For graduate students with a passion for translating research and policy recommendations into action, the Johns Hopkins Health Policy Institute (HPI) is a valuable experience. HPI Fellows are paired with Maryland senators and representatives to conduct policy-driven research and analysis, engage with stakeholders, and produce policy briefs, memos, briefs, written/oral testimony, and bills. Create legislative materials, including itself.
Among the Spring 2024 HPI Fellows is Glendora Dolce, currently in her second year of the Health and Public Policy doctoral program. Dolce, a former public health nurse (LPN), had dreams of becoming a doctor, but she chose a career in public health that prevents rather than treats injuries, diseases, and health disparities. I decided to pursue it. She received her master's degree in public health from Emory University and became interested in child passenger safety through her work at her local health department. After earning her MPH, she worked as a public health researcher at the U.S. Department of Transportation. There she saw her tendencies, which became the basis for her doctoral thesis. “We noticed that historically red-light areas had a higher number of traffic injuries,” she says. I hope that my research will inform city planners and transportation departments so they can plan from an equity perspective. ”
Dr. Dolce was drawn to the Health and Public Policy PhD program because of Johns Hopkins' reputation as a leader in public health, and after attending a lecture by HPM Chair Dr. Kesia Pollack Porter, Dr. After attending the Policy Center Summer Institute, I was completely convinced. . “Then I started looking into the department and found it really had everything I wanted. It would provide the best education and challenge me in many ways.”
Dolce's HPI host is Delegate Jennifer White Holland, MSPH, a graduate of the Bloomberg School and director of policy and community engagement for the Horizon Foundation of Howard County. HPI applicants can choose up to three members they would like to work with in the Maryland General Assembly, but Glendora only listed Delegate White-Holland because he felt a strong connection to the work of delegates. I mentioned it. “She has a real passion for her health equity and her constituents,” Dolce says. “She has sponsored many influential bills.” In this year's Maryland General Assembly, Representative White-Holland's bill would strengthen the coordination of care for mothers and mothers-to-be in Maryland. These include state parent protection laws and equal pay for equal work laws that require employers to set pay ranges. Posted in all job postings. “Fundamentally, justice and equity are central themes of the bill I introduced,” said Delegate White-Holland. “Women, especially Black women and Latina women, remain at a disadvantage when it comes to equal pay for equal work laws as we seek to overcome decades of pay disparities. It’s important to have access to information to put on the table.”
Rep. White-Holland said Dolce is a critical asset in moving this bill forward. “She's a really fun person and brings a lot of real-life experience to the table. Her unique career path, her interest in land use, transportation, planning, and the issues at that intersection and how it impacts public health. How to participate is at her core. She is involved in every bill that comes before me, doing research and helping me flesh out questions and answers to various issues. Being able to tap her was a huge help because I remember what it was like at the graduate school level. Also, as a young woman of color who also started her journey at Johns Hopkins. I also understand her life experiences. Providing and supporting those opportunities in any way I can is enriching for our office and district. I am already thinking about how I can best support her in the long term. We wonder if we will be able to keep her on staff. She brings great value.”
HPI's direct experience in parliamentary policymaking and politics is likewise an important added value for Dolce. “There is a huge gap between researchers and policy makers,” she says. “The HPI Fellowship taught me how to think as a proponent and opponent and communicate with policy makers. This is beneficial when doing policy research.”
In the long term, Glendora sees herself staying in Baltimore, specifically the birthplace of redlining, and becoming involved in policy at the local level. “I want to bridge the gap between researchers and policy makers,” she says. “It would be very innovative if we could do both.”
