COMMUNICATING GLOBAL HEALTH ACTIVITIES ACROSS THREE SCHOOLS (2006-2012)

I was originally hired at the Johns Hopkins Center for Global Health as their Web Content Manager. The Center has just formed in 2006 as the coordinating body for Global Health activities between the Schools of Medicine, Public Health, and Nursing. Johns Hopkins University's schools were rather decentralized, and the founder of the Center, Thomas Quinn, M.D., hoped that we could inspire professors to work together in a cross-disciplined fashion if they were aware of what each was working on. To this end, we created a Global Health Database and Map that recorded each global health-related project taking place in each of the three schools -- and eventually, the entire university. Each project listed the name of the faculty member, his/her school, the country the project was based in, topical keywords, and a project description. I coordinated with the University's digital team to write the specs for the database and oversaw its development, as well as managed several interns as we entered the project data. We also developed a website for the Center, where the database lived. Immediately, we heard from researchers across the university that they were making connections with others who had similar research interests. (The Center for Global Health's website has been redesigned since I departed in 2012, and the Project Database and Map does not currently seem to be working.)

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After the website launched, I began to take on other communications duties and was promoted to Marketing Communications Manager. In this role, I developed print pieces for our two major audience segments: a donor booklet that our Board of Directors and University Gift Officers could use on donor calls, and a less expensive rack card that discussed the work of the Center. This piece was distributed throughout the University to students, and to other global health professionals at conferences.

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Another important role the Center for Global Health played was to support students interested in global health with their educational goals. As the Center launched funding opportunities for students to obtain scholarships and go abroad for global health projects, I publicized these opportunities, and then publicized the students who were selected for the honors. I also worked on organizing global health-related lectures and happy hours for the students, and I sent out a weekly email newsletter with listings of events, funding opportunities, and job openings in the field.

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