Gabriela Gonzalez (she/her) is a 2nd year Masters of Public Health (MPH) student specializing in Maternal, Child and Adolescent Health (MCAH) at UC Berkeley. She is passionate about reproductive justice and creating happy and safe pregnancy experiences for birthing people and families. Her career goals include policy and advocacy work related to Black maternal health equity and increasing access to community doulas. Prior to beginning her MPH, Gabriela worked with the Los Angeles County Department of Health Services MAMAS Neighborhood program, a nationally and locally funded perinatal services program providing a collaborative care model within a maternity-centered medical home to optimize full-term pregnancy, healthy birth weight, and a continuum of healthy outcomes. In her role as the Project Coordinator, Gabriela provided program support through meeting coordination and facilitation, project management, and reporting for the Healthy Start Initiative. She led the program’s community engagement efforts, participating as a planning team member with the African American Infant and Maternal Mortality (AAIMM) Prevention Initiative. Gabriela received her Bachelor of Arts in Sociology with a minor in Women’s and Gender Studies from Loyola Marymount University in 2019. Connect with Gabriela on LinkedIn!
In her blog post, titled “Working with Communities and Systems: My Summer Practicum Experience”, Gabriela applies MCH competency 11 to her work as a Race Equity Intern for Expecting Justice, a collaborative aiming to reduce the impact of racism on MCH among Black, Pacific Islander and Latine parents across San Francisco. “Often, I hear people in higher education or positions of power say they ‘want to be a voice for the voiceless.’ While well-intended, this mindset perpetuates harms that have long been done to marginalized communities and their exclusion from policy and program decisions related to their livelihood and wellbeing. Instead, we must use our privilege to give community members the opportunity to speak for themselves.” Continue reading here!