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PODCAST

Public Health Joy: Community Power, Health Equity, and Leadership in Action

Dr. Joyee Washington

Public Health Joy is a podcast for public health professionals, researchers, and community leaders who believe equity, justice, and healing belong at the center of public health work. Hosted by Dr. Joyee Washington, the show explores community-engaged research, health equity, leadership, policy, technology, entrepreneurship and sustainable public health careers, bridging strategy with soul to reimagine public health. This is a space where rest fuels resistance, community power drives change, and

science social sciences

All Episodes

00:49:58

S5 E17 - Redefining Public Health Leadership: The...

Public Health Joy: Community Power, Health Equity,... ·

2026/10/02

In this episode, I'm back on the Region 4 Public Health Training Center's Leading Public Health podcast for part two of our series on redefining public health leadership. We're talking about rest as resistance and why modeling rest for your team is essential.The system many of us work in runs on our exhaustion. Exhausted people comply. They can't think strategically or innovate; they just survive. So when you rest, you're saying your humanity matters more than the urgency

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00:42:55

S5 E16 - The Business Case for Health Equity and...

Public Health Joy: Community Power, Health Equity,... ·

2026/09/18

In this episode, Dr. Joyee sits down with Sana Imam, who leads the development of health equity toolkits and playbooks for the Black Director's Health Equity Agenda (BDHEA) and oversees a $1.5 million grant strengthening safety net institutions across the country.We get into why BDHEA focuses on board directors specifically, why diverse representation alone doesn't create equitable outcomes, and the real dollar cost of health inequity: $320 billion a year right now, projected to top $1

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00:59:02

S5 E15 - Redefining Public Health Leadership: The...

Public Health Joy: Community Power, Health Equity,... ·

2026/09/04

In this episode, Dr. Joyee Washington sits down with the Region 4 Public Health Training Center's Leading Public Health podcast to unpack what leadership actually looks like in public health right now. Not the old top-down, credentials-first version, but something rooted in self-awareness, vulnerability, and community as our compass.She gets honest about what it means to lead in environments that feel less "high stakes" and more just plain hostile: shrinking departments, disappearing

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00:22:03

S5 E14 - Quiet Rage: Naming the Grief, Choosing the...

Public Health Joy: Community Power, Health Equity,... ·

2026/08/21

In this episode, Dr. Joyee is being honest with you about where she's at right now.We're talking about the weight of racial violence, the grief that gets passed down before we even have words for it, and the quiet rage that builds in the body every time we hear another name. She's naming what it feels like to move through this world exhausted and still show up. Still lead. Still fight.This episode isn't just about the pain; it's about what we do with it. It's about choosing

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00:54:18

S5 E13 - Connecting Purpose & Profit in Public Health

Public Health Joy: Community Power, Health Equity,... ·

2026/08/07

In this episode of the Public Health Joy Podcast, Dr. Joyee sits down with her friend, coach, and sister in faith, Reesi Wilson. As a funnel strategist, master copywriter, and profitability coach for women entrepreneurs, she joins Dr. Joyee for a raw, full-circle conversation about the journey it took to get here. They're tracing the story back to where it started: Dr. Joyee burnt out, underpricing herself, and still operating on academic time long after she'd left academia. Reesi walks us

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00:45:55

S5 E12 - Reframing Black Men’s Health: From...

Public Health Joy: Community Power, Health Equity,... ·

2026/07/17

In this episode of the Public Health Joy Podcast, Dr. Joyee sits down with Dr. Okey Enyia — health policy researcher, author, and founder of the John Henry Institute for Black Men's Health and Policy Innovation — for a powerful conversation about what it really takes for Black men to not just survive, but thrive.They start with the legend of John Henry — the "steel-driving man" who beat the machine but lost his life doing it — and unpack what that story still teaches us about chronic

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00:42:19

S5 E11 - Redefining Worth: Reclaiming Identity, Data...

