Alice Antwi, MPH

“I want to be involved in different spaces,” said Alice Antwi ’20.

The Public Health field is making that possible. 

It’s early in Alice’s career, but she already has an impressive resume that includes a Women & Public Policy fellowship; an adjunct teaching role; and work in Albany Medical Center’s pediatric emergency department.

She said she was drawn to a Public Health major because it “was a good bridge of health and law,” and to Russell Sage College because “I just felt a sense of belonging.”

At Sage, she made valuable connections that have led to professional opportunities. 

For example, Jermaine Privott, the director of Sage’s Higher Educational Opportunity Program, put Alice in touch with Debernee Privott, who became her mentor when she enrolled in a Public Health master’s degree program. 

Debernee connected her to the competitive Women and Public Policy fellowship offered through the Center for Women in Government & Civil Society at the State University of New York.

During the fellowship, Alice was placed at the New York State Office of Mental Health’s Managed Care Policy Bureau and gained experience on projects to make behavioral health services more accessible.

When that commitment ended, another Sage connection led to an opportunity to teach a summer class in Epidemiology for Sage’s Nutrition program.  

And for five years, Alice has been a pediatric emergency health unit coordinator at Albany Med, where she keeps a high-adrenaline environment running as smoothly as possible. 

“I want to have an impact on individuals as well as at the community level,” Alice said of her long-term career goals. “I believe that you help people best by listening.”

In addition to professional connections, Alice said Sage provided her with meaningful leadership opportunities as a resident assistant, Student Government Association president and class president, and ambassador for Admissions and academic support programs like HEOP and CSTEP.  

“It’s a small school, so you just step up. I really liked that,” she said. 

She went on to name a number of Sage employees, from dining services staff to professors and vice presidents, who have had a positive impact on her undergraduate experience and early career. 

“I appreciate all the help and all the opportunities that they keep ascending to me, even after my journey at Sage.”