New Healthy Living Director: Rahel Schwartz

We're so excited to welcome Rahel as our new Healthy Living Director. We asked her to introduce herself to the Y family, and here's what she had to say:

I was born in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.  I moved to Nairobi, Kenya when I was 15 years old with my family. After completing high school, I moved to Searcy, Arkansas to go to college. I graduated from Harding University in 1993 with a BA in Biology and Chemistry. I moved to Seattle, WA in 1994 to pursue a graduate degree in Clinical Research.  In 2001 I opened a Real Estate/Relocation company and worked as a Rental Agent until 2011.  In October 2011, I joined the University Family YMCA teaching Zumba and kids hip hop classes.  In 2013, I went back to school to complete my Masters degree in Public Health, specializing in Health Education and Promotion. I got involved with the YMCA's Chronic Disease Prevention Program at Meredith Mathews working as a community outreach personnel while completing my internship. I have been fortunate to work as a facilitator for the Y's Diabetes Prevetion Program, Actively Changing Together (ACT) and Livestrong programs while teaching Zumba and hip hop classes. My hope and desire is to work in my community to achieve health equity, and eliminate avoidable health inequities and health disparities

See all of our healthy living programs today by clicking here.