Director of Community Benefit and Community Health Needs Assessment & Child Advocacy Director at the University of Michigan Health System
About
Thomas is the director of child advocacy for the University of Michigan C. S. Mott Children’s Hospital, as well as the director of community benefit and community health needs assessment for the University of Michigan Health System. She works to promote and protect the health of people and the communities where they live, learn, work and play.
Over the years she has held a variety of jobs including teaching theatre and dance to middle schoolers, painting murals for nonprofits, and working at a shelter/rehabilitation center for homeless women with mental illness, all in South India; and partnering with the Harlem Children’s Zone to run a youth mentoring program, in New York.
Prior to joining the University of Michigan, she also worked with the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) in India, to create a documentary on HIV/AIDS and its impact on adolescent health. Her work over the last decade and a half has spanned health care systems, grassroots nonprofits, global health organizations, and arts/theatre organizations – all in the service of building stronger, freer communities.
Current Work:
Her current work focuses on improving the material conditions and environments where people live, in order to bring about greater health equity. Specifically, her focus is on addressing the social determinants of health that drive inequities, through health system investments in stable, safe and affordable housing, accessible mental health services, food banks and meal delivery programs, legal aid, interpretation services, trauma-informed care and other social supports.
Research Area Keyword(s):
Community health, public health, social determinants of health, structural violence, equity
