Where do we go from here? Resistance Action Steps

Dr. Katie Schenk — Fri, 16 Jan 2026 14:06:05 GMT

Thank you for reading this newsletter TO and FOR and ABOUT and BY the public health workforce. At this tumultuous time, I’m still really not sure where we go from here. But each time that I publish this newsletter and receive positive feedback from readers, my list of ideas for action steps continues to grow. I encourage scientists, public health professionals, health care providers, and all of those who love them to show solidarity by staying informed and speaking truth to power.

On this page, I am compiling the suggestions for resistance action that we have been gathering. As we learn more, I invite readers to keep adding to this list:

Do the words you have read in this newsletter inspire you? Would you also like to share your perspective on public health right now, based on your lived experiences? Or create a love letter to public health through writing, poetry, art, or your medium of choice? Got something to say to or about the public health workforce? Are you a public health professional or student at any stage of your career? Got big feelings about the RIFs or the RTO or the EOs or the BS? I believe in lifting the voices of the public health workforce and I welcome you to use this platform as a step towards advocacy and support. Get in touch.
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If you can’t support this newsletter with money at this time, support our community with your words: please join me to continue the conversation in the comments here or in the Public Health Connections Lounge. How have you been affected by recent changes to the public health workforce? How are you doing? What have you learned? Do you have any wisdom to share? What questions would you like to ask about moving forward?

Public health workforce by Aliki Weakland and others

If you would like to support the public health workforce, including federal workers and former feds, consider taking the following steps:

Share a note of thanks with public health heroes across the nation to recognise their work and commitment.
Get involved in collective advocacy and activism to defend and advance the scientific ecosystem of the United States by supporting Stand Up for Science.
Support NIH staff and alums through the 27 UNIHted network.
Support former CDC colleagues through the CDC Mutual Aid Network.
Stay informed using resources for former and current federal workers from the Partnership for Public Service
Invest in the next generation of public health professionals by participating in APHA Mentor Match as a mentor or mentee.
Advocate to your legislators for a strong public health workforce, including reinstating RIFed positions, lifting hiring freezes, protecting the training pipeline, and restoring the authority and independence that agencies need to do their work. Using this tool connects you straight to your legislators.
Call for sustained investment in health and science by urging elected officials to prioritize public health, research, and prevention.
Vote for leaders who support public health and demonstrate respect for science, evidence, and bipartisan solutions.
Challenge misinformation about federal workers by speaking up when harmful or inaccurate narratives arise and reinforcing the value of public service. Name the reality that federal public health workers are highly skilled, mission-driven professionals who chose public service to improve lives and consistently deliver work that benefits the public.

For accessibility in public health by Flaming Angel

If you would like to use your voice to speak up for building accessibility into public health consider taking the following steps:

Does this topic resonate with you on a personal level? Do you identify as a public health professional who is living with a disability? Drop me a line and I will connect you with other folks who respond to this message for peer support.
Treat accessibility as infrastructure throughout your work. Build accessibility into meetings, presentations, communications, training materials, and digital products from the start rather than waiting for someone to request an accommodation.
Develop accessibility as a professional competency. Learn the basics of disability inclusion, accessible communication, and universal design. Accessibility should be part of every public health professional’s skill set.
Create space for colleagues with disabilities to lead. Seek out, elevate, and support people with lived experience of disability in leadership, planning, decision-making, and program design.
Look for hidden barriers in everyday systems. Pay attention to workarounds, delays, inaccessible technologies, communication challenges, and processes that require extra effort from colleagues who are disabled. Ask how the system could be redesigned for full participation.
Share responsibility when access fails. Do not leave the burden of advocacy solely to the person experiencing the barrier. Speak up, offer support, and help create a culture where accessibility is everyone’s responsibility. Consider what public health loses when accessibility fails.

For federal workers by Karen Vogt and others

If you would like to support the public health workforce from within federal service, consider taking the following steps:

Refuse to normalize or excuse unlawful or unethical administrative actions. When policies or directives appear to conflict with established law, civil service protections, or scientific integrity, name the concern clearly in your professional and civic spaces. Silence is often what allows harmful practices to become routine.
Speak directly when you see intimidation or coercion in professional settings. Whether in meetings, peer discussions, or public forums, name patterns of bullying, suppression of dissent, or retaliation when they occur. Document what you can safely document.
Protect the integrity of public health information. Challenge distortions of science and data in your professional networks, classrooms, and public communication spaces. Correct misinformation where appropriate and support those who are targeted for doing so.

