Jose Leandro

Johns Hopkins University, Bloomberg School of Public Health

Master of Science in Public Health

Jose Leandro (he/him) is from Queens, New York, by way of Georgia. His parents immigrated to the United States from their home countries of El Salvador and Peru, fleeing violence and seeking a better life. As a first-generation college student at the University of Georgia, he pursued social justice opportunities in public health, student leadership, community service, and research. While earning his BSHP in Health Promotion, he completed service opportunities including outreach to migrant farmworkers in Southwest Georgia, a research assistantship addressing HIV risk among at-risk men in rural Georgia and leadership in an LGBTQ+ campus organization. After graduating, Jose joined the Peace Corps assisting the Guatemalan Ministry of Health address maternal and child health issues in the Western Highlands. He went on to later volunteer at an LGBTQ+ NGO in El Salvador. Jose currently works at a federally qualified health clinic in Washington, DC, where he collaborates with community and legal advocates to address health care and policy issues impacting low-income Black and brown immigrant residents in DC and Prince George’s County, Maryland.

Jose is looking forward to graduate school where he hopes to broaden his understanding of health care policy issues and increase his skills as a change agent. On his off-hours, you can catch him traveling, trying new foods, catching up on his favorite shows, or reading about social issues. He is grateful and excited to be joining the 2020 class of Donald M Payne Fellows and looks forward to starting his career with USAID as a Foreign Service Officer.