Hi! My name is Amber Garcia, and I'm a dual‑degree master's student pursuing my Master of Public Policy with a concentration in Public Policy Analysis Methods and my Master of Public Health in the Health Behavior and Health Equity department. I was born in Bacolod City, Philippines, and grew up mostly in Choctaw, Oklahoma, before coming to Michigan for graduate school, so as you can guess, winter was an interesting experience for me!
I started my master's program in Fall 2022 and chose the MPP/MPH 3-year dual degree because I hope to work at the intersection of public health and public policy. I have really enjoyed all the opportunities I've had the past three years, and each one has really helped me narrow my interests within two very broad fields. For my summer internships, I had the opportunity to work with the City of Detroit's Continuous Improvement Team and the City of Seattle's Climate Justice Team where I developed a passion for urban and environmental policy. As a research assistant for the Collaborative for Transformative Public Health, I support research on anti‑racist practices in community health departments and building trust with communities. This experience helped me understand the importance of co‑collaborative policymaking with communities. Overall, I hope to pursue a career that lets me combine research methods and community partnerships to advocate for upstream policy change.
I've also enjoyed being involved on campus. I served as President of La Salud at SPH and as an SCPP mentor at Ford. I am also a Resident Advisor at Munger Graduate Residences, where I have had the amazing opportunity to meet new people and plan community events. One of my most impactful experiences was serving as a Dow Sustainability Fellow where I worked on a project with community resiliency hubs in Eastside Detroit.
Being a dual degree student has been a really unique experience, because I am able to be part of two different cohorts with amazing people, and connect with even more professors and alumni at both schools. As the first in my family to attend a large state university and pursue a master's degree, completing a dual degree seemed daunting at first. However, the support I have received from the academic advisors at both SPH and Ford to ensure I was on the right track for graduation and taking classes that would meaningfully benefit my interests has been amazing. Shout out Jackie and Jordan! #dreamteam.
Amber Garcia is a dual degree graduate student at the University of Michigan, pursuing a Master of Public Health in the Health Behavior and Health Equity Department and a Master of Public Policy at the Gerald R. Ford School of Public Policy with a concentration on Public Policy Analysis Methods and Social Policy. She earned a Bachelor in Public Health (BPH) from the University of Oklahoma.