Healthy Savannah Welcomes Zori Castaneda as Communications Coordinator
Thursday, February 9th, 2023
Healthy Savannah, a public/private partnership of more than 200 Savannah area businesses, nonprofits, faith- and community-based organizations, schools, and healthcare and government agencies, has announced that Zori Castañeda has joined the 501©3 public charity as its communications coordinator. Her duties will include developing social media, website content and other communication pieces.
Castañeda will also manage communications for the five-year, $3.4 million Racial and Ethnic Approaches to Community Health (REACH) grant administered by Healthy Savannah and the YMCA of Coastal Georgia. The grant was awarded by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention with funding deployed in an “upstream” approach by the Savannah/Chatham County project team to foster sustainable health equity among Black residents in low-wealth neighborhoods.
“We are so happy to welcome Zori back as a full member of the Healthy Savannah and Racial and Ethnic Approaches to Community Health team,” said Paula Kreissler, executive director. “She will continue much of the work that she initiated while serving with us as a college intern. In her new post, she has already begun to infuse fresh ideas into our health equity messaging.”
Having previously served in healthcare, working primarily with cancer patients as a radiation therapist for six years, Castañeda decided to make a career change so she could help people learn to make positive changes in nutrition and physical activity habits that could contribute to a healthier lifestyle. Castañeda previously earned a bachelor’s radiologic sciences degree in radiation therapy and is currently pursuing a master’s degree in healthcare administration at Georgia Southern University. Her career goal is to work in population health management and to foster opportunities for healthcare and public health to come together with other sectors to address the social determinants of health to help people reach healthier lives.
“Working as an intern with Healthy Savannah opened the door to understanding better the social determinants of health here in Savannah,” Castañeda said. “I am happy about now being an integral part of this team that cares and puts in the effort to make a change.”