Moral injury in the public health workforce by Lisa Brodsky and others

If you would like to support public health professionals experiencing moral injury, consider taking the following steps:

Name what you are experiencing. Burnout is real, but it is not the only wound. If you are carrying grief, ethical distress, or a deep sense of having been prevented from doing what you were trained to do, that has a name: moral injury. Naming it is the first step toward addressing it.
Make space for the hard conversations. If you are a manager or a leader, consider what it would take to create a culture where fear, frustration, and ethical distress can be spoken aloud — without shame, without consequence, and without being reframed as a performance problem.
Hold institutions accountable for the conditions that make trust possible. Transparency, expertise, consistency, and honest communication are not luxuries. They are the architecture of public health. Advocate for them wherever you have a platform to do so.
Stay present for your colleagues in public health in the long aftermath. Crises end, but trauma lingers. Check in on your colleagues not only when the acute emergency is visible, but in the months that follow, when the exhaustion has nowhere left to hide.

Immigration by Becky Stewart and Dena Bushman

If you would like to speak up against how immigrants are being characterized and treated in the US, consider taking the following steps:

Call your representatives and demand humane immigration policies that prioritize family unity and due process.
Resist the cruel and false narratives about immigrants. Tell your families, your friends, your colleagues about the strong, hard-working, and courageous immigrants that you know (including the one that runs this newsletter).
Give financially to or volunteer with organizations that are supporting immigrants.

Toxic and dysfunctional workplaces by Elsbeth Picard

Are you experiencing toxicity at work?

🚩Check the systemic red flags listed here for some signs to look out for.

Women’s health, reproductive healthcare, and families with autism by Elizabeth Watson

If you would like to support women’s health, reproductive healthcare, and families with autism, consider taking the following steps:

Examine the map of maternity care deserts and areas of low access, and support initiatives in your area that support bringing maternity care and resources
Donate to diaper and baby item drives, or directly to family planning and women’s health organizations
Donate used clothing, shoes, purses/backpacks to women’s shelters
Join a walk or run to support March of Dimes, local or national organizations to support domestic violence victims
Reach out to your state representative and local legislature to support laws that keep abortion access available
Learn about the signs and symptoms of Autism Spectrum Disorder and ADHD in girls, and support continued research like the Spark Study that will increase awareness
Familiarize yourself with the newest Autism Spectrum graphics to grow your understanding
Become a certified doula!

LGBTQ+ families by Maeve O’Reilly

If you would like to use your voice and your actions to create safe and inclusive environments for LGBTQ+ families, consider taking the following steps:

Find out about anti-LGBTQ+ legislation in your state and at the federal level. You can contact your local representatives to voice opposition to specific bills.
Educate yourself on candidates for local office and policies affecting LGBTQ+ people in your area. Use your vote to support candidates who are advocates for LGBTQ+ rights.
Use inclusive language in conversation and in writing. Don’t be afraid to ask friends or colleagues what pronouns they would like you to use. Share your pronouns too. You can use language like: “Hi, I’m Lynn, and I go by she/her. What pronouns do you go by?”
Speak out when you notice anti-LGBTQ+ slurs, jokes, or discrimination.
🏳️‍🌈Display visual signs of support for the LGBTQ+ community such as rainbow flags.
Get to know and support the LGBTQ+ community by attending Pride celebrations, drag story hour, or other LGBTQ+ community events.
Visit and support queer-owned businesses near you, which you can find using tools like www.everywhereisqueer.com.
Remind people that love and care are what make a family, no matter how that family was made and regardless of its makeup. Question or call out language or behavior that relies on assumptions about gender roles, e.g. in schools or doctor’s offices, including those that may exclude diverse families. Consider using gender-neutral language, such as “parent” or “grown-up” instead of “mom” or “dad”; or “room representative” instead of “room mom.”