Public Health Joy: Community Power, Health Equity,... ·

2026/07/03

In this episode of the Public Health Joy Podcast, Dr. Joyee sits down with Dr. Zenobia Bryant Antoine for a powerful conversation about the deep connection between self-worth, data storytelling, and community impact. They're talking about the internal work required to lead authentically, challenging us to redefine our value beyond titles, degrees, and dollar signs.Dr. Bryant Antoine reminds us that data doesn't just tell a story about numbers; it tells a story about people, and the way we

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00:58:20

S5 E 10 - Sitting at the Feet of Wisdom: A Juneteenth...

Public Health Joy: Community Power, Health Equity,... ·

2026/06/19

In this episode of The Public Health Joy Podcast, Dr. Joyee sits down with Dr. Lovell Jones. Dr. Jones is a pioneering cancer researcher, health equity scholar, and one of the most important architects of the infrastructure that made space for Black researchers in the biomedical sciences. As the first African American to be hired in the basic/behavioral sciences, at University of Texas M.D. Anderson Cancer Center, rose through the ranks to a tenured full professor and the first to hold an

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00:24:06

S5 EP 9 - The National Black Researchers Week...

Public Health Joy: Community Power, Health Equity,... ·

2026/06/05

In this episode of The Public Health Joy Podcast, Dr. Joyee Washington shares the deeply personal story behind National Black Researchers Week — why it was created, what it has meant to the community, and why she is committed to carrying it forward this year. This episode is about more than an event. It's about honoring the vision of someone who poured everything into making space for Black researchers, and making sure that vision does not die. In a season where so much has been taken, we are

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00:45:52

S5 EP 8 - The Intersection of Social Work and Public...

Public Health Joy: Community Power, Health Equity,... ·

2026/05/15

In this episode of the Public Health Joy Podcast, Dr. Joyee Washington and Nicole Clark sit down to discuss Nicole's powerful journey from social work to consulting, reflecting on how her experiences have shaped her approach to leadership, community impact, and personal growth. Through an honest and thoughtful conversation, Nicole explores the deep connections between public health and social work, reminding us that meaningful change starts with understanding people, systems, and the communities

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00:47:44

S5 EP 7 - Discovering Community Engaged Research: A...

Public Health Joy: Community Power, Health Equity,... ·

2026/05/01

In this episode of the Public Health Joy Podcast, Dr. Joyee Washington and Jesseca Chatman sit down to reflect on their introduction to community-engaged research and CBPR — and how those early experiences fundamentally changed everything they thought they knew about public health.Together, they dig into what it really means to build trust with communities, not just collect data from them. Dr. Joyee and Jesseca open up about the personal growth that comes from doing this work, the challenges of

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00:39:11

S5 EP 6- From Data to Impact: How Epidemiology and...

Public Health Joy: Community Power, Health Equity,... ·

2026/04/17

In this episode of the Public Health Joy Podcast, we sit down with Alexandra Piatkowski, founder and CEO of Piat Public Health, for a conversation that reframes how we think about structure, strategy, and community impact in public health.Together, we dig into what it really means to bring project management into public health spaces — not as a corporate add-on, but as a tool for health equity. Alexandra opens up about how she stumbled into project management through practice, what it looks like to

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00:42:13

S5 EP5 - From Salary to Six Figures: Public Health...

Public Health Joy: Community Power, Health Equity,... ·

2026/04/03

In this episode of the Public Health Joy podcast, Dr. Joyee Washington interviews Dr. Desiree Strickland, founder of the Public Health Club, about how consulting can be a tool for freedom rather than burnout. Dr. Strickland shares her journey into public health consulting and how professionals can leverage their expertise to increase both impact and income — without sacrificing their well-being. They explore the hustler mindset, effective communication, and the role of social media and AI in

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00:39:07

S5 EP 4 - Intersectionality and Health Equity: Why...

