remember biting into a hoagie with broccoli rabe, roasted garlic, feta cheese and pepperoncinis and thinking, “This is why we moved across the country.”