PHILADELPHIA (August 26, 2021) – Monique Howard, EdD, MPH, has been appointed the inaugural Senior Director of Women’s Health Initiatives. This new position will work to heighten visibility and strengthen both research and programming that originates out of the Center for Global Women’s Health (CGWH).
“We are very excited that Dr. Howard is joining Penn Nursing in this capacity,” said Holly Harner, PhD, MBA, MPH, RN, WHCNP-BC, FAAN, the Afaf I. Meleis Director of the Center for Global Women’s Health. “She will work to advance and create viable local and global partnerships to address central issues affecting women including violence and victimization, maternal morbidity and mortality, and gender equity and inclusivity.”
About Monique Howard, EdD, MPH
Dr. Howard has been a public health practitioner with a focus on women’s health for over 25 years. She has led a statewide female specific AIDS service organization in New Jersey, a maternal and child health organization in Chester County, Pennsylvania, the New Jersey Department of Women’s Health and most recently, WOAR, Philadelphia’s only rape crisis center (formerly known as Women Organized Against Rape). Howard excels in nonprofit management, fund development, creating strategic alliances, and mobilizing communities around sensitive topics. She is a thought leader on issues that impact women and communities.
With a bachelor’s degree in Microbiology, she began her career as a laboratory technologist who worked with a team that recognized the co-occurrence of TB and HIV. After obtaining her MPH, Howard spent her early years as a professional HIV/AIDS educator and program coordinator, research and intervention specialist, and facilitator trainer for federally funded researchers at the University of Pennsylvania, Princeton, Columbia University, and The Urban League of Metropolitan New Jersey. She has traveled across the US, Virgin Islands, and South Africa training facilitators and increasing staff capacities to utilize the curricula that were accepted by the Centers for Disease Control as evidence-based programs that work.
Throughout her career, Howard has advocated on behalf of consumers and service providers and promoted systems to increase access and quality of care for women. She is committed to providing programming and services that increase the health and well-being of women and their families. She was part of the 2019 inaugural cohort of the Executive Program in Social Impact Strategy: Ending Violence & Abuse in Relationships, which is part of the University of Pennsylvania’s Ortner Center on Violence and Abuse.
Howard earned her Doctorate of Education in Human Sexuality Education from the University of Pennsylvania (2007); her Masters of Public Health in Community Health Education from East Stroudsburg University (1993); and her Bachelor of Science in Bacteriology from Wagner College (1989).
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About the University of Pennsylvania School of Nursing
The University of Pennsylvania School of Nursing is one of the world’s leading schools of nursing. For the sixth year in a row, it is ranked the #1 nursing school in the world by QS University and is consistently ranked highly in the U.S. News & World Report annual list of best graduate schools. Penn Nursing is ranked as one of the top schools of nursing in funding from the National Institutes of Health. Penn Nursing prepares nurse scientists and nurse leaders to meet the health needs of a global society through innovation in research, education, and practice. Follow Penn Nursing on: Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, & Instagram.
