Sierra Turner, MPH

As an upbeat, bilingual public health professional, my end-to-end expertise in curriculum design, youth programming, goal setting and project management has her thrilled at the opportunity to create Bridging Gaps’ team and community. Sierra holds outstanding writing, presentation skills, crisis management, and executive communications skills parallel to a global, culturally competent bi-lingual work approach.  Sierra’s qualifications begin with a Bachelor’s Degree in Health Studies with a Minor in Spanish earned at Berea College that soon led her to a Master’s Degree in Public Health with a concentration in Community Health Education and Statistics. Supplementing her academic pursuits at Berea College was the drive to explore cultural perspectives and study abroad in Lima, Peru. Sparking a love of travel, that experience resulted in travel to more than 13 countries and 3 continents, giving way to her desire to implement cultural competence in every leadership position she seeks. She takes pride in getting to know her team members and community partners on an individual level to gain better understandings of their needs, leading way to an active role in organizing customized activities with a stable but adaptive hand. While enrolled at UTK’s, she advocated and galvanized department leadership for inclusive administration, policies and course work representative of different ethnic and cultural backgrounds. This quickly led to a leadership position within the Department as Equity and Diversity Co-Chair. Continued success through her role as a Graduate Assistant and then promotion to Instructor of Record of PUBH 495: Social and Behavioral Theories in Public Health at the University of Tennessee, Knoxville’s Department of Public Health opened the door to hone her empathy-first approach while delivering education services with industry-backed pedagogies and classroom techniques. Because of her prior experiences, Sierra Turner has developed remarkable interpersonal, time-management, leadership, and teamwork skills. Her deep understanding of effective coaching fosters a challenging, fun, and safe learning environment that aligns with Bridging Gaps’ teaching philosophies. As she grows in her career, her ambitions to strengthen positive global impacts becomes priority. She believes by creating Bridging Gaps and guiding learners to enhance and unlock their desired potential is the way to do it!