🆕Global health by Jennifer Winestock Luna, Rachel Cintron, and more

If you would like to use your voice to speak up in support of the cause of global health and development, consider taking the following steps:

Put your voice out there. Write letters to your representatives, local papers, or put your thoughts on social media. Counter misinformation, talk about your own experience, knowledge, and expertise, and say how you have seen public health impact lives both abroad and locally. Some organizations and resources that can help you take action are: Aid on the Hill, The Action Network to Save PEPFAR, and CoreGroup.
Contact your elected officials. Use an online tool like 5calls to express what global health is and why this work matters. Speak up for evidence-based approaches, challenge misinformation and politicized narratives, and share accessible insights that show how global and local health are linked.
Mentor and support the next generation of global health professionals, especially those from underrepresented and low-resource settings. Offer honest guidance about the realities of the field, including its uncertainties, challenges, and inequities. Avoid toxic positivity and the pressure to frame difficult experiences as opportunities for growth without acknowledging the very real struggles facing today’s global health workforce. Recognize that people entering the field now are navigating a different landscape than previous generations experienced. Listen to their realities, validate their concerns, and help them navigate the path ahead with honesty, compassion, and practical support.
Protect your own ability to stay in this work by setting boundaries and sustaining your well-being. Stay engaged in global health conversations and action, even while you work elsewhere, recognizing that progress depends on continued collective effort.
Preserve your passion for evidence-based work, and building better, healthier societies, and see where that leads you in any career pivot.
Know you are not alone. Connect with colleagues at OneAid, Aid Transition Alliance, Life After USAID, or your federal workers union. Or bring cookies or a book* to your work bestie to start a conversation.
*Read “Into the Wood Chipper” by Nicholas Enrich, a powerful account of the dismantling of USAID.
Document what you are seeing on the ground by capturing impacts, lessons, and losses in real time, to ensure that they are not erased. Engage with CoreGroup to share knowledge and translate evidence into practice.
Support frontline organizations and community-led initiatives working in global health, prioritizing those led by local experts, grounded in equitable partnerships, and focused on building long-term local capacity through training, infrastructure, and systems.

Got more ideas for action steps that should be on this list? You know the drill. Get in touch.

Is your public health workplace dysfunctional?

Dr. Katie Schenk — Thu, 15 Jan 2026 22:36:11 GMT

🚩Leadership cannot explain why things are done the way they are.
When supervisors cannot articulate the history, rationale, or tradeoffs behind policies or decisions, especially when there is disagreement, it signals that decision-making has become untethered from evidence or institutional memory. “Because that’s how we’ve always done it” is not governance.
🚩Programs operate without clear, living documentation.
Established programs lack accessible, up-to-date policies and procedures, or newer programs have no clear plan for developing them. Staff are unclear on what is policy (why the program exists and what risks it addresses) versus procedure (how work is done day to day and what can evolve). That confusion breeds inconsistency and risk.
🚩Leadership roles do not align with program responsibilities.
Supervisors routinely oversee work outside their training or experience, and assignments are based on seniority or preference rather than relevant expertise. Over time, this creates gaps in oversight, compliance, and staff support.
🚩Hiring and promotion patterns raise eyebrows.
Roles are rewritten to fit specific individuals, or departments are populated by close personal connections. When professional boundaries blur, accountability weakens and legal, ethical, and workplace risks increase.
🚩Workplace safety training is treated as optional.
Staff are exposed to hazards (e.g. contaminated fluids, potential building code violations, hazardous materials) without clear, documented training or assurance that trainers are qualified. When safety protocols are inconsistent or poorly enforced internally, it sends a message that risk is acceptable until something goes wrong.
🚩The organization does not hold itself to the standards it enforces elsewhere.
Persistent safety or compliance issues in agency buildings (e.g. warning lights on fire panels, inoperable exit or emergency lighting, fire doors improperly maintained) go unaddressed over long time periods. This normalizes cutting corners and quietly reshapes how staff approach risk, enforcement, and accountability across the board.

Notice a pattern here? These are rarely isolated problems. They tend to cluster, reinforce each other, and surface as burnout, attrition, or crisis later on.

What do you think are tell-tale signs of systemic dysfunction within public health workplaces? Please comment and share below or by DM. Collective pattern-spotting is how individuals realize that they are not the problem.

The Public Health Workforce is Not OK: Text