MPA candidate, IPA Public Administration Fellow
e-mail: linstead@udel.edu
phone: 302-831-3271 | fax: 302-831-3488
178 Graham Hall | University of Delaware | Newark, DE 19716-7380
introduction | education | experience | qualifications | honors and awards | conferences | presentations
IntroductionRachel is currently pursuing a Master of Public Administration degree with a focus on health policy and health communication. She graduated from Hampshire College, where she concentrated her studies on media literacy and mass communications and interned with the Media Education Foundation and Free Press, a national media reform organization. After serving as an AmeriCorps member with Habitat for Humanity in Norristown, Pa., Rachel worked with Philadelphia FIGHT, a regional HIV/AIDS service organization providing comprehensive medical treatment, social services and community education. As the Quality Assurance Coordinator, she initiated quality improvement projects, supported research performed at the Jonathan Lax Treatment Center and managed federal, state, and local grant reporting through a network of databases and associated procedures.
While working with the Adult Congenital Heart Association, a national patient association for adults born with congenital heart defects, Rachel developed her interest in research. She coordinated several multi-center research projects, two of which were in partnership with professional associations and have subsequently been published in academic journals and two that were funded by the National Institutes of Health and are still in progress.
Rachel’s research interests include chronic-disease management, public health campaigns, food access, electronic medical records, quality improvement, and community-based participatory research.
EducationBA, Hampshire College 2005, Communications
Paralegal Certificate, Villanova University 2007, Legal Studies
ExperienceSeptember 2011 – present
Public Administration Fellow, Institute for Public Administration, University of Delaware
Newark, Del.
March – August 2011
Summer Supervisor for Business Partnerships, Philadelphia Youth Network
Philadelphia, Pa.
February 2007 – December 2010
Program Manager, Adult Congenital Heart Association
Philadelphia, Pa.
December 2005 – November 2006
Quality Assurance Coordinator, Philadelphia FIGHT
Philadelphia, Pa.
July 2005 – February 2006
Library Assistant, The AIDS Library, Philadelphia FIGHT
Philadelphia, Penn.
July – December 2005
Administrative Manager, Habitat for Humanity of Montgomery Country
Norristown, Pa.
September 2004 – May 2005
Media Policy Intern, Free Press
Florence, Mass.
September 2003 – August 2004
AmeriCorps Member/Volunteer Coordinator, Habitat for Humanity of Montgomery Country
Norristown, Pa.
May – August 2002
Research and Production Intern, Media Education Foundation
Northampton, Mass.
September 2001 – January 2002
Youth Video Project Intern, Amherst Community Television
Amherst, Mass.
QualificationsProficiency in Microsoft Office (Word, Excel, PowerPoint); conversant in Spanish
Honors and AwardsRecipient, Academic Achievement Award, Villanova University, Villanova, Pa., 2007
Recipient, Summer Internship Grant, Community Partnerships for Social Change, Hampshire College, Amherst, Mass., 2002
ConferencesPresenter, Partners in Research Workshop, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, Md., October 29, 2009
Attendee, Public Interest Organization Meeting, National Heart Lung and Blood Institute, Bethesda, Md., May 24-25, 2009
Staff, Fifth National Conference of the Adult Congenital Heart Association, Philadelphia, Pa., May 1-4, 2008
Attendee, Public Interest Organization Meeting, National Heart Lung and Blood Institute, Bethesda, Md., June 9-10, 2008
Attendee, Ryan White Grantees Meeting and Clinical Conference, Health Resources and Services Administration, Washington, D.C., August 28-31, 2006
Volunteer, National Conference for Media Reform, Saint Louis, Mo., May 13-15, 2005
Attendee, Media Education Summit, Action Coalition for Media Education, Albuquerque, N.Mex., October 18-20, 2002
Volunteer, New Visions for Historic Cities: Bridging Divides, Building Futures, Planners Network, Holyoke, Mass., June 13-16, 2002
Presentations"Health Education and Access Research Trial in Adult Congenital Heart Disease"
Partners in Research Workshop, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, Md., 2009
