98: Communication and Research Strategist in Health care, Design, and Technology with Susan E. Schaffler, MA

Interview with Susan E. Schaffler, MA

Listen Here:

Highlights from this episode:

1. Why start Health Equity Mondays
2. Health equity 101 & how health equity is achieved
3. Expectation of what you’ll get from the show
4. Police inflicted fatalities
5. Health equities vs health disparities

Episode 98 of Public Health Careers

Susan Schaffler, MA is the Director of Strategic Communications at Bento. She is someone who has worked as a communications and research strategist in the healthcare, design, and technology for over 10 years. Her work is grounded in multi-method research while she is passionate about helping people and teams to more fully communicate their purpose and strategically expand their capacity to positively impact by connecting dots across different pathways forward.

She started her collegiate career wanting to become a doctor but then shifted and completed her Bachelors degree in Anthropology at Columbia University. Susan then decided to move to Japan to get a teaching position where she stayed for two years.

Then she pursued a Master of Arts in East Asian Studies, Japan inter-war history at New York University. Not having a job, Susan then moved from New York to Seattle and began volunteering at Little Bit Therapeutic Riding Center. She would then get roles here as a Community Relations Associate and then a Grants and Data Specialist.

Susan then pursued a Research Consultant position at Arizona State University. She started and continued to develop her skill as a journalist where she did Blog Editing for Dr. Kiyoshi Kurokawa, was Marketing/Social Media Director at Northwest Institute of Literary Arts, Managing Editor at MedCrunch, and Social Media and Communications at Litesprite.

Then Susan founded and was the Managing Director at Agency Other where she shares how she build relationships and got clients. After this, she worked as Project Lead at InnovationNext Accelerator. She then transitioned to a Advisor at HealthXL.

She was then the Director of Communications and Partnerships at Atlas of Care. Susan currently works as the Director of Strategic Communications at Bento. Bento is a patient engagement platform designed to enable healthcare and community organizations to improve health outcomes and reduce cost of care for their most vulnerable populations, starting with those who are food insecure.