From Fellow to Colleague: Olivia Gifford’s JHF Journey

When Olivia Gifford joined the Jewish Healthcare Foundation’s (JHF) 2025 Salk Health Activist Fellowship as a Duquesne University student, she had no idea it would be the beginning of a much longer relationship with JHF. 

Gifford learned about the fellowship through a professor and applied after completing an internship at a federally qualified health center. The experience became her first introduction to the connection between public health and policy, and to the role individuals can play in shaping both. 

“It was like taking another class at the end of the day, but it came with dinner,” Gifford joked. More importantly, the fellowship gave Gifford the opportunity to learn alongside professionals at different stages of their careers, hear directly from advocates and policymakers, and see public health in action beyond the classroom. 

Soon Gifford experienced JHF from a different perspective. Her passion, determination, and work ethic drew the attention of Foundation staff, and at the beginning of 2026, she joined the Foundation as a maternal health intern, supporting the Pennsylvania Perinatal Quality Collaborative and Perinatal Action Collaborative. What was initially expected to be a short-term internship continued through the summer before she was offered a full-time position. 

Now a program associate, Gifford sees the progression from fellow to intern to employee as a chance to participate in the work she once learned about from the outside. 

“As a fellow, I was hearing about the exciting things JHF was doing and learning about its mission,” Gifford said. “Now I get to support these really awesome projects and initiatives daily.”

And just as her JHF journey began with learning, that remains one of the things she values most about her new role. 

“The one thing I’m doing besides working is learning,” Gifford said. “I get to learn from everyone at the Foundation.”