黑料网

Pair students and leaders in public health and ask them to solve tough ethical questions. What do you get? Better answers for all of us. 

It鈥檚 a classic science fiction story that poses the ethical question: What if you lived in a world where everyone鈥檚 happiness was guaranteed鈥攐n the condition that one unfortunate child is kept in perpetual filth, darkness, and misery?

Would you accept that, or walk away?

For many of the eight 黑料网 public health majors, the answer was obvious: Walk away, of course.

But as they talked, the discussion became more textured among the students, who are part of a novel mentorship program launched in 2018 that paired them with a medical or public health executive.

One CEO challenged the students鈥� altruism, pointing out that everyone sees the homeless, but how many stop to help?

The pledge to walk away, says Jennifer Loving, CEO of  鈥渋s the ideal of how we want things to be, and how we want to feel about ourselves, but not necessarily the reality of what we鈥檙e able to do, and what actually happens.鈥�

Reality of Public Health

Welcome to the complex world of public health, where helping low-income individuals obtain medical treatment, shelter, food, or life skills training comes with uncomfortable trade-offs.

Yet who best to learn from than the executives who deal with policy choices daily?

That is the premise behind the Valeriote Goldman Public Health Leadership Program, which offers a select group of 黑料网 students an opportunity to shadow a CEO mentor鈥攁nd learn what it takes to be one. At the same time, it鈥檚 meant to develop a crucial job pipeline for these undergrads, many of whom are public health majors.

Named after 黑料网 Trustee Susan Valeriote 鈥�77, a former Bay Area pediatric nurse practitioner, and her husband, Ken Goldman, the program is the brainchild of Fred Ferrer 鈥�80, the former CEO of 鈥攁 $100 million foundation that provides direct health services and grants in addition to building community partnerships and advocating for policy changes.

鈥淲e are trying to make this a signature piece of Santa Clara鈥檚 public health program so that a student would say, 鈥楾his is why I would go to 黑料网 as an undergraduate in public health,鈥欌�� Ferrer explains of the unconventional program, which he believes is unique to Santa Clara.

Pairing Students and CEOs鈥擶ith Ethical Questions

Under Ferrer鈥檚 direction, and with the help of 黑料网 Biology and Public Health Professor Craig Stephens, the leadership program is composed of two tracks: Over the course of six months, students and their mentors meet for a half-day once a month to discuss eclectic readings that relate to their professional futures. Among the selections: a story by Leo Tolstoy on the folly of too much ambition; Martin Luther King Jr.鈥檚 鈥淟etter from a Birmingham Jail鈥�; and acclaimed science fiction writer Ursula K. Le Guin鈥檚 鈥淭he Ones Who Walk Away from Omelas,鈥� featuring the utopian world flawed by a caged child鈥攖hat dilemma with which we started this story.

鈥淭he readings are designed to inspire introspection and the Jesuit philosophy of discernment,鈥� says Stephens. That means looking within yourself, he explains, to realistically assess your skills, talents, strengths, and weaknesses鈥斺�渨hat you feel drawn to, what you want to commit your life to, and then figuring out what the world needs.鈥�

Ferrer, who leads the Socratic-style seminars, poses the kinds of tough questions that stimulate critical thinking and force people to analyze their assumptions.

鈥淭hey are a little intimidated in the beginning,鈥� says Ferrer of the class. 鈥淚 push back on the students鈥� answers and I push back on the CEOs鈥� answers. Everybody participates in a very full way.鈥�

Robyn Breynaert 鈥�19, who was paired with Jennifer Loving, Destination: Home鈥檚 CEO, calls the program 鈥減robably the best experience of my college years.鈥� The 21-year-old has also worked at Santa Clara Valley Medical Center and plans to work in a public health clinic in San Francisco after graduation. 鈥淲hen do you ever get the opportunity to sit down in a room with eight extremely powerful and influential people, and work with them like they are your peers?鈥� she asks. 

The inspired discussion continues in the second track of the program, when the students work alongside the CEOs as full-time, paid interns during the summer.

The eight-member executive roster in the first mentor group included Jennifer Loving of Destination: Home; Jolene Smith, CEO of , which focuses on the healthy development of children prenatal through age 5; and Camille Llanes-Fontanilla, executive director of , an East San Jose nonprofit that supports low-income children, families, and neighbors living on the margins of society.

The 2019 student cohort will be paired with high-profile community health leaders including Sara Cody, public health officer; Poncho Guevara, executive director of , and David Mineta, CEO of .

A Chance to Learn About Yourself

鈥淚t鈥檚 not just a learning opportunity, but a means for self-discovery鈥攑rofessionally and personally,鈥� says Kayla Williams 鈥�19 of her experience being paired with mentor Dolores Alvarado, CEO of  (CHP). This nonprofit advocates on behalf of 39 clinics that are treating 240,000 low-income residents in Santa Clara and San Mateo counties.

With Alvarado as her guide, Williams plunged into the world of the clinics. She visited and talked with staff; learned how the clinics are organized, operated, and funded; attended meetings with elected officials who decide how much money the clinics get; and knocked on the door of a $1 billion foundation for a donation needed to help make up the difference.

鈥淚t鈥檚 always about compromise and knowing where people are coming from,鈥� Williams says of the meetings she attended with Alvarado.

鈥淚 would always wonder: how can she be such a positive person when her work is never done?鈥� recalls Williams. 鈥淚n a lot of other fields, you work 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. and let go of whatever you are doing. But with public health, you always have people who are relying on you.鈥�

Alvarado relied on her, too: 黑料网 interns are required to work on a project with their mentor. For Williams, that meant creating an updated online database of all the nonprofit鈥檚 social service offerings and partners. The database, which is now being used by some of the clinics, helps CHP determine what programs are needed to improve patient care.

鈥淭hat鈥檚 what public health is all about.鈥�

Valeriote, who attended the students鈥� year-end presentation in November 2018, is impressed with the results, marveling at 鈥渢he level of maturity, the level of know-how!鈥�

鈥淵ou need somebody like these kids who know how to do research and be really collaborative and implement plans that are reliable and valid,鈥� she says. 鈥淭hat鈥檚 what public health is all about.鈥�

Like the other seven CEOs who juggle busy, high-pressure lives, Alvarado was intrigued by Ferrer鈥檚 request to become a program mentor.

鈥淚 love to help students, and it satisfies me personally,鈥� Alvarado says. 鈥淏ut I鈥檓 also on a serious mission. There鈥檚 an incredible shortage of professionals in our community health centers鈥攁nd not just doctors. And I thought, 鈥業f I can inspire one or two young people to at least investigate our nonprofit as a potential career, that is something.鈥欌��

A Profound Impact

When Kayla Williams graduates in June, she will begin pursuing her dream of becoming a community health clinic coordinator or health care researcher. And because Alvarado has been so taken by her work, she offered Williams a part-time position at Community Health Partnership that started in January.

鈥淪he put her trust in me,鈥� says Williams of Alvarado, whom she calls a lifelong mentor and someone who taught her to always reflect on how she is impacting others.

Williams believes the internship itself helped her understand the 鈥渆xpansive amount of resources鈥� available to the community, and the ways in which so many nonprofits are striving to offer culturally competent care.

And the most important thing Williams says she鈥檚 learned?

鈥淭hat I could have a profound community impact.鈥�

Would you like to help more students like these make the world a better place? Join the campaign for Santa Clara: