Incubator Welcomes Courtney Blum
Being brought up in a big family, many of whom were healthcare providers, Courtney Blum recalls, “health and well-being was an undercurrent that shaped so many conversations—from everything from politics to simply being able to lead a good life. I realized how crucial it was to see health as foundational to so much of what we do across almost every profession, experience and relationship, and being able to think critically through all of that is a key to positively shaping public health.”
These conversational currents would eventually lead her on a journey that included studying foreign aid effectiveness; connecting former heads of state in sub-Saharan Africa with public and private stakeholders through roundtables for an international research center; building an understanding of human-centered design, mission-driven digital design in New York; and finally getting back to her square one—public health.
Now Senior Program Manager at the Global Health Education and Learning Incubator (GHELI), Courtney is excited about the opportunity to leverage and incorporate her interdisciplinary work with her core interest in public health, and shifting the way we teach and discuss these complex concepts across disciplines. She looks forward to working with GHELI Faculty Director, Dr. Sue J. Goldie, to learn more about navigating complex topics in ways that make health “translatable and approachable” through GHELI’s strategic approach, partnerships, and initiatives.
“I think our capacity to learn from each other and communicate ideas is driven by our ability to think creatively and not see everything as black and white.” Courtney reflects. “Being open to tough conversations rooted in critical, creative thought, and a willingness to be honest about we know and don’t know, is especially crucial in public health because so much of what we do is in the gray area between disciplines and ideas.”
A graduate of the Commonwealth Honors College at the University of Massachusetts at Amherst, Courtney tested such connections during her political science and public health studies, where she focused on foreign aid effectiveness in post-colonial sub-Saharan Africa. “It was one of the least straightforward topics I could have chosen. It allowed me to stay rooted in learning more about public health, and really expanded my knowledge
Her interests opened up a door to work with the USAID-partnered African Presidential Research Center, where she traveled across the sub-Saharan African region to organize and set agendas for roundtable discussions. The sessions created fora “where everybody has a seat and a say…and has the opportunity to learn about and discuss these multifaceted issues in a way that feels more accessible to everyone.”
The questions these sessions raised stuck with Courtney as she expanded her work to include design and understanding human-centered behavior: “In thinking about ways that we process and engage people about messy topics, I wanted to give myself space to make sure that I was doing something that felt very intentional,” she says. “Taking space meant that I was cultivating experience across all these different creative disciplines that could be applied to public health.”
How do such experiences shape Courtney’s hopes and vision for engagement with GHELI and coming back to public health? Directly and profoundly. “We have a responsibility to give voice to groups and ideas that are directly affected by public health issues, and should be directly involved in creating solutions to those problems,” she concludes, “And regardless of expertise or background I believe making space for those exchanges is the key to what we do.”
Welcome, Courtney!