The Health Promotion team is passionate about empowering our campus community to live healthier, happier lives. Through education, workshops, and wellness programs, they focus on prevention, mental health, nutrition, and overall well-being. Their goal is to support students and staff in making informed choices, building resilience, and creating a positive, healthy environment for everyone at UHS.
Health Promotion
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Sam is the Office Manager for the Health Promotion department. She has a BS from Syracuse University where she studied Communications and a Community Health Worker Certification from San Francisco City College. Prior to the role of Office Manager, she served as a Contact Tracer on the Covid Response Team and as an Administrative Assistant for the TB and Immunization Program at UHS. Sam has been a Massage Therapist for over a decade. She has a passion for public health and cares deeply about promoting an environment of health and well-being for all. |
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Marilyn began serving students at UC Berkeley in 2019. Marilyn is trained in community mental health, and for over a decade, worked within Bay Area county health care systems. Marilyn engages critical consciousness and anti-oppressive praxis to offer students a space to re-imagine and re-narrate what it means to belong, achieve, and be well in higher education and beyond. Marilyn enjoys a variety of wellness practices that include breathwork, qigong, yoga, dance, comic books, and riding her motorcycle. She holds a BA in Psychology and a Master of Social Welfare (MSW) from the University of California, Berkeley. |
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Jennifer Guerra, MAHealth Educator Pronouns: she/her/hers |
Health Coaching | Pet Hugs | Exercise is Medicine Jen is a certified holistic health coach & educator. She holds an MA in Health Education from John F. Kennedy and a BS in Business Marketing from Chapman University as well as a coaching certification from The Institute for Integrative Nutrition in New York City. Her passions include being outdoors, dancing, holistic health, meditation, stress management, and helping others discover sustainable ways to live balanced, healthy, and passionate lives. Before becoming a health coach for UC Berkeley students, Jen served Berkeley employees through the Be Well at Work Program and the WorkStrong program for four years. |
Cathy Kodama, MPHDirector, Health Promotion Pronouns: she/her/hers |
Grant-writing | Organizational development | Public health strategies Cathy Kodama came to UC Berkeley as an open-minded but (mostly) inexperienced freshman in 1973. Being in, and at, Berkeley was a life-changing experience that she's still experiencing. Cathy was pre-law, but in her sophomore year, she fell into being a peer educator in women's health and never looked back. Cathy had her first full-time job at UHS in Medical Records. From there, she hopscotched to the Health Education unit, to graduate school in public health, to various community volunteer projects, and back to Health Education (now called Health Promotion) at UHS. Cathy is a baby boomer, UC Berkeley alum, health educator, and firm believer in health, happiness, equality, and social action. She is a third-generation Japanese-American with all the cultural richness and assimilation experiences that come along with that. Cathy has been involved in numerous regional and national organizations, including serving as President of the Pacific Coast College Health Association and on the board of the American College Health Association. Cathy's passionate interests are 1) the role of drugs in society, 2) sexuality and relationships, and 3) some TV shows. Her particular abilities tend to be daydreaming (in the professional world we call it "visioning") and administrative work. She loves talking about life with students, whose perspectives are so enlightening and inspiring. "Be happy. It's one way of being wise." (Colette) |
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Lauren Magdaleno, MPH, CHESHealth Educator Pronouns: she/her/hers
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Health Worker Program | Exercise is Medicine Lauren joined the UHS Contact Tracing Team in late 2021 and transitioned as a Health Educator in 2022. Lauren Magdaleno spent the previous year doing COVID-related work with San Diego State University’s Health Promotion Department. In 2016, she received her BA in Sociology & Anthropology at the University of Redlands, and in 2020, she received her Master of Public Health in Health Promotion & Behavioral Science from San Diego State University. |
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Robin Mills, MA, CHWC Senior Health Educator Pronouns: her/she/goddess |
Sexual Health Education Program | Health Coaching | Black Student Health Robin Mills joined UHS as a Health Educator in 2008 specializing in sexual health education. She received her BA in Psychology from Mills College (2001), her MA in Human Sexuality Studies from San Francisco State University (2007), and became a certified health and well-being coach in 2022. Robin is passionate about providing young people with education and tools to make informed decisions regarding their sexual health and sexuality. As our Healthy Sexuaity Coach, Robin sees students for sexuality and sexual health related issues including relationships and communication, sexual and reproductive health education, sexual response difficulties, sexual debuts, pleasure and much more. In all areas of her work, Robin strives to empower young people to keep it safe and sexy. When Robin is not teaching sex, she enjoys momming, ziplining, and spending time with friends in picturesque water-front locations. "Life is sexually transmitted..." (RD Laing) “If we want a beloved community, we must stand for justice, have recognition for difference without attaching difference to privilege.” (bell hooks) |
Dylan Pugh, MPHHealth Educator Pronouns: he/him/his |
Dylan Pugh (he/him/his) is the Alcohol and Other Drugs Health Educator. Dylan received his Masters in Public Health from the University of Washington, and his BS in Health Education from SF State University. Dylan has worked in various roles as a health educator at SF State, the University of Kansas, various non-profits, and the Washington State Department of Health. He cares about using health equity and anti-racist lenses to address health inequities. In his free time he enjoys bird watching, mutual aid efforts and hanging out with his cat. |
