Kyra Parks (MPH 2022) is a resource management consultant supporting the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s Global Health Center. In this role, she helps allocate funding across the agency's global health work.
Kyra Parks graduated from Georgia State with her MPH in the Environmental Epidemiology concentration in 2022. While she was earning her master’s degree, Parks worked as a program associate for the Council of State and Territorial Epidemiologists (CSTE). She worked across emergency preparedness, chronic disease and environmental health. After she graduated with her MPH, Parks was promoted to an environmental health program analyst.
Though Parks attended the on-campus program, she found the flexibility offered by the program’s online modalities to be beneficial while balancing the demands of full-time work. She chose to pursue the degree to strengthen her skills and broaden her professional options.
“I had some work experience after undergrad, and I got to the point where I recognized that the MPH would really help me improve my skills and advance in my career,” Parks said.
Parks is currently a resource management consultant supporting the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s (CDC’s) Global Health Center. In this role, she helps allocate funding across the global health work there. “The role really allows me to draw upon my experiences from the MPH and my previous work experience, too,” Parks said.
Parks cited the technical skills she gained in the MPH program, including data analysis and group work, as some of the most relevant in her current role.
“In the MPH, we did a lot of group work, which I thought was very effective and emulates the workplace,” Parks said. “You have to work with a lot of different people who have different skill sets and different personalities.”
Parks’ advice for future students of the MPH program is to make the most of the program’s resources and connect with program faculty.
“Connect with the professors because they are always willing to share their experiences, and a lot of them are doing research that students are interested in,” Parks said.