The Wisconsin Population Health Service Fellowship

Beneli was placed in Madison at the Wisconsin Department of Health Services, Chronic Disease Prevention Unit.

Beneli Andert (they/them) received a BA in music and English from Gustavus Adolphus College in Minnesota and their Master of Public Health from the University of Wisconsin – Madison. They have been working on LGBTQ+ education, advocacy, social justice, and anti violence since 2015. During their fellowship, they collaborated on the Diabetes Action Plan, the State Health Assessment, and the Healthy Early at Home booklet. They participated in the Bureau of Community Health Promotion’s Health Equity workgroup and in its data subgroup. They also helped create recommendations for collecting data on sex and gender and worked extensively on a survey of suppliers of the National Diabetes Prevention Program. After their fellowship, Beneli has continued to work as a Community Data Analyst with HealthTIDE.

Taylor was placed at Public Health Madison & Dane County.

Taylor (she/her) is a first-generation graduate of Indiana University, where she received her Bachelor’s and Master’s degree in Public Health. While at Indiana University, she devoted much of her time to the Office of Student Diversity and Inclusion, bringing forth passive and active programs to the student population, collaborating with the cultural centers, advocating for student needs, and recruiting incoming students. While a fellow, Taylor worked with the Maternal and Child Health Unit at Public Health Madison & Dane County. She worked. at COVID community testing sites through out Dane County, internal and community evaluation projects, maternal and child health initiatives, strategic planning with executive leadership, and focus groups with middle and high school students. Throughout her time in the fellowship, she grew her skills in leadership, team collaboration, public speaking, being flexible and adaptable, project management, strategic planning, and many more. While in fellowship, Taylor became a doula, and is committed to continuing her work in maternal and child health with a focus on Black with and infant outcomes, advocating for Black and Brown communities, health equity, and diversity and inclusion efforts.

Emily completed her fellowship at the Eau Claire City-County Health Department. 

Emily Dejka (she/her) received her BS in Integrative Biology with a minor in English from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. She then completed her Master in Public Health in General Epidemiology from the University of Michigan. During her fellowship, Emily has had the opportunity to dive into all aspects of the COVID-19 response in Eau Claire. She was the team lead for their mobile vaccination efforts and worked with numerous partners to increase accessibility to the COVID-19 vaccine for residents throughout Eau Claire County. As COVID efforts scaled back, Emily transitioned to bigger picture projects, such as being on the team tasked with updating the department’s strategic plan. However, beyond the work, Emily has had the great privilege to know and work with a variety of exceptional public health professionals – both in and out of the department. These relationships have been an incredibly grounding and sustaining force during the pandemic. Following her fellowship, Emily stayed with the Eau Claire City County Health Department as a Public Health Specialist. 

Briana was placed at the Office of Preparedness and Emergency Healthcare within the Wisconsin Division of Public Health, Department of Health Services.

Briana received her Bachelor of Science in Psychology from the University of Wisconsin-Superior and her Master of Public Health with a concentration in Community and Behavioral Health Promotion from the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee Zilber School of Public Health. During her fellowship, Brie served in the Covid-19 response in a variety of roles including a tribal liaison, stakeholder outreach, vaccination planning, and the Vaccine Community Outreach Grant program. Post-fellowship Brie is working at the University of Wisconsin- Madison in the Department of Ophthalmology and Visual Sciences as a Research Coordinator.

Emily was dual-placed at the Wisconsin Department of Justice and Wisconsin Division of Public Health.

Emily received her Master in Public Health in Epidemiology from the University of Wisconsin- Milwaukee and her Bachelor of Science in Biology with certificates in Global Health and African Studies from the University of Wisconsin - Madison. Prior to her graduate studies, Emily worked with the Wisconsin Association of Free and Charitable Clinics and was a fellow with New Leaders Council Institute, a leadership development program for young professionals with an equity-focused curriculum on creating social and political change. While in grad school, Emily worked as a research assistant, exploring childhood lead exposure in Milwaukee, structural racism and redlining, and the health impacts of childhood adversity. During her fellowship, Emily was dual placed at the Wisconsin Department of Justice and the Department of Health Services Division of Public Health. At DHS, Emily’s work spanned across the Administrator’s Office, the minority health program, maternal mortality review, and strategic planning team. Within DOJ, her work focused on data projects in the Office of Crime Victim Services and Sexual Assault Nurse Examiners program.

Kong completed his fellowship with the Maternal and Child Health (MCH) Unit at the WI Department of Health Services.

Kong Xiong (he/him) was born and raised in Milwaukee, WI. His parents are Hmong refugees, who became working citizens in the United States after immigrating from Thailand in 1993. He is a first-generation college graduate and obtained his undergraduate degree in Nutritional Sciences from UW-Milwaukee in 2018 and his Master of Public Health from UW-Milwaukee in 2020. As a fellow, Kong was placed with the Maternal and Child Health (MCH) unit at the WI Department of Health Services, where he participated in a variety of public health projects relating to the MCH Title V Block Grant. Notable projects of his included analyzing data from a focus group study to understand Asian-American women's fish consumption behaviors and creating a template survey for the MCH Title V team to use for their request for funding applications. The fellowship community played a significant role in cementing his passion for improving health through grant work and community engagement. After the fellowship, Kong is working the city of Milwaukee Health Department as a Data and Evaluation Coordinator.

Amanda has completed her fellowship at the City of Milwaukee Health Department.

Amanda Richmond (she/her) received her Bachelor’s degree in Health Sciences from Gettysburg College and her Master of Public Health with a concentration in Epidemiology from the University of Michigan School of Public Health. Throughout her time there, Amanda participated in Community-Based Research Projects on food systems and served as a project manager for an evaluation study of a housing intervention in Detroit. Amanda is passionate about promoting health equity and coordinating strategies and policies to address the social and economic determinants health. As a fellow at the City of Milwaukee Health Department, Amanda worked with the Health Strategy Team on Departmental Strategic Planning and Community Health Improvement Planning, COVID-19 Response and Outreach with Community Health Workers, Healthy Food Access, and Lead Poisoning Prevention. Amanda continues to work with the City of Milwaukee Health Department as a Public Health Strategist focused on Economic Security and Housing.