Alishia Parkhill is a student at the University of Maryland, Baltimore (UMB) Graduate School enrolled in the MS in Health and Social Innovation program with a concentration in Aging and Applied Thanatology. Upon completion of this program, Parkhill aims to create a self-sustaining social enterprise to support people in underserved communities facing death. She would help support those who are at their most vulnerable. Before starting the master’s program, she spent time as a senior leader in nonprofit management and is currently a consultant with various end-of-life organizations.
Sixteen years ago, Alishia was diagnosed with a life-threatening illness. Her experience battling this disease showed her how important it is to talk about end-of-life care is. She felt that medical professionals and family members were often afraid to speak in a forthright manner with patients about their prognosis and possible death. Her experience revealed that people often weren’t fully aware of how sick they were because vague or indirect language was used to talk about their condition. Parkhill’s future social enterprise would ensure people know their health status and can make informed decisions about their serious illness as well as their own death.
Lauren Everett is the Development and Communications Coordinator for 826NYC, a non-profit steeped in helping thousands of students around NYC write their paths forward. The Atlanta, GA native received her Bachelor’s degree in Public Relations from Valdosta State University while minoring in African-American studies. Social Innovation piqued her interest when she decided that her career should align with both her passion and purpose of better understanding and supporting people who looked just like her. After a great deal of research, she found the perfect Master’s program at UMB to help her become an intentional entrepreneur but a social and cultural innovator!
Falilu Opeyemi Agbaje (OP) is a recent graduate of the MS in Health and Social Innovation program. OP pursued the MS in Health and Social Innovation with hopes of addressing disparities related to innovative approaches to assisting young people struggling with health issues. Using the principles and skills taught in the MS in Health and Social Innovation program, coupled with his passion to help his community, OP and his partner, Januari McKay, founded Aolat Treatment Place. This venture aims to contribute towards increasing mental health awareness and services through provision of friendly mental health care, psychiatric rehabilitation, and intensive outpatient program specifically among minors, adolescents, and adults in Baltimore Maryland by leveraging traditional face-to-face approaches to foster community mobilization and behavior change messaging. These programs will deliver the personalized services that the target groups need to achieve their mental health goals.
The program will enhance access of the target groups to integrated, inclusive, confidential, and safe mental health services through counselling support services delivered from the dedicated onsite friendly drop-in center – “My Mental Health, My Health Booths.”
Julie decided to apply to MS in Health and Social Innovation program, because it had all of the components that she was looking for in a master's program. After researching MBA, MSW or MPH programs, the Health and Social Innovation program seemed like the perfect blend of all three of those degrees. Her ultimate career goals are to help health related programs achieve success through optimizing their potential.
"I love thinking through social and health related issues to help create solutions. My goal of helping others through my work has not changed, but this program has helped improve my strategies in approaching how to help create change."
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