Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Shanta Whitaker. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.

Hi Shanta , thanks for joining us today. Was there a defining moment in your professional career? A moment that changed the trajectory of your career?

Towards the end of completing my Ph.D. in Microbiology at Yale, I started to feel like I couldn’t see myself having a career in academia. I liked research and the process of discovery and I loved studying infectious diseases, but I couldn’t see myself in a laboratory for the rest of my career. Around that time, my lab buddy was applying for postdoctoral fellowships. I learned about an applied laboratory fellowship that would expose me to public health, which was called (at the time) the Emerging Infectious Diseases Association of Public Health Laboratories Postdoctoral Fellowship. The fellowship allowed trainees to be matched at a state public health laboratory or the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. I ended up matching at the North Carolina State Laboratory of Public Health. Little did I know that time would change the trajectory of my career.

The defining moment that sparked a career pivot was working in the laboratory during the Swine Flu epidemic. It was then that I saw how states and the federal government mobilize to address a public health emergency. A few years later, I returned to school and got a Master of Public Health (MPH) from the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health. During my MPH program, I learned in depth about the obstacles many Americans face in achieving optimal health and the importance of health policy and advocacy to address health disparities. Since then, I have held various jobs in the public health arena, with the goal of trying to have my passion match my purpose. Each job brings me closer to that goal.

Great, appreciate you sharing that with us. Before we ask you to share more of your insights, can you take a moment to introduce yourself and how you got to where you are today to our readers.

I am a Managing Director of Continuum Health Group. I live in Washington, DC, but I was born and partially raised in Monticello, NY, and went to high school in South Boston, VA. In high school, I thought I wanted to be a lawyer because I liked to argue a lot LOL. But during my senior year, I took Advanced Placement biology, fell in love with it, and decided to major in biology. After high school, I attended Virginia Union University, and during my time there, I picked up chemistry as a minor. While I thought I might go to medical school, I ultimately ended up pursuing a PhD in Microbiology as I couldn’t stomach dealing with the loss of a patient.

After a career pivot from science, I have held various public health public health jobs over the years.

Three years ago, a colleague and I co-founded Continuum Health Group, a public health consulting firm. In this role, I work with clients to build a health equity blueprint to help them address whatever pressing public health problem they are looking to solve. I have helped organizations identify the right community partners to amplify their reach, I have managed clients’ programs and projects, and I have worked with clients to think through strategy and identify the best way to craft messaging so it resonates with the community (whether policymakers or laypersons) they are trying to reach.

We’d love to hear a story of resilience from your journey.

When I was a senior in high school, I was in a house fire, and my family and I lost everything but the clothes on our backs and our historical documents (like birth certificates and social security cards) that my mom had the foresight to throw from the house as we were escaping. That day, I learned how material possessions could be gone in a second, so I focused on experiences and did not get too caught up in what I owned.

Learning and unlearning are both critical parts of growth – can you share a story of a time when you had to unlearn a lesson?

A lesson I had to unlearn very early in life was not speaking up or advocating for myself. Early in high school, I was not doing too well in class and was afraid to ask the teacher for help. I failed an exam, and when my grandmother saw it, she was furious. She told me I needed to learn to open my mouth and stick up for myself because no one else would do so if I didn’t. From then on, I have advocated for myself, which has helped me at all phases of my career.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://cha-dc.com/
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/thatscosmo/
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/shantaw/
• Twitter: https://twitter.com/SWhitPhD