Margaret West, MPA, Public Health Advisor
As a DNPAO project officer, Margaret works with funded partners at state health departments, universities, and in various communities representing rural, urban, tribal, and island areas. For four years, she has been part of a team that supports Walkability Institutes in U.S. Affiliated Pacific Islands, U.S. Virgin Islands, and Puerto Rico.
What is your greatest professional satisfaction?
The greatest satisfaction comes from watching the strong relationships develop across unlikely partners (health, transportation, and economic development). Finding interrelated work that meets all their goals, and watching them work together encourages us that our work is making a difference.
It is also satisfying to know that our work dovetails nicely with the values that communities hold in high esteem. In Palau, your passport is stamped with the Palau Pristine Paradise Pledge. The final line of the pledge states, “The only footprints I shall leave are those that will wash away.” Making walking and biking the main way of getting around on the island would go a long way to supporting this pledge and keeping Palau a pristine paradise.
How do partners help you do your work?
DNPAO’s work could not happen without multi-sector partners. My job has always been to support partners in making changes in their environments that will lead to positive health outcomes. My approach is to help them build local expertise and provide practical tools to accomplish their goals. At the end of the day though, what is valuable is not any one thing I have said or done but the way I have helped them tackle their challenges.
What would you like partners to know?
We would like partners to know that their work at the local, county, and state is valued and key to greater success nationally. Nothing we do is possible without our partners.
Favorite quote:
“I've learned that people will forget what you said, people will forget what you did, but people will never forget how you made them feel.”
― Maya Angelou
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