Biography

Dr. Shanaé Burch (she/her) believes in the power of storytelling to revive health and reconcile hearts. Her hunch has led her to pursue a doctorate in public health education at Teachers College, Columbia University where she studied health equity through the lens of better leveraging arts and culture for wellbeing with contemplative arts-based research methods such as theatremaking, collaging, and public health dreaming.  She previously attended Emerson College and Harvard Graduate School of Education where she received her B.F.A in Acting and Ed.M in Arts in Education respectively. Integrating all aspects of her learning and personal lived experience, her dissertation is titled, In Pursuit Of Healthful Narratives: Black Women And Gender-Expansive Citizens Creating And Performing Art And Cultural Work In Service Of “Good Health" and features her play-in-progress, GriefLove, along with poetry featured in Health Promotion Practice's Poetry for the Public's Health section where she is a co-Associate Editor along with Dr. LeConté Dill and Dr. Ryan Petteway. Dr. Burch is proud to have been funded as a Gates Millennium Scholar and RWJF Health Policy Research Scholar. Committed to health justice, she champions workers' rights as a member-leader within her union, Actors' Equity Association, and serves with Community Conversations: Sister 2 Sister -- a health community in Cambridge, MA.  Born in North Hollywood, CA and later raised in Buena, NJ, her path is deeply influenced by her parents who are both storytellers --- one as an arborist and the other a social worker. Time with her loved ones (especially the niblings!), training with her service dog, Dodger; and community building with Double Love Experience Church add depth to her life while extensive traveling, practicing her golf swing, and marathon training add further spice. She’s run 3 of the 6 World Major Marathons, and hopes to run in Tokyo, London, and Berlin in the near future. www.shanaeburch.com