Leslie Rae Emma, M.H.A.’14, M.P.H.’14, was working as a health promotion specialist for a corporate wellness fitness management company in Falls Church, VA, when she participated in the DMU M.H.A. program’s inaugural executive residency in September 2012.
“Due to my location in Virginia and responsibilities at the time, the online program was the best option for me. I was excited to learn about the executive residencies and the unique opportunity to see the campus, interact with my peers and the DMU faculty and have a different learning experience and approach to the course work and material that I had not had before in the program,” she says.
“I always completed the residencies with a new perspective and appreciation for my course work, a different outlook on my strengths and the drive and self-motivation to embrace opportunities to improve as a student and professional based on the materials practiced during the classes,” she adds.
Leslie is using those perspectives in her new job as a health advisor with Chevron Corporation at its U.S. headquarters in San Ramon, CA. She and her colleagues in the global health and medical and health and productivity department strive to promote wellness among Chevron employees and contractors, from organizing national wellness programs to trainings and preventative screening events.
“The [M.H.A.] program has really helped me in areas including behavioral change, use of teamwork strategies and the application of different communication styles”
“I love what I am doing, and I am really looking forward to all of the new opportunities to learn and develop in my current role as a Chevron health advisor and support the customers I manage,” she says. “The Chevron culture as well as the team that I am fortunate to work with every day are supportive, innovative and are continuously encouraging me to raise the bar in the ways that we can promote health and wellness to the Chevron workforce.”
Leslie is applying the knowledge and tools she gained in the M.H.A. program. “The program has really helped me in areas including behavioral change, use of teamwork strategies and the application of different communication styles,” she says. “At Chevron, stakeholder engagement, maintaining and developing partnerships, and collaboration with your team is important and encouraged. The M.H.A. courses offered during the residencies helped support these focus areas of team development and communication by giving me greater confidence to approach situations and conversations with my team.”
Leslie says she would highly recommend the program to others. “It is a great program for the working adult. For me, it was manageable with my other obligations, the faculty are extremely knowledgeable and supportive, and the course work was relevant and applicable to my roles and responsibilities in my career,” she says.
