Emily Miller

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Emily comes from a small rural town in Maryland and didn't see much beyond that until after college. She then lived abroad for four years, teaching English as a second language in Spain and leading community development and service-learning trips in Nicaragua. She considers global health not just a professional pursuit but a personal one and cares deeply about social justice and equity issues.

What is your favorite travel memory?

One of my favorite travel memories is the first time I couchsurfed in Porto, Portugal. Initially, I was nervous to travel alone and stay with people I had never met before but they turned out to be an amazing group of people. I also found traveling alone to be really empowering especially in Porto, which I feel is a very underrated city.

How have you changed/grown since working for your current company?

When you work in global health, often things do not go as planned. So I feel like the muscle I have continuously strengthened is the willingness to be flexible and adaptable. Sometimes it’s challenging to live with that ambiguity but the outcomes of situations mostly turn out better than first anticipated.

What is the best story you've heard from a return student?

I had a group of undergrads that went to the Philippines for two weeks and when they returned they were able to explain a lot about health disparities. They had a really comprehensive understanding of health disparities and the complex linkage between the social determinants of health. This is one of my favorite stories because the students were really able to learn what our company aims for.

If you could go on any program that your company offers, which one would you choose and why?

Out of all the programs our company offers, I would either want to go to programs in the Philippines or India because I have never been to Southeast Asia. One program that specifically sticks out to me is the Maternal and Child Health program in Pune, India because the way the program is set up sounds awesome.

What makes your company unique? When were you especially proud of your team?

CFHI is really unique because of its unwavering commitment to ethical practices and evidence-based practices. There are a lot of organizations that don’t always get to prioritize these and for me its been a great experience to have leadership be so committed to those. I’m always really proud whenever an emergency comes up and the whole team is so quick to respond and provide support - even if the emergency occurs off-hours.

What do you believe to be the biggest factor in being a successful company?

I think one of the biggest factors in being a successful company is that the employees feel the work that they do has a sense of purpose. When everyone feels committed to the work that they are doing and understands the significance and importance of the work, they are always going to be putting in 110%.