My name is Kelsey White (she/her/hers) and I’m an alum from the 2010-2011 program year. I was raised as a cradle Presbyterian (PCUSA) in a rural South Carolina textile town. I am a graduate of Maryville College in East Tennessee, where I earned a bachelor of arts in Spanish while traveling to Latin America as often as possible in the process. In 2010, I moved to North Carolina to join the Johnson Service Corps (then the Johnson Intern Program) and completed my year of service at Freedom House Recovery Center, where I worked on the mental health and substance use crisis unit.
After several years working at Freedom House and the Inter-Faith Council for Social Service in downtown Carrboro, I went back to school at UNC Chapel Hill for dual master’s degrees in social work and public health, graduating in 2016. I relocated to Greensboro, NC, in 2017 for a job coordinating the Immigrant Health Access Project at UNC Greensboro’s Center for New North Carolinians. I support an incredible team of community health workers from around the world (we speak 16 languages collectively!) and draw on the practices of Servant Leadership daily in my work.
I am energized by our recent efforts to more intentionally center anti-racism in our work with immigrant and refugee communities. My partner Henry and I live with our two cats in an old house with a huge backyard. I love cooking, practicing yoga, making and listening to music, and digging in the dirt. My spiritual practice these days draws from contemplative traditions like Quakerism and Buddhism, and the social justice elements of my childhood Christianity. I’m excited to delve back into Servant Leadership with y’all in the coming weeks as another step in my journey!