Background & Bio

Bringing a deep-seated commitment to identifying and promoting equitable solutions for reducing health disparities, Ellisa graduated as a first-generation student from California State University, East Bay in 2020, earning a Bachelor of Science in Health Sciences. In 2021, she joined AMCHP as a CDC Public Health Associate, dedicating two years to the Child & Adolescent Health Team. During this time, Ellisa focused on enhancing the capacity of Title V programs to address racial inequities in access to culturally relevant foods, employing a food justice lens.

Ellisa played a pivotal role in the development of AMCHP’s “Food Security” topic page. This resource highlights the ongoing efforts of Title V programs in tackling food security, showcases AMCHP’s intentional partnerships and projects aimed at creating equitable food access, and features existing policies and community-rooted practices that help build sustainable pathways in food access.

My Current Work
Ellisa has now transitioned over to the Women’s and Infant Health Team as a Program Analyst. Supporting a collaborative project between the Women’s and Infant Health Team and the Evidence and Implementation team, forerunner in community-driven evidence. In this role, Ellisa is contributing to enhancing AMCHP’s capacity to sustain transformative partnerships and align the maternal and child health (MCH) field with community-defined evidence. Ellisa is coordinating efforts to document community-defined evidence among birth justice organizations, advocate for its recognition within predominantly white-led institutions, and support initiatives to position community-defined evidence as the foundation for investment within public health and policy realms. Ellisa is committed to navigating power dynamics in the generation of evidence and ensuring utmost respect for intellectual property and historical trauma when engaging with community-based organizations.

Other Work
Graduate Student Epidemiology Program (GSEP)

Ask Me About
Community-Defined Evidence, Food Security, Health Equity, and Good Reads