As a Health Promotion Specialist at Penn Family Medicine in Philadelphia, Charlese Hawkins-Hatton is leading efforts to bring healthcare directly into the community. Her portfolio includes pop-up clinics that provide vaccines, blood pressure checks, A1C tests, acute care, and physicals for school sports, driver’s licenses, and employment. She also helps run a recurring school-based clinic three days a week, ensuring local students have access to essential care.
“We understand that access to primary care is a major issue in Philadelphia,” she explained. “Sometimes it can take six months to a year to get an appointment. Our community events help fill those gaps so students can participate in sports or families can get essential screenings without delay.”
Charlese also supervises members of the National Health Corps who serve with her department for a year, helping to expand the team’s reach. She makes health education engaging through creative outreach—like adding a spinning game wheel to her information tables. “People may not want to come up to a health table—but they’ll come up to spin the wheel,” she said. “The catch is, they have to answer a health-related question. It’s fun, but it’s also education.”
A Winding Path to Public Health
Charlese’s path to this role was far from linear. She began her academic journey in a pre-med program but decided against becoming a physician. A creative turn led her to film school, where she earned an MFA in dramatic writing from NYU Tisch School of the Arts. While she loved storytelling, she ultimately returned to healthcare, beginning her career at Penn Medicine as a front desk associate.
From there, she advanced steadily, from patient service representative to financial counselor, cardiac scheduler, and later on, practice manager. “Every position I held prepared me, even if it wasn’t directly in public health,” she shared. “As a financial counselor, for example, I educated oncology patients about insurance and financial 
resources. That’s when I realized how important education is in healthcare.”
It was the COVID-19 pandemic that cemented her calling. “I saw the devastation: friends and family members passing away, and people not understanding how to protect themselves. I wanted to be part of the public health teams that were educating people,” she said. That drive led her to pursue a graduate certificate in Health Education and Communication, which made her eligible for the CHES® exam. “I actually discovered CHES® back in 2017 after my MHA. I did a Google search: ‘careers where you educate people’ and CHES® popped up. I thought, perfect! But when I submitted my transcripts, I found out I wasn’t eligible. I needed more health education credits.”
It took time, but she was determined. “At first, I thought I’d never go back to school again. But COVID reignited that spark in me. I found a certificate program that gave me the credits I needed, and from then on, the goal was to get certified.”
In 2024, she officially earned the CHES® credential. For Charlese, the motivation was simple: she wanted to act. “Earning CHES® meant I could finally step into the kind of work I knew I was meant to do.”
When One Connection Changes Everything
At a recent community health fair, Charlese met a gentleman who came to her table for a routine blood pressure screening. His reading was slightly elevated, but what stood out to her was not just the number, it was the story that unfolded as she kept talking with him. “I could sense he might have had some other challenges,” she said. “So, I started asking if he had a primary care physician monitoring his blood pressure.” That simple question opened the door to a deeper conversation.
She quickly learned that the man did not have a primary care provider. He admitted that it was difficult to get an appointment, and when pressed, shared that he didn’t own a 
cell phone. Instead, he had access to a landline, but not consistently, since it wasn’t necessarily his own. “That’s when I started to suspect he might be dealing with housing insecurity,” Charlese recalled. “It helped explain why keeping appointments or staying in touch with providers was such a struggle.”
For many in similar circumstances, the emergency room becomes the only option when illness feels unbearable. “He told me that whenever he feels super sick, that’s where he goes,” she explained. “But that’s not the best way to get care. It means he was essentially lost to the system.” In that moment, Charlese knew that simply giving him a blood pressure check wasn’t enough—he needed a stronger support network.
Fortunately, she had recently built a partnership with Penn Medicine’s Community Health Worker (CHW) team. “I explained to him that I could connect him with that team, and they would be able to check on him, address his housing instability, and help him find a steady form of communication,” she said. That referral ensured the man wouldn’t be left without options. For Charlese, the experience was deeply affirming. “It kind of reaffirmed why our work is important,” she reflected. “Had we not been there, he would have just been lost to care. Being able to bridge him to that support; that’s the kind of moment that reminds me why I do this work.”
Words of Wisdom
For students and early-career professionals, Charlese stresses that the path to a fulfilling role in health education may take time, and that’s okay. “It took me about two years to land this position after earning my graduate certificate,” she explained. “I know a lot of young people get frustrated when things don’t happen right away. But you just have to take those other roles, keep learning, and build your resume, even if it’s not your dream job right away. It will pay off if you stick with it.”
She reminds professionals not to feel pressured to have everything figured out. “It’s okay to not know at the very beginning exactly what part of public health or health education you want to go into,” she said. “Just try it all. Be open to learning.” Each step of her own journey—from patient service representative to financial counselor to practice manager—gave her transferable skills. “Every position I held prepared me, even if it wasn’t directly in public health. Those experiences matter.”
Networking, she adds, is just as important. “Most of my roles at Penn, with the exception of my very first one, came through networking and connections I made while I was in a previous role,” she shared. “Maximize whatever role you’re in, be personable, and learn more about what everyone else does. You might discover a career path you hadn’t thought about… or meet someone who becomes a steppingstone to your dream job.”
Looking Ahead
Charlese is almost a year into her new role and has made her mark by helping underserved communities access care, building partnerships across the health system, and ensuring that education is always part of the conversation.
“I just want to keep doing work that strengthens health literacy and encourages self-advocacy,” she said. “That’s what health education is all about.”