Kiandra Powdhar (she/her)
Photo of Kiandra Powdhar.
Kiandra Powdhar joined the Community Health Access Initiative at the University of Michigan School of Public Health as a high school student. In her role, she has created health information resources, facilitated trainings, and collaborated with medical and mental health clinicians, community organizations, and LGBTQIA+ young adults to develop training content related to LGBTQIA+ adolescent mental health.
Kiandra will continue on at the School of Public Health as a member of the Resilience + Resistance Collective, providing support to a partnership with public health workers in Kenya.
Kiandra is interested in being contacted about further opportunities related to:
Speaking on panels related to LGBTQIA+ mental health
Co-facilitation of trainings or other education events
Serving on other LGBTQIA+-centered action committees or advisory boards
Participating in focus groups related to LGBTQIA+ research
Part-time jobs related to public health
Kiandra can be reached at kpowdhar20@gmail.com
Essential Contributions
As a member of the Community Health Access Initiative, Kiandra has contributed to the creation of the following health information resources:
Co-facilitation and training content development for: Understanding & Supporting LGBTQIA+ Youth’s Mental Health in Primary Care, a virtual training for health workers in primary care.
This two-hour training was attended by >300 healthcare workers over 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, co-design, and facilitation: 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.
Author and designer: All about Breaking Up with your Therapist an infographic for youth. Click here to access.
Author and designer: Alternatives to Self-Harm, an infographic for youth. 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
“Kiandra brings creativity, initiative, and hard-work to CHAI. She is a wonderful person to work with and we are lucky to know her. Kiandra has reliably participated in facilitation of our monthly Primary Care trainings for two years, and consistently looks for additional responsibilities and ways of contributing meaningfully to the program. She cares about building lasting relationships and providing support to communities who need it most. I know that Kiandra will be a valuable member of the next team she joins, both as a colleague and a friend.”
“Kiandra is one of the most passionate people I’ve had the chance to work with. She is incredibly smart and creative and it has been a true pleasure working with her over the last three years. She’s always eager to take on new challenges and never hesitates to try something new. She approaches her work with an immense desire to improve the lives of others and it shines through in all she does. Kiandra is a fiercely compassionate colleague and I know whomever she works with in the future will be lucky to have her on their team.”
“I am so grateful for the opportunity to work with Kiandra on this project. Kiandra is engaged and very reliable, and makes an effort to both share her experiences and also to understand and attend to diverse perspectives that may differ from her own.”