JSN Public Health Fellowship
The JSN Public Health Fellowship is an exciting opportunity for young adults interested in public health, community impact, and hands-on learning. This fellowship provides participants with real-world experience through community-based placements, guided learning, and professional mentorship.
We selected five young adults to participate in our inaugural cohort. Fellows gained experience working with credible messenger-led public health partners, supporting meaningful projects, and deepening their understanding of public health practice.
We selected five young adults to participate in our inaugural cohort. Fellows gained experience working with credible messenger-led public health partners, supporting meaningful projects, and deepening their understanding of public health practice.
INTEREST FORM → CLICK HERE
Fellow Bio: Bryan Jarquin Quinonez
Project Description
This community-based, youth-led research project is grounded in two core programs: the Prison Project and the Youth Leadership Summer Institute.
The Prison Project works with currently and formerly incarcerated individuals, as well as system-impacted youth, to provide political education, reentry support, and opportunities for civic engagement. Through this program, participants explore the root causes of incarceration, engage in policy discussions, and contribute to advocacy efforts that center restorative and transformative justice. The Prison Project also creates pathways for mentorship, where formerly incarcerated individuals serve as credible messengers and leaders within the community.
The Youth Leadership Summer Institute is an intensive, cohort-based program that engages young people in leadership development, cultural grounding, and community-based research. Youth participants identify key issues affecting their lives—such as homelessness, food insecurity, and substance use—and take the lead in developing research projects that reflect their lived experiences. Through workshops, fieldwork, and collaborative learning, youth build skills in critical thinking, public speaking, and advocacy.
Across both programs, this project utilizes a Youth Participatory Action Research (YPAR) framework, where youth lead the research process from the ground up. Fellows support this work by providing guidance and structure, while ensuring that youth voices remain central. Youth ultimately present their findings and recommendations directly to local, state, and federal decision-makers and stakeholders.
This project is implemented in collaboration with Elevate Youth California, which provides additional college readiness support and youth development resources.
Fellow’s Role & Responsibilities
The fellow will join during the implementation phase of the project. Responsibilities may include, but are not limited to, facilitating workshops, gathering materials, assisting with fieldwork, and providing mentorship to youth.
Using an evidence-based Youth Participatory Action Research (YPAR) framework, fellows will support youth in contextualizing key community issues, identifying research methodologies, and tracking relevant policies in local government. Fellows will also assist with listening sessions, where youth engage directly with practitioners to promote self-determination, cultural awareness, social justice, and racial equity within themselves and their communities.
Additionally, fellows will have the opportunity to learn the frameworks guiding the project and see how YPAR is implemented in practice. This includes learning how to ethically document listening sessions in ways that support youth civic engagement and center youth voices throughout the research process.
Lead Contacts: Cherre Bull, Josh Patstone
Key Responsibilities
- Attend and contribute to daily listening sessions, weekly team meetings, and community events
- Conduct data collection, policy tracking, fieldwork, and community outreach
- Prepare reports, weekly briefs, and presentations to share findings with stakeholders
- Perform other duties as assigned
Qualifications
- Lived experience with the criminal legal system preferred
- Strong interest in youth leadership development, policy, and political engagement
- Strong organizational and time-management skills
- Ability to work independently and collaboratively
- Current undergraduate or graduate student, or recent graduate in social sciences, humanities, or a related field
- Proficiency in Google Suite
Learning Outcomes and Benefits
- Gain hands-on experience in community-based research, youth advocacy, and civic engagement
- Mentorship from experienced practitioners, community organizers, and YPAR facilitators
- Networking opportunities with local, state, and federal government officials and community stakeholders
- Professional development workshops in YPAR methodology, ethical documentation, policy analysis, and public speaking
- College readiness support and youth development resources through Elevate Youth California
- Stipend provided in recognition of your time and contribution
Roots Community Health
Fellow Bios: Leonard Moreno, MaryAnn Uduebo
Project Description
This fellowship will support Roots Community Health research and program evaluation projects focused on improving care quality and health outcomes in underserved communities. The fellow will help strengthen qualitative research and mixed-methods program evaluation, including development of interview and focus group materials, community-engaged data collection, coding and thematic analysis, and translating findings into practical recommendations for clinic programs and community partners. The work will prioritize privacy and ethical research practices, including IRB requirements and secure data handling.
