Kevin Smith
Meet Kevin:
Kevin was born and raised in Jamaica, and moved to the US in 2016. Kevin is currently completing his PhD in Economics, focusing on health economics, researching how to make the healthcare market more competitive, as well as the economic and medical impacts of prenatal outcomes. Kevin was an invaluable member of CLAN’s Youth Representative team at LeHigh University in Pennsylvania, and his interview opened our eyes to the importance of an intersectional approach to public health, in order to truly combat the root causes. Kevin’s work is vital to redressing the prevalence of these diseases in future generations, and we can’t wait to follow his work as it unfolds.
CLAN's Youth Advisors Grace and Sienna were fortunate to meet up with Kevin to learn more about his story. Heres how our interview went:
What motivates you to work hard, and to do what you do?
When I was younger, it was fear of failure. I come from Jamaica which is relatively poor, we are technically lower-middle income, but we’re still very poor, especially considering the social circle I grew up in. I’ve become more motivated by stuff I’m interested in, such as my research, researching stuff that is not relatively common. I now get motivation from interesting papers, especially in other disciplines, to apply it to my discipline.
What inspired you to start working with CLAN?
I had a friend who was already a youth rep, she told me about it for a few years. I went to a meeting and realised it was very interesting and saw that CLAN was looking for a youth rep, and where they were working, and specifically in NCDs, that really interested me. I applied, had an interview with Kate, I appreciated her passion and how she wants her work to have an impact globally. I liked their community centred approach and CLAN doesn’t believe it’s CLAN’s responsibility to hover over people, they empower and assist people in the community.
What was your role with CLAN?
My role with clan was one of their UN Youth reps. My responsibility was kind of flexible. I joined on a conditional period. Initially I was focused on a project out of Uganda looking at a disease on Nodding Syndrome. Kate asked me how to make their program in Uganda to be more effective, they had fundraising but wanted the government to do more. I had to do a benefits and costs analysis to assist the government. You really need data for this, but her partner didn’t have the data necessary. Kate put me on other projects that dealt with Indigenous NCDs, I worked on policy briefs. One of CLAN’s biggest projects was in Pakistan with CAH, I did a lot of work on that with the partners in pakistan. It was very interesting and myself and other youth reps wrote a chapter in an upcoming book on that project and how we can use the idea of global citizenship in our teaching and learning.
What notable experiences did you have CLAN that impacted your worldview or perspective, or inspired you? In what ways were you impacted?
What I would say is that my work on CAH definitely changed my views because it’s such a very specific disease and difficult to treat. Also during my time with CLAN I had the chance to go to the UN in NY, and there I attended a lot of events. Instead of going to the GA, which is almost possible, we went to the NCD alliance. During the GA they hosted events where you can go and listen to speakers and other things that CLAN works on. Those experiences really changed me, seeing a lot of people working in the space, and seeing the work that they do. Some of the same questions I’m working on are with other people.
What was the most rewarding thing about working with CLAN, and how have you carried that with you? Were there any key lessons you drew from this?
What I would say is that one of the key lessons I learned was that when you’re working in the international relations space it’s not very linear. What I mean by that is not about getting from point a to point b all the time. CLAN is working on multiple projects, you may start something but you can’t finish it straight away. It’s good to be flexible, and to push where you can push but to move your efforts when you need to. Also I loved the people I worked with, such as Nadine, and after that I worked with Emma, she also has been really good and even though her field is different from mine, we got a lot of work done, that sort of comradery is something. In economics you work solo, so it’s not common to have a big collaborative exercise. Working in CLAN, UN and NGOs spaces taught me the benefits and issues you can have in those projects.
Did working with CLAN open up new opportunities? In what ways?
I was already thinking about the NGO space and the international organisation space but being in there I can get the feel of it. I amon the job market this fall, as I’m doing my PhD I'll apply to universities. But given my experience in CLNA, I will definitely add a lot of international organisations such as IMF, UN, WHO, this NGO space is very interesting. I am motivated about interesting topics and looking outside what most people are researching. There’s a lot of research into the pandemic, but I’m more interested in the next pandemic. We’re living through this, but what about the next one? What form will it come in? Research in that is something I find that motivates me and that I’m interested in. There’s some research in WHO for that.
