Season 1, Episode 4 | IRL Program Development with Nancy Fishman

Hosts: Krystal Lee, Mandy LaBreche

Episode Description: In this episode, we had a conversation with Nancy Fishman, former Senior Program Officer at the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, who shepherded IRL from the very beginning through 2020 until she retired. You will hear Nancy’s deep reflection with us on the original inspiration, aspiration, and intention of IRL by the Foundation, how she saw the program evolve, and ways she had to pivot and reimagine the success of the program continuously. A 10-year program investment is a big deal, and instituting a paradigm shift is not easy. Take a listen to what Nancy has learned along the IRL process.

Guests & Bio:

Nancy Fishman, MPH, is a former senior program officer in the Research, Evaluation, and Learning Unit at the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. Nancy’s portfolio of evaluation/research grants covered a wide range of health and healthcare topics reflecting the Foundation's mission. In her position, she focused on effective policies that impact the integration of health systems, public health, and community services. In addition, Nancy worked on the Foundation’s change leadership programs and was a program officer for many grants reflecting her interest in issues around increased community capacity for long-term care for the elderly. Before joining the Foundation in 1997, she worked as a research specialist at the University of Pittsburgh, Graduate School of Public Health. During her time in Pittsburgh, she worked as program director for a community outreach, education, and research project on cancer screening, and as a project coordinator on several National Institutes of Health-funded registries and clinical trials in the area of cardiovascular research. Nancy’s favorite nursing position was as a visiting nurse in the Boston metropolitan area. Nancy holds an MPH in epidemiology from the University of Massachusetts, Amherst, and a BS in nursing from the University of Connecticut.

Mentioned:

Emergent Strategy, adrienne maree brown

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You can find transcripts (posted the day of the episode release) and more episodes of “Promising Practices for Health Equity” at Promising Practices for Health Equity Podcast: Introduction - Interdisciplinary Research Leaders.

This episode of “Promising Practices for Health Equity” was produced by Studio Americana, and prepared by Cody Cotton, Mandy LaBreche, Krystal Lee, and J. Robin Moon of the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation’s Interdisciplinary Research Leaders Podcast Team.

This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit irlpodcast.substack.com