Leading Voices: Meet Ashley Arabasadi
Leading Voices: Meet Ashley Arabasadi
We’re excited to bring you this month’s edition of Leading Voices, a series that features the incredible talent that makes up MSH.
We’re chatting with Ashley Arabasadi, Campaign Manager of the No More Epidemics campaign and MSH’s Global Health Security policy advisor. Ashley is a Pennsylvania native with a passion for global health security. She’s responsible for the strategy, planning, and execution of global health security activities here at MSH.
What do you think makes MSH different?
Our belief in going to the people, working side-by-side with them, learning from them, and empowering them to create long-lasting solutions to their communities’ most pressing health problems.
What needs to happen next in Global Health Security?
Global efforts must engage with local communities to develop effective, sustainable programming around infectious disease preparedness, prevention, detection, and response. Most outbreaks occur in rural areas at the “last mile.” Community actors are best positioned to act as first responders to mitigate and lessen the effects of an infectious disease outbreak.
What are you most proud of in your work?
I’m proud that No More Epidemics and the Global Health Security Agenda Consortium continue to be the voice of civil society, working with U.S. and international government actors and participating in successful programming to make the world safer from infectious disease threats.
Finish this sentence: Health is _______.
Health is a human right.
What’s your best advice for people who are reading this?
Vaccinate your children. And yourself. This is perhaps the simplest thing you can do, today, to make your community better prepared for an infectious disease outbreak like the flu, measles, etc.
What drives you?
Building a safer and healthier world for my newborn and all the kids out there.
What do you like to do when you’re not at work?
Explore Washington, DC with my husband and newborn!