Meet the Harvard Graduate Students Working with CFM in 2021

Since the summer of 2020, the Children’s Foundation of Mississippi has partnered with the T.H. Chan School of Public Health at Harvard University to provide graduate practicums and experiences. This year, the Children’s Foundation of Mississippi will serve as a virtual site for three students.

We welcome Muksha Jingree, Himaja Nagireddy and Alyce Norcross. These outstanding students bring extensive education, experience and enthusiasm to the work they will be focusing on while working with the Children’s Foundation of Mississippi.  

Muksha Jingree 

Muksha is a degree candidate at the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health for a Masters of Public Health in Nutrition after graduating from the New York University Steinhardt School of Culture, Education and Human  Development, New York, with a Bachelor of Science with honors in Nutrition and Food Studies. Muksha worked as a clinical research coordinator at Memorial Sloan Cancer Kettering Center, Immigrant Health and Cancer Disparities Service before accepting the internship with the Children’s Foundation of Mississippi. She has worked on several projects related to cancer and nutrition, general nutrition, and hypertension while promoting sound nutrition in communities with which she has worked.

Himaja Nagireddy 

Himaja lives in Acton, MA and is a Masters Candidate at the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health. Himaja graduated from the University of Connecticut in 2020.  Himaja has worked as a Public Health Intern in the office of Senator Jo Comerford in the Massachusetts State Legislature, as an intern with the Global Health Leadership program at Unite for Sight Headquarters in New Haven, Connecticut and serves as a United Nations Association National Council Representative.

Alyce Norcross

Alyce  is pursuing a Masters of Public Health-65 in Health Policy at Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health after receiving her B.A. in Health Sciences from Gettysburg College, Gettysburg, PA in 2017. Alyce has worked as Project Manager of Pediatric Behavioral Health Integration and as a Care Coordinator where she focused upon children with disabilities while pursuing her degree. She has been a missionary intern in Chile and is a research assistant in the Department of Health Policy & Management at Harvard.

The Children’s Foundation of Mississippi is pleased to host these outstanding fellows and looks forward to learning with them in the coming months. 

Gareth M. Green Award 2021 awarded to Penny Sun and Fortunate Chifamba

CFM fellows Fortunate Chifamba and Penny Sun were awarded the Gareth M. Green Award for Excellence in Public Health Practice, via the T.H. Chan Harvard School of Public Health. The award recognized them specifically for their work in Phase I of the Blueprint of Success.

“The most rewarding aspect of my experience was the close collaboration with my classmate and friend, Fortunate Chifamba, and our Children’s Foundation team: Dr. Linda Southward, Therese Hanna, and Izzy Pellegrine,” said Penny Sun. “It was an amazing experience working so closely with this team to speak to and learn from so many Mississippians, analyze the data, and craft my chapter for the Blueprint about expanding Broadband access across Mississippi.”

The Gareth M. Green Award recognizes the student team whose project in public health practice contributes to the improvement of health for a defined population and makes a significant contribution to the public health base of knowledge. 

“I’d like to thank the Children’s Foundation of Mississippi for this opportunity to work in partnership with them, Dr. Southward and Therese Hannah for their mentorship and guidance throughout the project,” said Fortunate Chifamba. “I have learnt so much from this work and Dr. Southward’s support in my professional development has extended beyond this project. I’d like to thank Penny Sun for being an amazing, hard working and very supportive partner in this journey. And finally, I’d like to thank Bill Bean for his support as my Independent Studies advisor. I’ll forever cherish his encouraging words and his advice as I conducted my work for this project.”

You can see them recognized in a virtual awards ceremony (jump to 24:45) and read the reflections by Penny and Fortunate about working with CFM.