Bella Gierlinger (she/her)
Photo of Bella Gierlinger
Bella joined the Community Health Access Initiative at the University of Michigan School of Public Health as an undergraduate student, in 2018. As a member of the Action Committee, Bella has collaborated with medical and mental health clinicians, community organizations, and LGBTQIA+ young adults to develop training and health resource content related to LGBTQIA+ adolescent mental health. Bella has since earned her Master’s in Statistics from the University of Michigan.
Essential Contributions
As a member of the Community Health Access Initiative, Jack has contributed to the creation of the following health information resources:
Training content development: Understanding & Supporting LGBTQIA+ Youth’s Mental Health in Primary Care.
Training attended by >300 participants across two years.
Content development, co-design, and facilitation: Resilience in LGBTQIA+ Youth.
This 60-minute training was attended by >100 clinicians and educators, at the Adolescent Health Initiative’s 2021 Conference on Adolescent Health.
Photo credit: Disabled and Here
Content development and co-design: We Don’t Live Single-Issue Lives: Intersectional Approaches to LGBTQIA+ Health.
This 90-minute training took place during the Adolescent Health Initiative’s 2019 Conference on Adolescent Health.
Co-author and co-design: Combating Anti-Blackness in Medicine: A Resource for Providers. Click here to access.
Additional Contributions
Participated in collaborative web design process for www.lgbtqiamidest.org, including co-writing an academic paper describing community-centered web development processes for LGBTQIA+ youth.
Provided crucial feedback to content and design of all resources created by CHAI and its predecessor, MFierce. To see all of the resources, visit www.lgbtqiamidwest.org and filter by Made by CHAI.
Testimonials
“Bella is smart, capable, and kind. She is a joy to work with. On shared projects, I can always count on Bella to provide critical, compassionate feedback that pushes our understanding of affirming care—she goes above and beyond to find reliable and relevant information to include in our trainings and resources. Wherever Bella ends up, I’m sure she will be an effective, hard-working, and supportive member of her team. ”
“Bella is a deep thinker and she often uses her analytical skills to bring our attention to things we hadn’t considered before. She has a kindness that is infectious and she’s always willing to spend more time discussing an issue so that we can find the best solution. Bella consistently strives to learn more and contribute her best work possible and she doesn’t disappoint. Bella will be an incredibly valuable addition to any team she’s on and I know she has a bright future ahead of her. ”
“It has been fantastic to collaborate with Bella on this work. Her thoughtful attention to detail and desire to use her strong analytical skills to make positive change in the world were a huge benefit to the CHAI project.”