This year, the School of Nursing was ranked by The New York Times as having the highest number of international undergraduates among all American colleges and universities.
The Nursing School hopes to continue building international ties by appointing two students as global health ambassadors.
The two positions were created this fall and given to Nursing sophomore Natalie Ball and Nursing doctoral student Lisa Hilmi. Both students provide guidance for international students and alumni, increase global health awareness on Penn’s campus and aim to spark interest for global outreach.
Both Ball and Hilmi were selected for the position based on their experience and interest in global health. While the undergraduate ambassador position is compensated through the federal work-study program, the graduate ambassador position is unpaid.
The ambassadors work alongside Nursing Global Health Affairs Assistant Dean Marjorie Muecke and Nursing Associate Director of the Office of Global Health Affairs Gerri Grosso to accomplish these tasks.
“Dr. Muecke is well-connected in the international academic community, which will open other opportunities for the student ambassadors as well,” the Nursing School’s Associate Director of Marketing and Communications Jennifer Baldino Bonett wrote in an email.
Ball’s passion for global outreach first began with her travels and volunteer work in Bolivia, Peru and Argentina.
Since she was appointed a global health ambassador, her daily tasks vary greatly meet the demands of multiple projects.
Currently, Ball presents a film series on Mondays and Thursdays to promote awareness for health conditions in Botswana. She is also working to provide international students with Thanksgiving meals through volunteer families.
“Our goal is to allow them to have a real American experience. A lot of students don’t know about family culture in the United States,” Ball said.
Hilmi’s interest in global outreach was developed with her work with World Health Organization and AmeriCares.
“The office of Global Health Affairs in the School of Nursing has pretty much established a mandate to reach out internationally to other nursing schools across the world, as well as international alumni,” Hilmi said.
With this mandate in mind, Hilmi hopes to expand Penn’s focus on global health. Hilmi is also helping to develop a global health minor next semester and also hopes to continue teaching.
Currently, Hilmi works closely with the Urban Women’s Health Collaborative, where she studies differences in women’s health in urban and rural settings.
Both ambassadors are looking to create a name for Penn in the realm of global health.
“I think global health is more of a new topic,” Ball said. “We’re trying to get everyone involved and aware of the subject.”
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