Kelsy McIntosh joined the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation (RWJF) in 2022, focused on transforming health and healthcare systems. Her work in global health and sustainable development brings a unique perspective to what it means to build a Culture of Health in the United States. Kelsy is particularly interested in addressing social determinants of health and decreasing disparities that result in poor access to high-quality, equitable healthcare.
Before joining RWJF, Kelsy was a graduate research assistant on a project through Emory University. The project aimed to identify how the COVID-19 pandemic impacted the lives of people living with HIV in Georgia, in order to understand community needs and influence pandemic-related policy decisions. Previously she served as a global health intern and an ORISE fellow at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) on the National Public Health Institutes (NPHI) team where she assisted in efforts to establish and strengthen NPHIs outside of the United States. Kelsy also worked abroad in Central America and West Africa with a nonprofit organization that aimed to address health disparities and break the cycle of poverty in rural communities through microfinance, healthcare access, and public health infrastructure improvement initiatives.
Kelsy earned her MPH from Emory University’s Rollins School of Public Health in the Hubert Department of Global Health, where she concentrated in Community Health and Development. She holds a BS in Public Health and Spanish from Rutgers University.