About the Author.
Kelly Perry is a Thai-American global public health researcher & storyteller. She received her BA in Neuroscience, English, and Medicine, Health & Society from Vanderbilt University and her MPH from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill Gillings School of Global Public Health.
She currently works in Bangkok, Thailand for FHI 360.
(Image Credits: Vanderbilt University/Joe Howell)
Thank you for visiting this space, even if only for a peek. Your time is truly valued.
The Health Equity Advocacy Lanterns (H.E.A.L.) blog is an alcove for storytelling, empowerment, and learning more about those of us who wake up every day and say they strive for health equity, who work in global public health, who itch to make a dent in the world and improve others’ lives. This alcove, a home for exploration, vulnerability, and connection, hopes to provide some solace and community in this loud world.
Collaborating and mentoring a plethora of inspiring human beings in the global public health field has been a privilege. Yet, the more interactions and relationships formed, the more I realized the need for a platform where stories can be shared and community, however informal, can be built through those stories and words. Global public health, as you may know, is siloed. Emerging global public health professionals are, at times, on their tiptoes straining to glimpse the breadth of careers available to them. Some global public health professionals operate without a sense of shared kinship. Their inboxes, calendars, and to-do lists dictating their thoughts and energy, sometimes forgetting that:
We are here because we advocate for health equity in one way or another in our daily activities. That health equity should be the center of our work, our thoughts, our energy.
The HEAL blog is a platform for all the ‘lanterns’ out there to share their stories and inspire global public health professionals—emerging and current. I have learned so much from these stories, journeying with my interviewees as they authentically painted for me stories of their lives. I hope you will be as moved by them as I am.
The HEAL blog is a reminder to you not only that each person has a story, but that each story is a gem in its own way, with courage, resilience, as well as suffering and uncertainty hidden between the lines. The HEAL blog is a reminder to you that you are not alone in global public health, that others are right there with you working tirelessly to heal earth and her people, to work toward a day where we are less broken.
I believe the culture of learning and storytelling flow in the same vein, so expect features on books and other fun.
With love & in health,
Kelly
The HEAL Blog 