Monthly Public Health Consultant Spotlight: Alisa Howard, CHW

Each month, I will introduce you to a public health consultant or entrepreneur and they will share their path to self-employment and outline key pieces of advice for aspiring business owners.

Today we welcome Alisa Howard from Las Vegas, NV (USA).

1. Please share your business title/name.

I am the Owner & Chief Health Consultant, Minority Health Consultants

2. Tell us how you entered the field of public health and what your education and work experience was prior to consulting.

Getting into public health has been so random, but it has been the greatest journey of my life.

I didn’t even know what public health was until I got my first job during my bachelors degree program (when I was 32 years old!)  In 2012, I started a part-time job with the State of Nevada’s Office of Public Health, Informatics and Epidemiology (OPHIE). I applied to be an administrative assistant, but when they saw my resume and experience (i.e., my legal writing experience, a Communication associates degree, and that I was a published author who owned a writing & editing business); they said “there has to be something more we can do with all of this!” So I was offered a Policy & Procedure Writer and Health Analyst position in the Tuberculosis department.

I was an adult student in my bachelors program because I had a daughter at a very young age, at 15 years old. It was important to me that I still did the things that I wanted to do, like go to college. Once my daughter got to high school, I went back for my degree. When she was a little kid, I went to school part-time. I got three associates degrees (including one in paralegal studies) because I actually wanted to be a lawyer first. When I decided to move on from that career goal, I tried to figure out how my interests all tied together. Since I like helping people, I decided to pursue a psychology degree, the study of people and how they think and behave. It took me awhile to complete, taking one or two classes at a time. In 2017, I completed my Community Health Worker (CHW) certificate.

3. When did you start consulting and what were your motivations for pursuing self-employment?

I started consulting in 2018. I was the Director of an HIV program and we lost funding from the state of Nevada. The program was only three years old, so it was one of the first to get defunded in March 2017. I took some time off to regroup. It was devastating because there were 85 people in the program and they were all minorities. I was worried about those 85 people living with HIV because once our program closed there wouldn’t be another minority focused HIV program in Las Vegas for them. That was the motivation to start my consulting business. I want to make a bigger impact and as my own boss, no one can tell me what I can and cannot do. I am very happy with my decision. Every day I help someone.

4. Who is your ideal client? What services do you offer?

My ideal clients are stakeholders who already have it in their mission to help minority populations improve their health. For example, this could be an organization that gets a grant with direction from the funder to focus on this community because it has the highest rate of HIV. These organizations are looking for someone to collaborate with on this issue and it’s the perfect opportunity to say “hire me!” because I have all this knowledge and I am of minority descent. These are my best clients because they already see the value and return on investment.

That said, I am always trying to influence stakeholders who don’t know how important it is to reach minority communities. I often do this through policy work, working with lots of politicians and legislators. I advocate for certain bills involving minorities and their health or even just bring the matter to their attention. For example, two weeks ago I met with a Senator on the health committee board and I was telling them about the importance of CHW and how we need to acknowledge that as a career path here in Nevada. 

I also do a lot of teaching. People hire me to learn their curriculum (e.g., HIV or blood pressure curriculum), and then I go out and teach the community. Infectious disease and HIV are my specialties, but I also educate on chronic diseases. Having me come in to teach or train is more effective because I already have a relationship with the community. They trust me.

My work has been very “Nevada-focused” to this point, but I am looking to expand to collaborate in other states.

5. What is your favorite type of project to work on and why?

I love to teach the community health worker course. It is my absolute favorite. The funny thing is, I didn’t realize that I was already a community health worker all these years. Nevada has been slow to get this program up and running. It has only been about four years, but I’ve been in the field for eight years! The teacher in my 2017 course is the one who introduced me to being an instructor. He’s gone off to be a lobbyist and I’ve stepped in his stead.

I teach community health workers at the College of Southern Nevada, through the workforce development department. The course covers important core competencies: Policy; Advocacy- this is so important in Nevada because it is actually really accessible to work with your legislators, but to make change you have to know who is in charge; Cultural Competency- so important because CHW are working on the ground; Communication; Culture- we talk about racism and discrimination and how it affects public health; Case Management; and Ethics. Each student also leaves the course with a CPR card and training in Mental Health First Aid. Nevada really wanted a holistic approach to this course and it’s reflected in the content. I invite lots of guest speakers to join the class, it’s important for CHW to learn where the resources are in their community. I often invite agencies that work on stigmatized health issues.

Every time I teach the class, it makes me feel as if I’m fulfilling my purpose. The students are adult learners, a mixture of high school graduates, college students, and nursing and public health students. A lot of my students have gone onto higher education because of this class. They come in sometimes with only high school diplomas but are motivated to keep going. Three recent students come to mind: one has gone to medical school, one to get their masters in social work, and one has gone back into college courses. I just think “Wow, this class changed someone’s life.”

6. Many of our readers are considering a career as a self-employed public health consultant or entrepreneur. What is your best piece of advice for those considering or just starting out?

• My first piece of advice is to really think about it. It is hard work. Think about health insurance, retirement, working alone, paying your own taxes, etc.

• Think about what your skill sets are. What do you bring to the table that is different than anyone else? If you’re just offering the same type of services, you’re going to have a lot more competition. But if you are specialized or have a different experience (like me), that will help draw people to you. Use that.

• Sit down and put together a great business plan. Always keeping in mind: What are my specialized skill sets? What makes me different? Why would people want to hire me? Where do I want to work? What type of work do I want to do? Who do I want to do that work with? Which services will offer a return on investment?

• Ask yourself what is my passion or you’ll burn out fast only doing things to make money. For me, my passion is speaking and education.

• Ask yourself where can I have impact? My work helps me impact people across the lifespan- from teenagers to older adults. I always think: How can I help people? What can I do for my community? I really think I was meant to be a helper.

I did not know any of this when I started. I wish someone would have told me these things!

7. How can readers connect with you?

Readers can connect with me via my Website, LinkedIn, Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter.