Charting Your MPH Course: Pivots, Pathways and Opportunities
Content
The Office of Online and Professional Programs, in partnership with the Office of Career Planning, invite you to join us for an evening with public health leaders: Emmanuella Delva, Priyanka Burnese, Siena Fleischer, and Meg Henning. The panelists will share insights and practical advice about finding your public health career path in today's world. Moderated by Tracy Eason, Assistant Director of Mentoring Program and Graduate Students in the Office of Career Planning.
About Our Panelists:
Priyanka Brunese is a strategist and partnership designer with 15+ years of experience spanning corporate, academia, global development, consulting, and entrepreneurship. She is the founder of Saath Partners, where she supports mission-driven organizations in using systems thinking to design shared-value partnerships for complex, real-world challenges. Her career includes roles as Research Scientist with the USAID-funded LASER PULSE Consortium, Director of Research Development at Purdue University's Honors College, and Associate with The Partnering Initiative (TPI). She holds a PhD in Organizational and Leadership Development, an MS in Information Systems from Purdue University, and a BE in Computer Engineering from the University of Mumbai.
Emmanuella Delva is a scientist and research leader whose career has spanned scientific research and innovation across many disciplines, including global health and international development across more than 60 countries. Most recently, she served as Chief Scientist and Managing Director for Research at USAID, where she led research strategy and university-based research partnerships, which resulted in securing over $100 million in follow-on research investments. She holds a Ph.D. in Biological and Biomedical Sciences from Emory University, completed postdoctoral training in Immunology at St. Jude Children's Research Hospital, and is a certified Project Management Professional (PMP).
Siena Fleischer is a mid-career master’s in public administration candidate at Harvard Kennedy School where she is an inaugural American Service Fellow following 20 years of experience mobilizing community-led change across five continents. As a USAID Foreign Service Officer from 2010 to 2025, she has led participatory development initiatives centered on youth, Indigenous communities, and women as agents of change, with work spanning Latin America, Asia, Africa, and Eastern Europe. Her final tour with USAID was in the Innovation & Research Division where she managed the USAID-funded LASER PULSE Consortium. She holds a master's degree in Gender & Development from the Institute of Development Studies and a bachelor's degree from McGill University. Siena is an elected School Board Member in Chesterfield, New Hampshire and serves on the Board of Hannah Grimes Center for Entrepreneurship in Keene, New Hampshire.
Meg Henning is a global public health professional with over 20 years of experience delivering high-impact health, education, and systems-strengthening programs across East and Southern Africa, including Kenya, Botswana, Rwanda, Zambia, and Ethiopia. Her work has focused on strategic planning, maternal and child health, health system strengthening, localization, and partnership building, with recent research emphasizing evidence-to-action models that center community decision-making. She holds a Ph.D. in Public Health from Oregon State University, a Master's in Health Education from Columbia University, and completed a postdoctoral fellowship as a Takemi Fellow in International Health at the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health.