Zoe Beckerman

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Title:  Teaching Associate Professor & Vice Chair, Department of Health Policy and Management

With GW since:  Hmm, that’s hard for me since I’ve been in a variety of roles here over time.  In the early 2000s, I was a law student at GW.  Then I had a few voluntary roles for the university while I was practicing law: from 2006-2010, I sat on the Board of Trustees and from 2010-2015, I chaired Dean Goldman’s Advisory Council.  I finally started working at GW doing research and teaching here in 2017.

Center Role: I help to design the Center-sponsored Interprofessional Experience (IPE).

Academic Advisor to:  I informally advise a number of undergrads and formally advise a couple of wonderful DrPH students.

Teaching: Is my passion.  I currently teach Health Policy and an undergraduate Senior Seminar on Community Health Needs Assessment. 

Research Interests: All of the policy research I’ve done over my career has centered on women’s health insurance coverage, Medicaid coverage for underserved populations, and the intersection of education and health in early childhood. 

Bragging Rights: I prefer humility.  But I’m especially proud of the work I did as a partner in a law firm and as a consultant representing and supporting nonprofits that received federal grant funding (such as community health centers and Head Start organizations) to serve at-risk populations or perform as part of the safety net.

Hobbies/Personal Interests: I love to cook, play pickleball, cheer on DC United, and binge watch crappy Hulu and Netflix shows. (The more teen-angsty, the better… same with British mystery series shows.) 

People Might Be Surprised to Know That: During the start of the pandemic before we had vaccines and we were all pretty much under lockdown at home, I organized twice weekly porch dancing with a bunch of neighbors.  For over 6 months, every Wednesday and Saturday early evening, we would all come out on our front porches, blast the same music on either side of the street, and dance on our own porches, safely distanced from each other.  We had multiple generations involved and a number of passers-by joined in as well.  It kept me going for months when times were hard.