Gen Meredith (left) and Audrey Baker (right)
Five years ago, the Cornell MPH Program was in its infancy and looking for faculty and staff to bring this Program from an idea to reality. The first hire the MPH Program made was Audrey Baker, now Manager of Applied Learning and Evaluation. Audrey, a graduate of Cornell’s biology and society program, and Cornell’s Institute of Public Affairs (CIPA) master’s program, came to the MPH Program after many years of applied public health work, aligned so well with the MPH pillars of sustainability, equity, and engagement.
During her years as a student at Cornell, Audrey became interested in inequities, and how to push back against the status quo. Professors inspired her to be curious, to ask questions, and to seek answers. Following undergrad, Audrey was inspired to learn more about the intersection of equity and environmental sustainability, and the impacts on food systems and healthy food. To learn more, she spent a time in Washington D.C. learning from various agencies and Members of Congress about how to implement her ideas in the real world, and then working with AmeriCorps in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.
Seeking to lead change related to school food and youth agency, Audrey narrowed her focus to community gardens, school gardens, and healthy foods in schools, finding ways to bring students together to care about the earth while learning about where fresh and healthy food comes from. Since then and spurred via her learning and practice as a Master of Public Administration Student, Audrey has developing nonprofit programs in Ithaca and Tompkins County and supports food systems and food security programs that reach many youths and families in New York State.
“Audrey is such an asset to the Cornell MPH Program” said Gen Meredith, associate director of the Cornell MPH Program. “As a student, Audrey was a voracious learner, and developed her own applied learning experiences to hone her skills and help address key determinants of health. She brought those perspectives to our program and has helped create systems and processes that allow Cornell MPH students to do the same. Audrey is an advocate for students, community collaborators, and positive learning and service experiences for both. I believe the connections she makes and relationships she fosters benefit public health outcomes, in the short and long term.”
“This program is a dream come true,” said Baker. “I’m so glad I found the Cornell MPH Program.”
Written by Katie Lesser and Gen Meredith