Background & Bio
Candice received a Bachelor of Health Science Education Degree, concentration in Community Health, at the University of Florida (UF). After that accomplishment, she was hired by the Florida Department of Health Seminole County where she began her career in Public Health as the SWAT Coordinator (Students Working Against Tobacco); she planned, organized, and arranged various constructive and successful health educational activities for youths. To advance her professional knowledge, Candice then pursued and obtained a Master of Public Health (MPH), concentration in Maternal and Child Health, at the University of South Florida (USF). With that achievement, she was instantly hired as an Interconception Coordinator at the Central Hillsborough Healthy Start Project, a program under REACHUP, Inc. (a non-profit organization) in Tampa, Florida.
Over the nineteen years at Central Hillsborough Healthy Start Project, Candice handled various responsibilities. Her initial duties began with providing the community with health education to clients who needed resources and/or added knowledge of self-care. She also provided health services of intervention to prevent poor birth outcomes. Her responsibilities were advanced when she assumed the position as Public and Community Health Director, which included effective strategizing to engage consumers’ participation in Maternal and Child Health services. Candice also managed and provided oversights to the Federal Healthy Start Peer Support Group Network to address and rectify gaps in the current preventative health education delivery system. She coordinated and supervised volunteers and collegiate interns and served as the Community Advisor for the USF Peer Health Educators (formerly known as The Preconception Peer Health Educators), which required her capability to provide appropriate educational tools and guidance for the group, which were further shared with the larger communities to include residents, middle and high school students, and college peers. Educating the community in healthy habits has been Candice’s commitment.
Candice is married with two children. She loves to read and enjoys movie nights at home with her family.
My Current Work
At AMCHP, Candice manages a portfolio of projects aimed at supporting individualized leadership development for MCH and CYSHCN professionals across roles and settings, including those new to (and aspiring to) formal leadership positions in state/territory Title V programs. She also supports jurisdictional capacity building in priority areas such as equitable and anti-racist practice, youth and family partnership, and emergency preparedness and response. Candice leads efforts to develop and disseminate resources, such as the MCH Essentials Series, aimed at augmenting workforce knowledge, skills, and abilities to address current and projected needs, and brings her expertise to the National MCH Workforce Development Center as manager of its change management and adaptive leadership Core. She also plays key roles in AMCHP’s efforts to collect, analyze, and share MCH workforce data, and leverages her extensive mentorship experience to support advancement initiatives for students and early career professionals.
Ask Me About
Leadership development, preconception/interconception care, infant mortality, worksite wellness, health education, fatherhood/male involvement, and family fun.
