Angel (AJ) Billingsly, MS2 (L) & Ruby (Lillie) Reed, MS1 (R)

Combine their passion and experience in community and global health to present the 18th Annual Community Health Symposium!

Angel Joseph James Billingsley (AJ) is a 2^nd year medical student born in San Juan, Puerto Rico. Shortly after was immediately whisked to Mobile, Alabama where he spent the majority of his early life. He graduated from Emory University with a B.S. in Neuroscience and Behavioral Biology, before matriculating to Emory's Rollins School of Public Health, and Law School, where he obtained graduate degrees. His community health connection stems from his desire to affect widespread change within the communities he hails from, wherever he may find himself. Over the course of his time in Atlanta he managed to lose (and keep off) a whopping 205 lbs, an endeavor which has engendered newfound interest in all forms of physical activity (and the preventative healing effects thereof). In his spare time he is a bit of a futurist and techie, and would eventually love to marry my 'foresight' and aptitude for technology (biotechnology in particular), with the tangible knowledge and skills developed as a future leader in medicine, and community healthcare.

Ruby Reed (Lillie) is a 1^st year medical student from Greenville, North Carolina. Lillie is passionate about creating community-driven interventions for prevention, education and empowerment, and hopes to do so throughout her career locally and globally. As a B.N. Duke Scholar at Duke University, Lillie graduated summa cum laude and with distinction with bachelor’s degrees in psychology and global health. In college, Lillie worked as a gender-based violence counselor and assisted with violence prevention interventions on campus and within local Latinx communities. She directed a community service organization, created a cross-campus social justice initiative, and helped develop an online counseling resource. She also worked on community-based mental health research at Sangath in Goa, India, and helped develop school-based health programs with The Rales Center in Baltimore. After graduating, Lilliehelped develop policies and curricula with the Pan-American Health Organization. As a Global Health Corps Fellow, Lillie created a nationwide communications strategy for Malawi’s largest non-governmental healthcare provider. Working with the DREAMS Partnership in Zambia, Lillie coordinated school-based girls’ empowerment and HIV prevention programs, and developed an initiative promoting boys’ activism for gender equality. Lillie has worked on health research and community health programs in the US, Ecuador, Liberia, South Africa, and Nicaragua.

Thank you both for your time! We are very pleased and proud to have you both and look forward to next year's symposium!