Public Health + Social Justice

Tuesday, February 09, 2021

12:00 PM to 1:30 PM

Zoom link sent upon registration

In order to holistically and effectively improve health outcomes, a range of social determinants of health need to be addressed. This was the mindset that guides initiatives like The Health Law Partnership (HeLP), a civil clinic that is part of a medical-legal partnership between the Georgia State University College of Law, Atlanta Legal Aid Society and Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta. HeLP combines the expertise of healthcare professionals and lawyers to improve the lives of low-income children and families both on an individual and systemic scale. Their collaboration connects the dots between health outcomes and social inequalities.

Join us in learning from Brooke Silverthorn, JD, Assistant Clinical Professor in the Health Law Partnership Legal Services Clinic and Co-Director of the Health Law Partnership. Silverthorn teaches and supervises law students, medical students and graduate students in the fields of social work, public health and bioethics to represent clients and address their health-harming legal needs. This conversation will be facilitated by Meaghan Kennedy, MPH, founder of Orange Sparkle Ball.

We will offer a chance for deeper discussion and networking following the discussion. Please plan to stay online from 1:00 - 1:30pm for break-out rooms.

About the series:

Public health touches nearly every aspect of our world, as is becoming clearer every day. This series of conversations was conceived to examine the space where public health intersects with other disciplines. Our goal is to highlight those at this intersection, discuss their work and broaden our thinking. This series is led by the Career Development Committee of the Rollins School of Public Health Alumni Association Board.

Our Speakers:

Brooke Silverthorn, JD is an Assistant Clinical Professor in the Health Law Partnership Legal Services Clinic and Co-Director of the Health Law Partnership (https://healthlawpartnership.org/). The Health Law Partnership is a civil clinic that is part of a medical-legal partnership with Atlanta Legal Aid Society and Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta. In the clinic, Silverthorn teaches and supervises law students, medical students and graduate students in the fields of social work, public health and bioethics to represent clients and address their health-harming legal needs.

Prior to joining the faculty, Silverthorn was the Director of Legal and Policy Advocacy at the National Association of Counsel for Children (NACC). In that role, she worked with attorneys, organizations, and government systems across the country to improve legal representation for children, parents and agencies in child welfare court proceedings. Silverthorn also served as a trainer and course instructor for child welfare trial skills and content training throughout the country. She has developed course curriculum for attorneys and other professionals involved in the child welfare field. In addition to live courses, Silverthorn created and taught an online course for attorneys preparing to take the child welfare law specialist examination. She is particularly interested in innovative teaching methods that focus on interdisciplinary professional education.

In 2010 she was certified as a Child Welfare Law Specialist. Silverthorn represented children in child welfare court proceedings and served as a Special Assistant Attorney General representing the Department of Family and Children Services in child protection litigation from 2006-2014. Silverthorn is the author of the chapter “Agency Representation in Child Welfare Proceedings: Ensuring the Agency Meets its Legal Mandates” in Child Welfare Law and Practice: Representing Children, Parents, and State Agencies in Abuse, Neglect, and Dependency Cases. Silverthorn served as an adjunct professor at the University of Denver Sturm College of Law from 2015-2016. She received her B.A. in Sociology from Michigan State University and her J.D. from Georgia State University College of Law. She is licensed to practice law in Georgia, Colorado and Michigan.

Meaghan Kennedy, MPH founded Orange Sparkle Ball after graduating from the Rollins School of Public Health at Emory University and conducting HIV research at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Orange Sparkle Ball is an innovation and impact consultancy that accelerates initiatives in the private and public sector, as well as works with startups. Meaghan has taught at Georgia Institute of Technology and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. She has been a guest reviewer at Georgia Tech since 2007, a judge for the Global Social Venture Competition and Industrial Design Society of America (IDSA), a mentor for social entrepreneurs and is frequently invited to sit on innovation and entrepreneurial panels.

Contact Information

Michelle James

michelle.james@emory.edu