Alexis Washington

I started my journey in healthcare during my sophomore year, originally pursuing nursing before transitioning to public health based on my mentor's guidance. I realized that while I'm good with frontline work, I actually prefer doing behind-the-scenes work for the people, which led me to public health where I know I can grow as a leader. I completed my Bachelor of Arts in Public Health, taking AP and honors classes in high school including nursing courses that laid the foundation for my degrees. I was one of only three people selected at my college for the accelerated MPH program at Tulane School of Public Health and Tropical Medicine, and I finished my degree within a year when it usually takes two to almost three years. During my education, I completed research coordinator CATS training certification from Tulane, which helped me grow into research even though I was originally more interested in policy work. I gained hands-on experience through clinical rotations at Ochsner hospital and worked at Noella Community Health Center, a nonprofit organization. This August, I'm starting a management role at the Louisiana Department of Health, working under the Chief of Staff. I was one of the lucky few selected for this program, where I'll be supervising and doing case studies for the entire state of Louisiana while advocating for healthier and stronger communities. This role will lead to a permanent position as a program manager at LDH. I'm currently mentoring at least two students, helping them find internships and showing them the ropes of being a grad student.