This month, Migrant Clinicians Network welcomed Renai Edwards, MPH to the team as our new Director of Training and Technical Assistance. Edwards comes to MCN with a wealth of experience in building equity into health services for migrant and immigrant communities, and a deep passion for building up the health and well-being of marginalized communities.

Edwards began her career as a Peace Corp volunteer in Honduras, where she worked as a health extension volunteer, providing peer development and train-the-trainer activities for youth and community health workers on topics such as sexual health, HIV prevention, and maternal-child health. She has since held numerous public health positions working to serve communities at health risk, from managing a binational maternal-child health project in Brownsville, TX and Matamoros, Mexico, to directing a CDC Global AIDS Program effort in Honduras, to overseeing the TB and refugee health program in New Mexico. Most recently, she established, designed, and oversaw the education- and outreach-focused primary prevention program for the Detroit Health Department’s HIV/STI  Prevention program. Throughout her career, Edwards has emphasized the implementation of innovative, bilingual community and clinician education programming to improve services for marginalized communities.

“I am excited to join the MCN team to advance health justice for communities that are too often under-resourced and marginalized,” said Edwards. “I look forward to bringing my skills in training, technical assistance, and planning to help improve health care services nationwide for migrant and immigrant communities.”

Edwards is bilingual in English and Spanish, which will aid MCN in its ongoing commitment to language justice. She has extensive experience managing and applying for large federal grants, which will assist MCN in continuing to develop and grow our innovative educational offerings.

“MCN’s training and technical assistance are cutting edge, from our Spanish-language offerings connecting community health workers to health experts, to our train-the-trainer approach, to our simultaneous interpretation of most webinars,” noted Kim Nolte, MPH, Chief Executive Officer for MCN. “Renai’s extensive training and education experience with diverse audiences, along with over 15 years of public health leadership experience, will complement and enhance MCN’s education programs. We’re excited to have her join our stellar team.” 

Please join us in welcoming Renai to the team! Drop her a note on MCN’s Facebook, Twitter/X, or LinkedIn.