Public Health

PUBLIC HEALTH & POLICY INTERNSHIP Academic Credit Eligible VOICE UP PUBLIC HEALTH PURPOSE PATHWAY INTERNSHIP Exploring Purpose at the Intersection of People, Systems, and Health The Voice Up Public Health Purpose Pathway Internship offers undergraduate and graduate students a unique opportunity to explore public health through the lens of purpose, identity, and real-world impact. Voice Up’s early-stage model has already engaged students and emerging professionals from over 80 universities and learning environments worldwide, contributing nearly 3,000 hours of purpose-driven public health work. Public health is fundamentally about protecting and improving the health of communities. This internship invites students to explore a foundational question of the field: How can purpose-driven individuals strengthen the health and well-being of populations? Rather than focusing solely on textbooks or data, students connect their lived experiences, cultural identity, community background, and academic interests to pressing public health challenges. The program is grounded in The Fuller Method of reflective mentoring and narrative identity development, The B Curriculum (Be Curious, Be Honest, Be Courageous ), and Voice Up’s Five Core Principles. Students engage in applied, real-world public health work and leave not only with practical skills, but also with clarity of purpose, confidence, and a personal blueprint for contribution within the field. Learning Goals By the end of the internship, students will understand public health as a purpose-oriented discipline shaped by values, equity, compassion, prevention, and community empowerment. Participants will connect public health science to personal values by identifying how their own life story intersects with health needs in local and global communities. Students will develop critical public health skills, including health communication, mixed-methods thinking, prevention strategies, cultural humility, and systems-level problem solving. Each participant will design a purpose-based public health project, such as a micro-intervention, policy idea, educational tool, or wellness strategy, and articulate their emerging professional identity as a public health practitioner. Internship Structure (8 12 Weeks) During the first phase, students explore personal health narratives, the social determinants of health, and their place within the broader health system. The middle phase focuses on community understanding, health equity, environmental health challenges, and systems thinking, supported by literature review and community needs scanning. In the design phase, students apply data literacy and systems mapping to create a practical public health solution, refining their work through mentorship and peer collaboration. The final phase culminates in a Public Health Purpose Blueprint, including a capstone project, policy or communication artifact, reflective writing, and contribution to the Voice Up Purpose Library. An optional advanced track offers exposure to research support, epidemiology modeling, program evaluation, and presentations to public health practitioners. Participation & Alignment Students may participate for academic credit, volunteer service, or through Voice Up University, with all pathways receiving the same level of mentorship and access. The internship aligns with CEPH Foundational Competencies, the WHO Framework for Action on Social Determinants of Health, the CDC Essential Public Health Services, and NASEM recommendations for strengthening the public health workforce. It supports early pipeline development for future epidemiologists, health educators, policy analysts, health communication specialists, and public health researchers. The Purpose Games are intentionally designed to be accessible. They do not require special credentials to participate. They do not depend on early confidence, public speaking, or competition. They are built for people who are unsure, quiet, curious, or still becoming. Voice Up’s broader vision is field-building: contributing to an emerging discipline of applied purpose practice that treats purpose not as inspiration alone, but as something that can be designed, facilitated, studied, and stewarded responsibly. In a time marked by fragmentation and pressure, Voice Up offers a different proposition: When people are given space to practice purpose together with humility, patience, and care healthier individuals and communities follow.