Kelly Hashiro Spring 2026 Fellowship Experience

This spring, I had the pleasure of working with The Body Agency for my practicum. From the beginning, my supervisors made it known that they were committed to each fellow’s individual growth as a public health practitioner. They created an environment in which I felt supported to take on new challenges and push the boundaries of the skillset I had going into the fellowship. Being a part of this team, I learned to look at violence prevention through a public health lens and discovered different viewpoints when thinking about interventions.

In my time at The Body Agency, I worked on the #StandWithHer collaboration, a gender-based violence prevention and advocacy project, along with three other fellows. This project culminated in an event in which we showed a screening of an Oscar-nominated documentary on gender-based violence in India, followed by a panel with the director of the documentary. It was amazing to see our Milken community come together in support. Seeing the whole event come together filled me with such pride to have been a part of it. In planning this event, I got to practice my public health communication, outreach, and event coordination skills. I also got to participate in a Jeffersonian dinner, during which I got to connect with professionals from non-public health fields about how to address this interdisciplinary issue.

Overall, I really enjoyed the collaborative nature of my work. I got to take what I learned in my classes about the need for interdisciplinary leadership in addressing public health problems and put it into practice. I feel more prepared to work in professional settings with cross-sector collaboration. I am forever grateful to Kate and Alison at The Body Agency, as well as the Center of Excellence, for providing me with this opportunity. The skills and connections I gained from this experience will be invaluable as I prepare to enter the public health workforce.