Spring 2026 Graduating Student Profile
Shannon Alexander
MPH in Health Behavior Health Promotion
Online MPH student advances Community Health Worker education at the high school level
Shannon Alexander graduated with a Master of Public Health in Health Behavior Health Promotion earned through the online program. While a student at MEZCOPH, Shannon worked to expand the Community Health Worker educational track at the PimaJTED high school program to include Birth Doula training. She won the 2026 Outstanding Online Graduate Student award from the college.
Shannon Alexander
MPH in Health Behavior Health Promotion
Shannon Alexander graduated with a Master of Public Health (MPH) in Health Promotion earned through the Arizona Online program. While she pursued her MPH degree, she worked to expand the Community Health Worker educational track at the PimaJTED high school program to include Birth Doula training. The PimaJTED training was approved as a licensure pathway by the Arizona Department of Health Services in March 2026. The program offers career pathways upon high school graduation that improve birth outcomes.
Shannon also spoke at the Arizona Public Health Association’s Annual Conference on May 1, 2026, about maternal mental health and community birth doulas.
She won the 2026 Outstanding Online Graduate Student award from the college.
Congratulations Shannon on your MPH and all you have accomplished for birth doula training!
For this profile, we asked Shannon about what shaped her experience in the college.
Q: In addition to your classes, what projects or programs (often internships) did you work on while earning your degree?
A: For my Applied Practice Experience (APE) I worked with the Pima JTED program for high school students. The design of my program was to come alongside their Community Health Worker Program and do one day of teaching per week on Birth Doula training. The program is much longer than a regular doula training, so the students are now very well versed in SDOH, the history of the Mothers of Gynecology, Black Granny Midwives, Bioethics, Advocacy, Maternal Mental Health, and so much more! This training aligned so well with the goals of Community Health.
The students at PimaJTED are inspiring and when you see those ‘lightbulb moments’ when the students first feel confident in their learning, especially when we do role-play scenarios, it is an amazing experience. I learned so much about program planning and evaluation.
The pinnacle was speaking at the 2026 Arizona Public Health Association Conference about Maternal Mental Health and the impact of Community Birth Doulas!
Q: What are some challenges or obstacles that you had to overcome in the process of your education in the college, or in the projects/programs in which you worked?
A: The main challenge was to balance my studies with real life. Working full time as a birth doula, I am on call 24/7. Thankfully I have a lovingly supportive husband and four children, two bonus adult children and one grandbaby. I serve on the DONA International Board of Directors and the Arizona State Board of Health Community Doula Advisory Committee. I’ve had to pull back on some other boards and commitments over the past two years but I’m excitedly awaiting what the future holds!
Q: What else would you like to add? Please share anything that was not addressed in the other questions.
A: Learning online was very special because of the U of A’s focus on connecting online students. In the program I made very good friends on both coasts… shout out to Katherine and Ambur!
Pushing myself, setting a rigorous schedule, and hearing about the experiences of other students through discussion posts really opened my eyes to the lived experience of others and how we are striving to build a better world. I am inspired by my colleagues at all levels.