Deep appreciation for the contributions of Jessica Scates to CGHE

With sweet reminiscences, funny stories, and yes, dancing, the Community for Global Health Equity bid farewell to Jessica Scates on April 1, 2021. Jessica joined CGHE in 2015, as the community was being founded, and served as its administrative assistant and later programs manager for over 6 years. From CGHE’s fledgling steps, Jessica contributed to our successes in innumerable ways, supporting our mission in the areas of research, education, and outreach.

Jessica was behind many of our outreach events and communication materials: she wrote, edited and compiled faculty profiles, research highlights and news for the CGHE newsletter, the Global Health Pulse, and other outlets. Our well-functioning and informative website was also one of her major projects. Jessica has helped organize many of our events, including the current Co-Production of Knowledge seminar series, the Global Innovation Challenge (GIC), the WNY Refugee Health Summit, the two Communities of Excellence (CoE) symposia, and many other smaller or larger happenings taking place in 220 Hayes and beyond. Her organizational skills are incredible, and we could always count on her to know what is what, who is who, and where to find them if needed. Her insights, attention to detail, and communication skills have helped so many across the University move their work forward.

In line with her own interest in educational program design, Jessica contributed to the growth and education of students at UB. She designed and offered cultural humility and travel preparation workshops for students, staff and faculty receiving travel and research support from CGHE. She developed and led a community-based learning experience for Honors College students to understand the lives of Buffalo residents who arrived here as refugees. She provided students with hours of training on how to interact with people from other cultures, how to create an interview guide, and how to conduct the actual interview. She helped students edit and publish their final stories. She helped design and run the GIC, coordinated student communications and assignments, and was on hand to answer questions, trouble-shoot with them, offer a listening ear and an encouraging word.

Jessica supported scholarship and research at CGHE by communicating with faculty and students about funding opportunities, coordinating review of applications, assisting with travel arrangements and reimbursements. She sought, edited and posted blogs from faculty and students about their CGHE-funded experiences. She compiled and maintained lists of publications by CGHE-affiliated students and staff; she created web pages to house student reflections on topics related to global health and student posters from projects supported by CGHE. 

We are so grateful for these and countless other contributions Jessica has made to CGHE, always with a positive attitude and a smile. We miss her already but wish her many successes in her new role as Coordinator of Diversity Initiatives at the UB School of Dental Medicine.