What do you think you’d be doing, or how do you think your outlook would be different had you not worked with CLAN?
I would not have had that much of an appreciation for NGos or international organisations that I have now. As I went through CLAN, if I didn’t, it would be unlikely I would apply for those organisations. I learnt a lot through CLAN that I otherwise wouldn't have, like nodding syndromes, NCDs and CAH. I don’t know if I organically picked it up, but I learnt to collaborate with interdisciplinary and global fields. I don't know if i would have been able to easily pick that up if i wasn’t in the youth rep program
How has COVID impacted the area where you live?
Where I’m at, in Pennsylvania, it really had an impact where it shut everything down for almost the entirety of last year. I didn't leave my apartment after April. That really changed a lot of stuff. I think that had an impact on my university, everything I did with advisors and teaching went online. That changed my relationship with the university. I couldn't go to campus, teach in person, or to see my professors.
Has your work with CLAN impacted the way you think about COVID or your actions relating to the pandemic?
Relating to the pandemic… not that much. How i think about it has allowed me to appreciate the complex work that happens in organisations such as WHO. I may have viewed their decisions incompetent, but i now realise these decisions are sometimes very difficult, and many times you are asking decisions about “will tihs pan out? Am i making the right decision?”. How it was described to me, if you’re on a highway late at night and can only see a few inches in front of you. That’s what nGOS and international organisations deal with all the time, they don't give a clear vision ahead and they need to navigate carefully. Working with CLAN opened my eyes to that.
Where do you see yourself in 5 years?
I need to work on the Job Market. My answer right now is that I’m not sure where I will be, given the way the world is, but I want to be at a stable university with a job that I love. I'm applying to a lot of universities in the fall. My ideal is to land at a nice university in a warm climate, and to teach the subjects I love and research what I find interesting.
Kevin was born and raised in Jamaica, and moved to the US in 2016. Kevin is currently completing his PhD in Economics, focusing on health economics, researching how to make the healthcare market more competitive, as well as the economic and medical impacts of prenatal outcomes. Kevin was an invaluable member of CLAN’s Youth Representative team at LeHigh University in Pennsylvania, and his interview opened our eyes to the importance of an intersectional approach to public health, in order to truly combat the root causes. Kevin’s work is vital to redressing the prevalence of these diseases in future generations, and we can’t wait to follow his work as it unfolds.
CLAN's Youth Advisors Grace and Sienna were fortunate to meet up with Kevin to learn more about his story. Heres how our interview went:
What motivates you to work hard, and to do what you do?
When I was younger, it was fear of failure. I come from Jamaica which is relatively poor, we are technically lower-middle income, but we’re still very poor, especially considering the social circle I grew up in. I’ve become more motivated by stuff I’m interested in, such as my research, researching stuff that is not relatively common. I now get motivation from interesting papers, especially in other disciplines, to apply it to my discipline.
What inspired you to start working with CLAN?
I had a friend who was already a youth rep, she told me about it for a few years. I went to a meeting and realised it was very interesting and saw that CLAN was looking for a youth rep, and where they were working, and specifically in NCDs, that really interested me. I applied, had an interview with Kate, I appreciated her passion and how she wants her work to have an impact globally. I liked their community centred approach and CLAN doesn’t believe it’s CLAN’s responsibility to hover over people, they empower and assist people in the community.
What was your role with CLAN?
My role with clan was one of their UN Youth reps. My responsibility was kind of flexible. I joined on a conditional period. Initially I was focused on a project out of Uganda looking at a disease on Nodding Syndrome. Kate asked me how to make their program in Uganda to be more effective, they had fundraising but wanted the government to do more. I had to do a benefits and costs analysis to assist the government. You really need data for this, but her partner didn’t have the data necessary. Kate put me on other projects that dealt with Indigenous NCDs, I worked on policy briefs. One of CLAN’s biggest projects was in Pakistan with CAH, I did a lot of work on that with the partners in pakistan. It was very interesting and myself and other youth reps wrote a chapter in an upcoming book on that project and how we can use the idea of global citizenship in our teaching and learning.
