Graduate School
Boston University School of Theology

Undergraduate School
Emory University

Mentor
Renee Landers, Suffolk University Law School and Rappaport Institute Advisory Board Member and Yareliz Diaz, Boston University School of Public Health and former Rappaport Public Policy Fellow

Agency
Massachusetts Executive Office for Elder Affairs

Supervisor
Dr. Elizabeth Chen, Secretary for Elder Affairs and Patricia Yu, Senior Director of Healthcare Workforce Policy

Description of Fellowship
As a Rappaport Public Policy fellow, Shaunesse’ engaged in research informing Massachusetts’s long-term care workforce. She specifically analyzed multiple states’ curriculum and certification frameworks for certified nursing assistants, home health aides, and other long-term care workers. This analysis was combined with previous research conducted by Massachusetts staff on the concerns and crises facing Massachusetts’ workforce allowing her to propose a new framework that increases worker retention, pay, skills acquisition, and opportunities to move forward along a career pathway. Engaging in regular meetings with staff from offices, including the Executive Office of Elder Affairs, Health and Human Services, and the Healthcare Collaborative, she was taught the history and development of the state’s workforce, the many partners involved in moving the state forward in long-term care, and the gaps that challenge the expansion of the workforce. This knowledge allowed her to constructively analyze the work of other states across the nation and provide an informed career pathway model for certified nursing assistants and home health aides in Massachusetts.