Fellow’s Role & Responsibilities
The fellow will join during an active implementation and evaluation period. Work may include supporting qualitative data collection (interviews, focus groups), preparing and organizing study materials, assisting with transcription and coding, conducting literature scans, and helping draft concise memos and reports for internal learning and external dissemination. The fellow will work closely with Roots research leadership and program teams to ensure findings are accurate, respectful, and useful for decision-making.
Lead Contact: Mary Alvarez-Nutting
Key Responsibilities
- Attend and contribute to scheduled project check-ins and supervision meetings (weekly or as assigned).
- Support qualitative and mixed-methods tasks such as literature reviews, participant outreach support, interview or focus group coordination, and survey support as needed.
- Prepare draft analytic memos, brief summaries, slide content, and community-facing summaries based on findings, under supervision.
- Other duties as assigned, aligned with program evaluation and research support needs.
Qualifications
- Experience working with underserved communities or lived experience related to health inequities is valued.
- Strong interest in health equity, community-based research, qualitative methods, and program evaluation.
- Strong organizational skills, attention to detail, and ability to manage multiple tasks with deadlines.
- Ability to work independently while communicating progress regularly and collaborating across teams.
- Graduate student, recent graduate, or advanced undergraduate with MPH, public health, social science, or data analytics background (or equivalent experience).
- Comfort with Excel or Google Sheets; familiarity with qualitative tools (NVivo, Atlas.ti) and survey platforms (Qualtrics, Google Forms) is a plus. Willingness to follow HIPAA and confidentiality procedures is required.
Learning Outcomes and Benefits
- Gain hands-on experience in qualitative research operations, coding and thematic analysis, and research and program evaluation in a community health setting.
- Receive mentorship and feedback from Roots research leadership and program teams, including guidance on IRB-aligned and privacy-protective workflows.
- Build skills in translating findings into actionable recommendations, briefs, and presentations for diverse audiences.
- Professional development workshops
CURYJ
Fellow Bio: Ailani Corona Miramontes
Project Description
The CURYJ Public Works Alliance Fellowship is a 10-week paid internship for individuals passionate about juvenile justice, public health, youth leadership, and community organizing. Interns will receive a $5,000 stipend upon completion of the program.
As a key member of the CURYJ team, interns will gain hands-on experience across organizing, advocacy, research, and program development. This fellowship offers a wide range of opportunities to build skills in public health, grassroots organizing, political education, and community-based work, while contributing to campaigns and programs that advance equity and justice.
Lead Contact: Vamsey Palagummi, Frankie Ramos
Fellow’s Role & Responsibilities
Interns will support key initiatives, including:
- “I Got 5 On It” Campaign – Supporting outreach, organizing, and mobilization efforts to advance a countywide campaign calling for the reallocation of 5% of the county budget toward public health and youth investments. Interns will engage community members, support campaign strategy, and help build public and political will for transformative investments in youth.
- Youth Leadership Development Programs – Supporting CURYJ’s youth leadership pipeline, which includes programs for high school youth and transition-age youth (TAY), particularly those impacted by the justice system. These programs center political education, advocacy, organizing, and base-building to develop young leaders who can drive systems change. Interns will help develop relevant popular education curriculum and support facilitation of workshops and trainings.
- Climate Justice & Abolitionist Work – Supporting CURYJ’s climate abolitionist initiatives, which address the intersection of criminalization and climate injustice, recognizing that the same systems that criminalize youth also disproportionately expose Black, Brown, and low-income communities to environmental harm. Interns will assist in developing and conducting community heat surveys, gathering and analyzing community feedback, and contributing to a report that uplifts findings and advances community-driven solutions.
- Community Healing & Resilience Work – Supporting CURYJ’s community healing and resilience efforts, including organizing and staffing events that center wellness, restorative practices, and collective care. Interns will help create spaces that uplift youth and community voice, strengthen relationships, and promote healing from the impacts of incarceration, violence, and systemic harm.
This fellowship provides meaningful, real-world experience in advancing public health and justice, while supporting youth-led movements for systems change.
