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As recipient of APHA Public Health Fellowship in Government, André Stanley is focused on public health policy
July 22, 2011
André Stanley, who earned a master's degree from the Department of Health Services Policy and Management, is working on Capitol Hill where he has a role in shaping health and healthcare legislation.
Arnold School of Public Health alumnus André Stanley considers his 2011 American Public Health Association fellowship to be both an honor and a remarkable stroke of timing.
Stanley is the recipient of APHA's prestigious Public Health Fellowship in Government, which has given him the opportunity to spend 2011 in Washington, D.C. He is working with lawmakers and staff on Capitol Hill to help leaders make informed public health policy decisions.
Assigned to the staff of U.S. Rep. Brad Miller of North Carolina, Stanley said,
"The opportunity to work on a whole range of social service and human health issues is a policy wonk's dream."
As the health legislative assistant, Stanley is not only learning first-hand about the organizational and institutional structure and culture of the U.S. House of Representatives, but also about its legislative processes and procedures. Besides health and healthcare, his portfolio of responsibilities includes child and family issues, disability, labor, Social Security and gun control. Also, the continuing and sometimes rancorous political debate over the Affordable Care Act (President Obama's signature healthcare reform legislation) makes this an especially exciting time to be in Washington.
"I find it fascinating and also very satisfying to work for a member of Congress who gets it and is supportive of most of the health and healthcare legislation that he's asked to co-sponsor," he said. "It is also very satisfying to meet with Mr. Miller's constituents from North Carolina who come up for Hill visits."
With the exception of the experienced advocacy groups, many of the people with whom he meets are ordinary people who want better healthcare services and continued Medicare/Medicaid and Social Security benefits.
But Stanley says the fellowship also has become his full-time job since his position with the N.C. Health and Wellness Trust Fund ended in June. Stanley had worked for the group for four years as tobacco program officer and grants manager prior to going to Washington.
"I've got a cushion," he said. "Many of my former colleagues at the Trust Fund weren't as lucky because their jobs were ended through budget cuts. Now, I've got to find additional gainful employment before my fellowship ends in December."
It has been a bittersweet turn for the 30-year public health practitioner who has championed anti-smoking efforts in both Carolinas and nationally for the American Medical Association (AMA) in Chicago, Ill. He's particularly gratified with the success of the Health and Wellness Trust Fund's recent efforts in North Carolina where in 2009 the legislature banned smoking statewide in all bars and restaurants, some workplaces and in government buildings and vehicles. Additionally, the Trust Fund's signature efforts aimed at teens have resulted in the lowest youth smoking rates in the state's history.
"None of this would have been possible had it not been for the training I received at the Arnold School of Public Health," said the 1995 graduate from the Department of Health Services Policy and Management.
Stanley attended classes on a part-time basis and earned an MPH while working full-time at the S.C. Department of Health and Environmental Control and raising twin daughters. Those who were working at the Arnold School at the time will remember Stanley hurrying to class with his young daughters in tow.
"That was a 'special' time," said Stanley, recalling the days he had to rush to his classes and get back to work when his classes were over. Then there were the days he had to pick-up his daughters from after-school care and take them to his evening classes.
"I don't know how I did it," he said. "But I wouldn't change a thing. Those were character-building experiences."
Those same daughters are now 24 years old and embarking on careers of their own.
Andrea graduated from S.C. State University last December with a bachelor's degree in speech and audio pathology. She is employed as a speech pathologist with the Spartanburg County School District. This summer, as she has for the past five summers, she works at Camp Burnt Gin in Wedgefield, S.C., as a counselor to special needs children.
Amber attends UNC-Charlotte and is majoring in business administration with a concentration in accounting. She works part-time at a Target store in Charlotte while she's in school. She is expected to graduate next May.
Stanley created the perfect storm for himself by working, going to school and raising a family all at the same time.
"Doing these things simultaneously is very stressful to say the least," he said. "My recommendation to today's students is to complete your education before taking on life's responsibilities if at all possible and to remember what's truly important."
During his time in school, Stanley was president of the S.C. Coalition for Public Health, an organization consisting of public health students, recent graduates and public health professionals dedicated to promoting healthy African-American communities.
Born in Fort Mill, Stanley grew up in Gaffney where his parents were public school teachers. "My family always valued education and really pushed me to go to college and achieve more."
He was a standout high school football player for the Gaffney Indians and wanted to continue playing football for the USC Gamecocks, but his size limited his options to a couple of years playing at Wofford College in Spartanburg, a Division II school. He transferred to Clemson University, where he earned a bachelor's degree in microbiology before starting his public health career as a microbiologist with DHEC in Columbia.
At DHEC, Stanley worked in several different capacities before finding his true passion in tobacco use prevention. His work with the American Stop Smoking Intervention Study (Project ASSIST) and the Alliance for a Smoke-Free South Carolina led him to Chicago and the AMA's SmokeLess States National Tobacco Policy Initiative, funded by The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation.
While at SmokeLess States, Stanley traveled throughout the country working with statewide coalitions and nonprofit organizations to address tobacco policy issues. He also made presentations to state legislative committees and met with the senior staff of two governors to help them better understand the tobacco problem in their states in terms of lives lost and increased health care costs.
Stanley returned to Columbia and DHEC after his six-year stint with SmokeLess States to serve as the assistant director and cultural competence coordinator for the Office of Minority Health, where he taught a basic cultural competence course to DHEC employees.
During this time, Stanley also made use of his talent as an accomplished voice-over artist, recording DHEC public service announcements. He continued his voice-over activities after moving to Raleigh, working as a volunteer host and producer of a jazz radio program on WSHA-FM 88.9 (Shaw University) and with the Triangle Radio Reading Service reading newspaper articles to the visually impaired.
Stanley is active in APHA's Alcohol, Tobacco and Other Drugs Section where he serves as Governing Councilor and chair of the Awards Committee. For his work on the Awards Committee, he was presented ATOD's Section Leadership award in 2005. This award marked a turning point in his life as it made him realize that through hard work and perseverance, one person can indeed make a difference.
And his work has paid off.
Stanley recently accepted an appointment as adjunct professor at the University of Maryland – Baltimore County to teach a course this fall on the concepts of public health and community medicine to undergraduate students. "It has been a very exciting year!" he said.
Regarding his fellowship, Stanley is amazed at the talent and energy of his congressional coworkers, most of whom are much younger. "I've had some experience working with lawmakers on the state level in Columbia and in Raleigh, but this is a new experience on the federal level," he said.
His fellowship is targeted to mid-career public health professionals, which is perfect because it allows him to draw on his many years in the public health arena.
Stanley says his time in Washington has exceeded his wildest expectations and has allowed him to meet many people of varied backgrounds. "Most importantly, however, I am building relationships that should serve me well into the future."
