Why We Do What We Do: Jeannie Mantopoulos

Jeannie Mantopoulous was an undergraduate sitting in an economics class when she first became interested by the success of public health programs. She went on to intern with the New York City Department of Health and Mental Hygiene in Intergovernmental Affairs. Jeannie expressed to me how important she felt these issues were, and how they made her want to get involved with public health. “It’s powerful to know that public health programs have the potential to have a significant impact on so many lives,” explained Jeannie.

Jeannie’s involvement with GHLI started after graduating from the Yale School of Public Health in 2008. In collaboration with Elizabeth Bradley, faculty director of GHLI, Jeannie was a project manager for the Ethiopia Hospital Management Initiative. Now, after three years, Jeannie has become the assistant director of GHLI.

Jeannie has thrived from collaborating with country partners and being able to share GHLI’s work with the Yale community. She shared how increased student engagement at GHLI makes her very proud of the opportunity to work on campus. She also described her accomplishments with GHLI as a collective effort to implement important programs in management and leadership. “We work as a team and I love it because it gives me the opportunity to learn so much from everyone and from the GHLI projects.” explained Jeannie.

Jeannie and her colleague, Gabe Forrey, have recently traveled to Ghana, Liberia, Rwanda, and South Africa working with country delegations that will attend GHLI’s third annual conference in June. “The conference gives senior health practitioners from different countries the time, space, and support to focus in on a particular health system issue with their respective team, while also learning from other country experiences; it’s really a unique opportunity.”

Amanda Sorrentino, GHLI Intern