What notable experiences did you have CLAN that impacted your worldview or perspective, or inspired you? In what ways were you impacted?
What I would say is that my work on CAH definitely changed my views because it’s such a very specific disease and difficult to treat. Also during my time with CLAN I had the chance to go to the UN in NY, and there I attended a lot of events. Instead of going to the GA, which is almost possible, we went to the NCD alliance. During the GA they hosted events where you can go and listen to speakers and other things that CLAN works on. Those experiences really changed me, seeing a lot of people working in the space, and seeing the work that they do. Some of the same questions I’m working on are with other people.
What was the most rewarding thing about working with CLAN, and how have you carried that with you? Were there any key lessons you drew from this?
What I would say is that one of the key lessons I learned was that when you’re working in the international relations space it’s not very linear. What I mean by that is not about getting from point a to point b all the time. CLAN is working on multiple projects, you may start something but you can’t finish it straight away. It’s good to be flexible, and to push where you can push but to move your efforts when you need to. Also I loved the people I worked with, such as Nadine, and after that I worked with Emma, she also has been really good and even though her field is different from mine, we got a lot of work done, that sort of comradery is something. In economics you work solo, so it’s not common to have a big collaborative exercise. Working in CLAN, UN and NGOs spaces taught me the benefits and issues you can have in those projects.
Did working with CLAN open up new opportunities? In what ways?
I was already thinking about the NGO space and the international organisation space but being in there I can get the feel of it. I amon the job market this fall, as I’m doing my PhD I'll apply to universities. But given my experience in CLNA, I will definitely add a lot of international organisations such as IMF, UN, WHO, this NGO space is very interesting. I am motivated about interesting topics and looking outside what most people are researching. There’s a lot of research into the pandemic, but I’m more interested in the next pandemic. We’re living through this, but what about the next one? What form will it come in? Research in that is something I find that motivates me and that I’m interested in. There’s some research in WHO for that.
What do you think you’d be doing, or how do you think your outlook would be different had you not worked with CLAN?
I would not have had that much of an appreciation for NGos or international organisations that I have now. As I went through CLAN, if I didn’t, it would be unlikely I would apply for those organisations. I learnt a lot through CLAN that I otherwise wouldn't have, like nodding syndromes, NCDs and CAH. I don’t know if I organically picked it up, but I learnt to collaborate with interdisciplinary and global fields. I don't know if i would have been able to easily pick that up if i wasn’t in the youth rep program
How has COVID impacted the area where you live?
Where I’m at, in Pennsylvania, it really had an impact where it shut everything down for almost the entirety of last year. I didn't leave my apartment after April. That really changed a lot of stuff. I think that had an impact on my university, everything I did with advisors and teaching went online. That changed my relationship with the university. I couldn't go to campus, teach in person, or to see my professors.
Has your work with CLAN impacted the way you think about COVID or your actions relating to the pandemic?
Relating to the pandemic… not that much. How i think about it has allowed me to appreciate the complex work that happens in organisations such as WHO. I may have viewed their decisions incompetent, but i now realise these decisions are sometimes very difficult, and many times you are asking decisions about “will tihs pan out? Am i making the right decision?”. How it was described to me, if you’re on a highway late at night and can only see a few inches in front of you. That’s what nGOS and international organisations deal with all the time, they don't give a clear vision ahead and they need to navigate carefully. Working with CLAN opened my eyes to that.
Where do you see yourself in 5 years?
I need to work on the Job Market. My answer right now is that I’m not sure where I will be, given the way the world is, but I want to be at a stable university with a job that I love. I'm applying to a lot of universities in the fall. My ideal is to land at a nice university in a warm climate, and to teach the subjects I love and research what I find interesting.
