Hire A Panther Profile: Natalie Zhao

Natalie Zhao realized the power of social media and outreach for health care during her Hire-A-Panther experience.

The senior nursing major worked as a marketing intern at the NYS Adelphi Breast Cancer Hotline & Support Program. There, she managed social media platforms and networked with companies while working with an “extremely welcoming, flexible and understanding [staff].”

Zhao’s experience “heightened [her] knowledge on health, which...has helped...focus on [her]...career path as a whole.” She was exposed to the effective and powerful ways social media can contribute to outreach for nonprofits. Zhao was also able to see the impact a local-based nonprofit has on the community it serves.

This experience led her to be a Summer Public Health Scholar at Columbia University this summer. There, Zhao worked at a nonprofit called the Global Mental Health Program. This allowed her to attend and study public health courses and seminars, in addition to conducting research.

Zhao advises her fellow peers to focus on their individual growth. “Growth is extremely important in college,” she says. “At a university like Adelphi, there are people staff, peers, [and] professors who can help…take that extra time to make relationships.”