Beats Rhymes and Life
Fellow Bio: Jaylen Hill
Project Description
The Collective Healing Project (TCHP) is a community-based, youth-centered healing and research initiative designed to explore the impact of grief, trauma, and systemic instability on young people in today’s rapidly changing world.
This project emerges from a critical observation: young people are experiencing “apocalyptic grief” in a society that does not allow them space to process it.
Youth are navigating:
- The acceleration of life and constant societal change
- The breakdown of the illusion of safety in their communities
- Exposure to violence, loss, and systemic inequities
- Pressure to function within systems that often feel dysfunctional and dehumanizing
TCHP creates intentional space for youth to:
- Pause
- Process grief collectively
- Transform pain into creative expression and leadership
Framework & Approach
This project is grounded in a hybrid model that integrates:
- Youth Participatory Action Research (YPAR)
- Hip Hop Therapy & expressive arts practices
- Community-based healing and public health frameworks
Youth participants will:
- Identify how grief and instability show up in their lives and communities
- Explore the concept of “apocalyptic grief” and the loss of safety and certainty
- Engage in creative healing practices (music, writing, performance, storytelling)
- Participate in listening sessions and community dialogues
- Develop youth-led research and narratives that connect lived experience to systems
A key component of TCHP is exploring the creative potential of grief—how experiences of loss, trauma, and survival can be transformed into:
- Art
- Advocacy
- Leadership
- Community healing
The project culminates in a public showcase and community dialogue, where youth present their work to:
- Community members
- Public health practitioners
- Policymakers
- Systems leaders
Fellow’s Role & Responsibilities
The JSN Fellow will play a critical role in supporting the implementation and evolution of The Collective Healing Project.
Responsibilities include, but are not limited to:
- Co-facilitating healing-centered workshops focused on grief, identity, and creative expression
- Supporting youth-led research processes using a YPAR framework
- Assisting in the design and facilitation of listening sessions and community dialogues
- Helping youth translate lived experiences into creative outputs (e.g., music, writing, performance)
- Bridging theory and practice, connecting academic frameworks in public health to real-world community experiences
- Supporting ethical documentation of youth narratives, ensuring youth voice and agency remain central
- Participating in reflection spaces that explore grief, healing, and systems change
- Contributing to reports, presentations, and storytelling outputs for stakeholders
Lead Contact: Rob Jackson
Key Responsibilities
- Attend and contribute to:
- Bi-Weekly team meetings
- Youth sessions and workshops
- Community healing events
- Conduct:
- Community-based research support
- Documentation of themes and insights from sessions
- Outreach and engagement with youth and partners
- Support:
- Development of youth presentations and performances
- Creation of reports and materials for stakeholders
- Integration of public health frameworks into project work
- Perform other duties aligned with the evolving needs of the project
Qualifications
- Strong interest in:
- Youth development
- Public health
- Mental health and healing justice
- Social and racial equity
- Experience or openness to working with:
- System-impacted youth
- Communities impacted by trauma and violence
- Ability to:
- Hold space for conversations around grief, trauma, and healing
- Work both independently and collaboratively
- Navigate emotionally complex environments with care and professionalism
- Strong organizational, communication, and facilitation skills
- Current undergraduate/graduate student or recent graduate in:
- Public health, social work, psychology, sociology, ethnic studies, or related fields
- Proficiency in Google Suite
Learning Outcomes and Benefits
Fellows will gain:
- Hands-on experience in community-based public health practice
- Deep exposure to YPAR and healing-centered engagement models
- Skills in:
- Facilitating healing spaces
- Ethical storytelling and documentation
- Youth engagement and leadership development
- Translating theory into real-world application
- Facilitating healing spaces
- Insight into innovative approaches to mental health, including Hip Hop Therapy
- Mentorship from:
- Clinicians
- Teaching artists
- Community organizers
- Youth leaders
- Clinicians
- Opportunities to:
- Engage with cross-sector stakeholders
- Contribute to a public-facing community showcase
- Build meaningful relationships within the Justice Serving Network
- Engage with cross-sector stakeholders
Contact us at jsn@publicworksalliance.org