Haleigh St.Hilaire ’24, ’26MPH earned both her undergraduate and graduate degrees from Simmons, making her a "double shark" and allowing her to benefit from a seamless transition between the two programs.
“As a double shark, the big thing that Simmons did for me was give me the opportunity to explore my interests and figure out how they connected to my professional goals,” says St.Hilaire.
“Health and exercise science gave me the foundation in health and movement,” she says. “And the Master of Public Health program focused on health equity, which helped me look at those topics from a broader perspective and understand how systems and policies affect people’s health and well-being.”
Currently, St.Hilaire is a communications and public policy specialist at the Children’s League of Massachusetts.
“This is a statewide membership organization that advocates for children, youth, and families,” she explains. “My role is in communications, policy, and advocacy. I work on legislative research, track policy developments, support our coalitions, run newsletters and social media, and help with event planning. I do a little bit of everything, which is really fun. And I enjoy connecting policy with organizations and people who are directly supporting children and families.”
St.Hilaire’s path to public health, child welfare, and policy was not a straight line. As an undergraduate studying exercise science, she is passionate about access to movement and the impact it can have on people’s quality of life.
Eventually, she became interested in public health.
“I’ve always been passionate about access for children, and especially opportunities for children with disabilities. I think that our job as the generation above is to help to make the children’s lives just as easy as possible,” St.Hilaire says. “It wasn’t until my senior year that I got to explore some of this. I realized that my goal is to give people the access they need to succeed, and I hope that I get to do this for the rest of my life.”
Impactful Mentorship at Simmons
At Simmons, St.Hilaire received memorable mentorship from several faculty members.
“Dr. Michael Welch, who is an associate teaching professor and the director of the health and exercise science program, is amazing,” she says. “He was one of my first professors in the program way back when I started as a first-year undergraduate on Zoom, due to the COVID-19 pandemic. He encouraged me to explore public health more. We had so many conversations in his office, and he supported me in every way to see what my passions are. I am so grateful for Professor Welch and his willingness to support me in that.”
Tim Hanway, assistant professor of practice and internship coordinator for the health and exercise science program, is also “fantastic.” She says, “Professor Hanway encouraged me a lot academically, and he is the man you go to when you need a confidence boost. Thanks to his mentorship, I began to think about how exercise science and public health and policy really intersect.”
St.Hilaire also notes that Hanway “is a connections guru. He is very connected to people in diverse industries, so he can put you in touch with individuals to support your career trajectory. He is such a fantastic resource to have.”
Dolores Wolongevicz, associate professor of practice and chair of the Department of Public Health was “an exemplary professor” to St.Hilaire.
“She supervised my health equity change project, which was examining accessible sports opportunities for kids with disabilities through Franciscan’s Children’s Hospital, specifically their adaptive sports program,” she says. “I had this big idea and Professor Wolongevicz sat down and helped me figure it out.”
Career Preparation at Simmons
In a previous role, St.Hilaire served as a legislative aide at the Massachusetts State House. She also interned at the State House through the Barbara Lee Fellowship, which was related to her senior capstone research project on the intersection between exercise science and public health.
In her current role at the Children’s League, St.Hilaire utilizes skills that she learned at Simmons.
“A big piece of my job involves examining complicated policy information,” she says. “I then have to figure out how to communicate those in a way that makes sense to different audiences, which I think is something that Simmons absolutely helped me to do.”
In particular, St.Hilaire credits faculty member Marcelo Korc and his “Strategic Communications for Health Equity” (MHEO 486) course. “That was an amazing class for breaking down chunkier issues in public health and making them accessible,” she says.
Furthermore, she says, “I was able to develop skills in research, writing, critical thinking, and I use them constantly in my current role.”
For St.Hilaire, Simmons helped boost her confidence to chart a less orthodox career trajectory.
“Simmons helped me realize that I don’t have to follow one specific path. I was encouraged to take the things I was passionate about and find different ways to apply them,” she says. “Simmons helped me to take my passions and connect them to a career in public health and advocacy. Simmons gave me the opportunity, support, and confidence to find my own path.”
Advice to Simmons Students
St.Hilaire believes that any professional experience, even if it is not one’s “dream job,” is significant.
“You don’t have to figure it all out right away,” she says. “In any position, you learn a lot about yourself, what you are good at, and what you want to do differently.”
For St.Hilaire, “The biggest piece of advice I have is to be patient. It is hard to find a job right now, and your first job will probably not be your forever job. Any opportunity can be a learning experience, so be patient, be open to new opportunities, give yourself room to grow, and give yourself grace.”