Kayla Williams ’19 knows her actions have profound impact.
It is a lesson she picked up in the Valeriote Goldman Public Health Leadership Program.
“It’s not just a learning opportunity, but a means for self-discovery—professionally and personally,” says Williams.
Funded by Trustee Susan Valeriote ’77 and her husband, Ken Goldman, the program pairs a select group of SCU public health majors with leaders in the field—nonprofit CEOs, public health officials, and others.
In class, the pairs discuss readings that deal with ethical issues they’ll face in the field, as well as writings from the likes of Martin Luther King Jr. and Ursula K. Le Guin. Then the students work in paid internships managed by their mentors.
Williams worked with Dolores Alvarado, CEO of Community Health Partnership, which advocates on behalf of 39 clinics that are treating 200,000 low-income residents in Santa Clara and San Mateo counties.