Public Health Joy: Community Power, Health Equity,... ·

2026/03/20

In this new episode of the Public Health Joy Podcast, I sit down with Dr. Lisa Bowleg, Founder and CEO of the Intersectionality Training Institute, for a conversation that challenges how we think about research, power, and purpose.Together, we dig into what it really means to do research in service of communities, not just for publications and career advancement. Dr. Bowleg opens up about the structural barriers inside academia, the courage it takes to unlearn what we've been taught, and why

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00:43:16

S5 EP3 - Fighting Corporate Influence in Public...

Public Health Joy: Community Power, Health Equity,... ·

2026/03/06

In this powerful episode of the Public Health Joy Podcast, Dr. Joyee Washington sits down with Vinu Ilakkuvan, founder of POP Health and The Gaslit Project, for a bold conversation about power, policy, and people.Together, they unpack what community power really means in public health—and why it’s essential in a landscape where corporate interests often shape health policy behind the scenes. Vinu shares how communities can organize, build lasting connections, and take strategic action to challenge

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00:43:26

S5 EP 2- Using AI to Reimagine Public Health Training...

Public Health Joy: Community Power, Health Equity,... ·

2026/02/20

In this episode of the Public Health Joy Podcast, Dr. Joyee Washington sits down with Quisha Umemba—registered nurse, public health leader, and CEO of Umemba Health—to talk about what it really looks like to bring AI into public health work with clarity, integrity, and impact. Quisha shares her journey from initial resistance (“this is cheating!”) to becoming a certified AI consultant who now trains organizations to reduce busy work and increase people work. Dr. Together, Dr. Joyee and Dr. Umemba

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00:29:06

S5 EP1 : The Bigger the Promise, The Bigger the...

Public Health Joy: Community Power, Health Equity,... ·

2026/02/06

Season 5 of The Public Health Podcast opens with a powerful keynote from Dr. Joyee Washington, delivered at the 2026 Public Health Joy Summit.In Rest, Reimagine, Rebuild, Dr. Joyee invites the public health community into a deeply honest reflection on where we are, and where we must go next.This episode acknowledges the collective grief, exhaustion, and disillusionment many public health professionals are carrying. Rather than rushing past it, Dr. Joyee names it. Honors it. And reframes it as a

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00:30:24

S4 E22: The Gift of Endurance-2025 Reflections in...

Public Health Joy: Community Power, Health Equity,... ·

2025/12/19

In this powerful solo Season 4 finale of The Public Health Joy Podcast, Dr. Joyee Washington shares a deeply personal reflection on what 2025 demanded of her — and what it revealed about all of us in public health.After reaching a long-dreamed-of six-figure milestone, Dr. Joy entered 2025 expecting abundance. Instead, she encountered one of the most challenging years of her life — marked by financial strain, caregiving, spiritual warfare, and the continued dismantling of public health systems. In

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00:44:13

S4 E21 - Shorten the Distance: Using technology and...

Public Health Joy: Community Power, Health Equity,... ·

2025/12/05

In this episode of The Public Health Joy Podcast, Dr. Joyee sits down with Silas Buchanan, founder and CEO of Our Healthy Community, a social impact consulting firm in partnership with Morehouse School of Medicine. Their mission: to close the distance between faith-based organizations, community-based organizations, and healthcare stakeholders.Together, Dr. Joyee and Silas explore what it truly means to bridge the gaps between communities and the health systems meant to serve them. Silas shares why

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00:21:07

S4 EP 20- You Are the Movement: Welcome to Public...

Public Health Joy: Community Power, Health Equity,... ·

2025/11/21

In this episode of The Public Health Joy Podcast, Dr. Joyee takes listeners behind the scenes of the movement that is reshaping how we think about public health. With honesty, vulnerability, and clarity. Dr. Joyee speaks to the exhaustion, grief, and burnout that so many public health professionals are carrying in 2025. She acknowledges the frustration of working in systems that undermine your purpose, devalue your expertise, and drain your spirit—and she assures listeners: I see you, because I am

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