Sadie: Hello. My name is Sadie Holt and today I will be interviewing Jeanie Holt. I know you are a candidate for the President of the American Public Health Association, also known as the APHA. Why do you want to be President?
Jeanie: Well, you know, Sadie, I love APHA. I have worked as a volunteer in a variety of ways for APHA for about 20 years and I just think it is such a great organization and this is another way I can serve, by serving as President.
Sadie: What does the President of the APHA do?
Jeanie: The President kind of has 2 roles. One of the important things the President does is get people excited about the Association and help them see how important they are to the Association and what kinds of work they can do to strengthen public health and strengthen the American Public Health Association. The second important thing that the President does is the President kind of puts a spotlight on a health issue that the President thinks we need to work more on.
Sadie: What are some ways that you would get the community excited about public health?
Jeanie: Well, I mainly would be working with the members of the American Public Health Association because they are the ones who are working in the communities. I can’t be in every community but I can get them excited about the work that public health can do. So I would talk to them and say, “What excites you about the American Public Health Association? And what skills can you bring to help us make a stronger, better organization? And then how can help you in the work that you do out in the communities?” so that we are working all together as an organization.
Sadie: OK. So what is one major problem do you think you would try to help as President?
Jeanie: So you know…we’ve been working on racism for a long time. And I think we aren’t making as good a progress as we need to make in stopping forms of oppression. It’s not just racism but it’s sexism, it’s anti-LGBTQ-ism, um… ableism. So all those kinds of oppression, I think we need to change the values of this country. And one of the… for example, we focus so much on our individual rights and not enough on the responsibilities we have to the community. So when people are focused on “this is best for me” and not thinking about what is best for the whole community then it’s very easy for them to say, “those people don’t matter as much so I don’t need to worry about them; I don’t need to make sure they get a good education or whatever they need to be healthy.” So that’s where I would like us to work, to really think about what are the values that need to change in order for us to make it a fair place for everybody to be.
Sadie: What are some of the reasons that you would try to convince people to try to help solve this?
Jeanie: Well, whenever there’s a group of people that’s being oppressed in a society, they’re not as able to give their best to everybody; to themselves and everybody else. And so all of us are a little bit less healthy, a little bit less strong when there are some people who are not given the opportunities that they need to be their best, healthiest self. And so that’s a reason that I think we need to…and besides that it’s just fair, it’s just fair to have everybody have an equal opportunity.
Sadie: What are some skills you would bring if you were President?
Jeanie: One of the skills I have that I think is really important is that I connect with people. And I connect with people by really listening to what they have to say and thinking about and understanding what are thinking about. And then also, connecting them with other people. So, I may hear you talk about, say. climate change and you’re very concerned about it…and I remember that last week I talked to Charlie, and Charlie’s very concerned about climate change as well…so then I can connect the two of you and say, “You guys should talk to each other because you’ve got some ideas in common but you also can have some innovative, creative ideas that you can share…” So making those connections strengthens the whole organization by helping people connect with each other. And that’s an important skill that I think I bring.
Sadie: Final question. What are you doing to prepare to be President?
Jeanie: Well, I am doing a lot of reading. There are a lot of books about the values of this society, about racism, about other forms of oppression. Lots of people have done a lot of thinking about this and a lot of talking about it so I’ve been doing a lot of reading and a lot of thinking, and just kind of reflecting on that. I’m also talking to people and saying, “What are your ideas? What are your thoughts? What are your concerns? How would you go about changing things in our society?” And I’ve created a website so people can learn more about me. I’m just having a lot of fun thinking about all of these issues, talking to people, learning about it, and getting ready to run for President.
Sadie: Thank you for joining me today and good luck with your campaign. This has been Sadie Holt interviewing Jeanie Holt. I hope you have a good day. Good bye!
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