Education and Training
Alumnae Profile
Anita Balan
Anita Balan graduated from Rutgers University in May 2007 with a B.A in political science and a minor in public health. She was a proud member of 2006 class of NEW Leadership, where her love of politics and women’s leadership began. The NEW Leadership action project on HIV/AIDS policy engaged her interest in politics and health. Anita interned for the Center for American Women and Politics (CAWP) from Jan 2007 until her graduation, assisting with the Ready to Run ™ Campaign for Women and with the visit of then-Senator Hillary Clinton. Her first full-time job was with Girl Scouts of Central and Southern New Jersey as a program coordinator for Pathways to Politics, a two-week workshop in collaboration with CAWP, raising awareness and educating Girl Scouts nationwide about the importance of women’s political participation.
After graduation, Anita was the youngest of 30 members selected nationwide to be a part of a nine-month distance education fellowship program offered by University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, through the North Carolina Institute of Public Health. During the fellowship she was a part of a team that studied emergency preparedness and response to E-coli outbreak in spinach in 2006. She also completed an internship with the Division of Prevention and Community Partnerships within Department of Children and Families of NJ, where she assisted with application of federal grants to expand programs aimed at preventing child abuse and child neglect. Following that she interned for Project Vote Smart in Phillipsburg, Montana, working on several projects to help voters make smart and informed decisions about candidates running for various elections.
Currently Anita is a graduate student earning a master of public health degree at The George Washington University – School of Public Health and Health Services with a focus on health promotion and getting an additional certificate in Health Policy. Through co-curricular activities, she has served the DC community by educating and raising awareness of health issues to the vulnerable and homeless women population within the District. She hopes to continue her life-long love of learning with a doctorate in public health, becoming an advocate for ending health disparities among marginalized populations here and in India.
As of March 17, 2009, Anita is honored, incredibly proud and privileged to call herself an American citizen. She exercised her right to vote for the first time in the June primaries in Virginia and hopes to be on the ballot herself in the near future.