Elayne Clift

resumÉ

Summary

Elayne Clift has more than twenty years experience in public health, information and communication, gender issues and international development. She is an award-winning writer/journalist, an international consultant, and holds adjunct faculty status at a number of colleges and universities in New England. She has also taught at Payap University in Chiang Mai, Thailand. She has been a Governor-appointed public member of the Vermont State Board of Nursing as well as a Commissioner on Vermont’s Commission for Women. She has also served on the Vermont Wo men’s Fund Council and is currently a Vermont Humanities Council Scholar. She is a trainer and workshop leader on numerous topics relevant to her areas of expertise. Her areas of consulting include:

Program management	Situation analysis, needs assessment planning
Project design/implementation	Qualitative research and evaluation
Training/technical assistance	Technical and creative writing

Since 1990, she has worked independently writing, teaching and consulting. Her clients have included The World Bank, the World Health Organization, the United Nations, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and numerous consulting firms, media organizations and universities. She is the author of nine books and the editor of three anthologies. Her works have appeared in various periodicals and magazines as well as peer reviewed journals internationally. She served as correspondent for Women’s International News Gathering Service (WINGS radio) and is now U.S. senior correspondent for the India-based syndicate Women’s Feature Service. She is a regular columnist for the Keene (NH) Sentinel and the Brattleboro (VT) Commons, and she has been a contributor to such publications as Earth Times, On the Issues, Psychiatric Times, The Christian Science Monitor, and New Jersey Woman.

Ms. Clift holds a B.A. in English and an M.A. in Health Communication from the University of Maryland. Her memberships have included the National Women’s Studies Association, the American Public Health Association, and the International Women’s Writing Guild.

Sample Clients

• The World Bank
• The World Health Organization
• The World Resources Institute
• The Pan American Health Organization
• Johns Hopkins University
• Program for Appropriate Technologies in Health (PATH)
• Academy for Educational Development (AED)
• The National Cancer Institute (NCI)
• Save the Children Inc.
• United Nations Department of Public Information
• The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention

University Affiliations (past and current)

• George Washington University, MPH Program
• Yale University, MPH Program
• Emerson College
• Vermont College, Adult Degree Program
• University of Connecticut, MPH Program
• University of Vermont
• Keene State College
• Middlebury College
• Payap University, (Chiang Mai, Thailand)
• Vermont Community College
• Granite State College (NH)

Guest Lecturer

• University of Maryland
• Georgetown University
• Emory University
• St. Michael’s College (Burlington, VT)
• Dhurakij Pundit University (Bangkok)

Sample Courses Developed / Taught

• International Health Promotion and Communication: Theory and Applications
• Gender, Health and Development: Perspectives for Policy and Planning
• Introduction to Women’s Studies
• Introduction to the Novel and Short Story
• Gender Issues in a Globalized World
• Introduction to Ethics
• Introduction to Sociology
• The Writing Process (Advanced and Beginners)
• Oral Presentation

Country Work Experience

Honduras Romania

Sudan Malawi Lesotho Kenya Sierra Leone

Burma Bangladesh Korea Thailand

 

Sample Consultancies

• For WHO, carried out qualitative analysis/synthesis of lessons learned from global IEC interventions in public health, resulting in 50 page report, IEC for Reproductive Health: What Do We Know, Where Do We Go?
• For World Bank, conducted health communication assessment in Sierra Leone.
• For Futures Group’s USAID-funded Policy Project, provided technical assistance to Romanian Family Planning Coalition to develop journalist strategy and deliver related seminars.
• For Spark Media, served as technical advisor for IDB video on domestic violence in Latin America.
• For GREENCOM Project (AED), wrote technical report on environmental education in Africa.
• Co-author, “Women and Sustainable Development” (Chapt. 3), World Resources, 1994-95.
• Author, Project Support Five Year Report, PATH; HealthCom Project Five Year Report, AED.
• Trainer, OSAP Communications Team, University Research Corp (URC).
• Technical Writer, HIV/AIDS Communication Advisory Panel, CDC/Atlanta.

