launched<\/a> a five-year collaboration with the University of California, Berkeley School of Public Health to expand access to public health careers for students from underrepresented backgrounds. Through the Blue Shield of California Fellowship Program, cohorts of up to 27 master\u2019s students receive rigorous academic training, professional development, and hands-on experience \u2014 preparing them to address health inequities and build impactful careers.<\/p>\nIn May, Blue Shield hosted an event at its Oakland headquarters to honor students in the program. The event recognized the third cohort for graduating and the fourth cohort for completing the first year of their two-year program. Together, these cohorts reflect the program\u2019s mission to broaden opportunity in public health:<\/p>\n
\n\t93% identify as African American, Chicano\/Latino, Native American\/Alaska Native, or Pacific Islander
\n\t70% are first-generation college students, and 84% are first-generation graduate students
\n\t51% come from economically disadvantaged backgrounds
<\/p>\n
The celebration also marked a program milestone, bringing the total number of fellows recognized to 89, with the fellowship on track to reach nearly 100 graduates in its fourth year.<\/p>\n
Two graduating fellows, Bay Area natives Dirk Tolson III of Antioch and Cieara Simmons of Oakland, shared reflections at the May 6 event.<\/p>\n
![\"Professor](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/Professor "\\"Professor")
<\/p>\n
Professor Kimberly MacPherson<\/p>\n
“I believe what I learned over the last two\u00a0years wouldn’t have been possible without the Blue Shield of California Fellowship,\u201d said Tolson. \u201cIt helped me make connections within my cohort, the Berkeley School of Public Health, alumni, and Blue Shield. This experience gave me the chance to learn and grow and understand public health from a more in-depth perspective and supported my aspirations in biostatistics. I want to thank everyone for their support and guidance throughout this graduate journey.”<\/p>\n
Simmons shared that her decision to pursue public health was shaped by growing up in underinvested communities in Oakland and witnessing firsthand how structural inequities affect health outcomes.<\/p>\n
\u201cI didn\u2019t just want to understand these challenges; I wanted to be part of changing them,” she said. “As I move forward, I plan to work at the intersection of public health and systems change, using both policy and practice to design and support programs rooted in equity, dignity, and community voice. This program taught me that real change requires action, collaboration, and a commitment to reimagining systems that have historically left communities behind.”<\/p>\n
Beyond internships and fellowships, the collaboration extends into the classroom. Professor Kimberly MacPherson, who previously worked at a health plan, has spent more than two decades teaching at UC Berkeley designing coursework that bridges public health and business. Over the past five years, her students have partnered with Blue Shield on real-world challenges, developing and presenting solutions directly to employees.<\/p>\n
![\"Dean](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/Dean "\\"Dean")
<\/p>\n
Dean Dr. Michael C. Lu<\/p>\n
MacPherson notes that Berkeley\u2019s public health students bring a distinct strength to this work: a mindset grounded in storytelling, empathy, and listening \u2014 skills essential to meeting communities where they are and driving meaningful change.<\/p>\n
That message was echoed by Dean of the School of Public Health, Dr. Michael C. Lu, who addressed the 2026 graduates with both encouragement and perspective. He shared that while public health is not always easy, it is always the right thing to do. He also reminded students that their lived experiences, education, and enthusiasm will take them far in their careers.<\/p>\n
He closed with a simple message: \u201cWe believe in you. Go Bears.\u201d<\/p>\n
Relevant stories<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Dirk Tolson III, Devon Sternberg, Claire Schutz, and Chloe Ortiz, Blue Shield of California and UC Berkeley public…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":365299,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[7,9,8],"class_list":["post-365298","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-california","tag-california","tag-california-headlines","tag-california-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/365298","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=365298"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/365298\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/365299"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=365298"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=365298"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=365298"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}