Fellowship Project: Research and understand the experiences within the current programs. Develop a strategy for improving and scaling the program by mobilizing students for the geriatric home health aid program.

Highlights: KayLynn Gesner (she/her) is serving as an American Indian Foundation (AIF) Banyan Impact Fellow at Life Circle Health Services in Hyderabad. For her fellowship, she will be focused on learning about the current experiences in the home health aide program to inform a plan for changes prior to scaling of the program into new communities. In 2021, she graduated from University of Alabama at Birmingham with a Master’s in Public Health, & a graduate certificate in Global Health. She received her B.A. in Social Sciences from Portland State University. Since her undergraduate, she has been active in the nonprofit and public health sectors, including interning at Special Olympics Oregon & The Cupcake Girls, Portland. Her first visit to India in 2017 was for a fellowship working at an NGO that integrated sustainability practices into school curriculum. Her passion continued when in 2020, she completed a remote internship with another India-based NGO, where she researched the impacts of COVID-19 on students & developed course curriculum integrating life skills and reproductive health. Locally, KayLynn has spent over 5 years working with the houseless community, including operating emergency shelters and doing outreach to individuals for viral hepatitis and HIV screening. When COVID-19 hit, she began managing two COVID-19 isolation & quarantine motels. Her most recent position involved taking on the role of Operations Section Chief for the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic and the 2022 hMXV (monkeypox) outbreak for her home county. KayLynn looks forward to her time as an AIF Fellow and the opportunity to learn about how we can provide healthcare outside of hospitals and other health facilities.