Books Authored / Anthologies Edited

• Telling It Like It Is: Reflections of A Not So Radical Feminist, KIT Inc., 1991 (essays)
• But Do They Have Field Experience!, OGN Publications, 1993 (anthology)
• The Road to Radicalism: Further Reflections of A Frustrated Feminist, OGN, 1994
• Demons Dancing in My Head: Collected Poems 1985 - 1995, OGN, 1995
• Croning Tales, OGN, 1996 (short stories)
• To New Jersey, With Love and Apologies, OGN, 1999 (memoir)
• Other People, Other Lands, OGN, 1999 (poetry).
• Love Letters to Vermont: A New England Journal, OGN, 2001
• Sanity For All in the 21st Century: Reflections of a Fin de’ Siecle Feminist (Xlibris, 2002)
• Women’s Experiences with the Mental Health Establishment (Ed., Haworth Press, 2004)
• Women, Philanthropy and Social Change: Visions for a Just Society (Ed, UPNE Press, 2005; 2007)
• Achan: A Year of Teaching in Thailand (Bangkok Books, 2007)
• Hester’s Daughters (novel-in-progress)

Awards Received

• Award for Excellence in Journalism, NJ Education Assn., 1992
• Assorted writing awards, 1989 to present
• Executive Producer, 3-time award winning video documentary "Partnerships for Child Survival"

Positions Held

• Media specialist/teacher/consultant/ writer 1990---
  • Covered UN Decade for Women’s Conference, Nairobi, 1985; 5th International Women’s Health Conference, Costa Rica, 1987; World Women’s Congress for a Health Planet, Miami, 1991; Fourth World Conference on Women, Beijing, 1995.
  • Continue to publish numerous articles on health, women, development, communication, environment in various periodicals internationally; and to serve as correspondent;
  • Developed and continue to teach courses at major universities, writing workshops; and continue to consult to a variety of organizations.
• Deputy Director, HEALTHCOM Project, 1985-1990, AED.
  • Applied health communication methodology in various countries for this USAID-funded child survival initiative; backstopped country resident advisors; co-managed project; trained counterparts, carried out needs assessments and project planning, implementation, monitoring.
• Regional Director, Mid-Atlantic Region, B’nai B’rith Women, 1981-1982.
  • Directed regional activities of Jewish women’s service organization.
• Program Director, National Women’s Health Network, 1979-81.
  • Directed programs, acted as media spokesperson on key women’s health issues for national women’s health advocacy organization.

Related Activities

• Chair & Acting Director, Women and Health Roundtable, 1981-83.
• Co-founder and President, Health Action Network of Montgomery County (MD), 1981-83.
• Board Member, Women’s Medical Center, Washington, DC, 1984-86.
• Maryland Coalition for Women’s Health, 1984-86.
• Women’s International Public Health network, 1989.
• Calvary Women’s Shelter, Washington, DC, 1996-98.
• Vermont State Board of Nursing, 1998 – 2005.
• Vermont Women’s Fund , 1999 –2005.
• Women’s Crisis Center (Brattleboro, Vt), 1999 – 2004.
• Member, Planning Committee, International Conference on Girls Education, 1997-8.
• Member, Planning Committee, NCIH Women and Health in Development Conference, 1991.
• Participant, Tech. Work Group on Health Promotion, Health Education, and Community Participation, PAHO, 1988.
• Member, Planning Committee, NAS/IOM “The Role of Women in Improving Health Care in the Third World” 1987.

Sample Articles

• “The Woman Behind Obama,” Women’s Feature Service, 2008.
• “Muslim Women Talk Abuse,” Women’s Feature Service, 2007.
• “Communicating for Health: Transforming Information Into Innovation,” Perspectives in Health (PAHO), December 1999.
• “IEC Interventions for Health: A 20-Year Retrospective on Dichotomies and Directions,”
  Journal of Health Communication, Vol. 3, No. 4, November 1998.
• “Changing Women’s Lives: A Communication Perspective on Participatory Qualitative Research Techniques for Gender Equity (with V. Freimuth), Int’l Journal of Gender Studies, Vol.6 No.3, November 1997.
• “What Did You Say You Do? Health Communicators and Where We Fit In,” Journal of Health Communication, Vol.2, No. 1, February 1997.
• “Keeping Up With the Promises of Beijing,” Earth Times, Vol. X, No. 1, January 1997.
• “Reinventing Macho: Men as Partners for Reproductive Health,” Perspectives in Health (PAHO), December 1997.