On April 5th, 2018, we celebrated the life and work of Dr. Rebecca Head and raised money for the Rebecca Head Fund for Education and Leadership at a reception at the home of long-time Ecology Center supporters Janis Bobrin and Mike Allemang.
Trained as a toxicologist, Rebecca was a leader in the Michigan public health community, a nationally prominent environmental health advocate, and an inspiration for hundreds of health professionals.
Rebecca worked with the Ecology Center on dozens of issues, including the roll-out of Washtenaw County’s groundbreaking pollution prevention ordinance, the Pall/Gelman groundwater contamination, a statewide green chemistry initiative, and much more. Throughout her career, she was an indomitable voice for public health, equity, and environmental justice. In all of her roles, Dr. Head worked to educate and engage health professionals on critical environmental health issues.
In recognition of her life and career, in 2015 the Ecology Center established the Rebecca Head Fund for Education and Leadership, dedicated to innovative initiatives that educate health professionals at the nexus of human health and the environment.
In 2018-2020, contributions to the Rebecca Head Fund will primarily support the Ecology Center’s Health Leaders Fellowship, which trains Michigan health professionals on environmental health issues and civic engagement. To date, we have trained 70 health professionals from across Michigan. With the support that we intend to generate for the Fund, we will train 70 more!
The Ecology Center’s Health Leaders Fellowship prepares Michigan health professionals to become champions for healthy people and a healthy planet. The program trains physicians, nurses, and other health care and public health practitioners to become environmental health leaders through issue and civic engagement training and field experiences.
Since the Fellowship’s founding in 2014, the program has won national recognition and has garnered interest for development in other states. The Fellowship predates the establishment of the Rebecca Head Fund, but it so closely reflects Rebecca’s interests and spirit that it offers a perfect way to honor her memory.
Here are five ways you can support environmental health leaders:
$5,000-Sponsor a Michigan Health Professional for a Nine-Month Training
Your support sponsors nine-month training for one of our Fellows. Through issue and civic engagement training and field experiences, this health professional will become a leader in driving social change and advocating for environmental health.
$2,500-Sponsor the Health Leaders Lansing Day
Your support sponsors our “Lansing Day” where our fellows travel to the capitol to educate lawmakers about critical environmental health issues like ending childhood lead poisoning and addressing climate change. Fellows gain hands-on advocacy experience, and their message will reach lawmakers across the state.
$1,000-Support the Media and Spokesperson Training Day
Each year our Fellows receive training on how to earn media attention for environmental health issues. Your support sponsors training on how to pitch a story, ace a television or radio interview, and become a spokesperson for environmental health in our state.
$500-Support our Intensive Introduction to Environmental Health Training Day
Your support will help us provide our incoming cohort of Fellows with intensive training on the links between poor health and toxic chemicals, an unhealthy food system, and dirty energy generation. In this orientation to environmental health, Fellows will gain a strong base of knowledge to build upon throughout the Fellowship.
$250-Support our Online Training Sessions
Doctors, nurses and other health professionals are very busy people, to accommodate their schedules we supplement our in-person training with six online sessions by environmental health experts from around the country. Your support will help us offer these invaluable sessions for our Fellows.
Please visit our Rebecca Head Fund for Education and Leadership and Health Leaders Fellowship for more information.
