Our Alumni: Arielle Carpenter

I am project manager of Sanofi’s Employee Wellness program. Sanofi is a French multinational pharmaceutical company headquartered in Paris, France, with offices worldwide and over 120,000 employees.  As project manager, I will be responsible for the day to day management of the employee wellness program and facilitating the interaction between the working group on-site and the senior management steering committee for the project.  Driven by the office of the CEO, this program will start as a pilot in partnership with an outside research organization, with eventual dissemination of materials to all Sanofi sites around the world.  My job description includes serving as an integral member of the research team, helping gather relevant data and metrics, evaluating employee satisfaction, contributing to the writing of the research study, writing materials for internal communication, managing the output of workshops, information sessions, and educational resources, benchmarking with other employee wellness programs, and actively promoting the program amongst employees. 

What inspired you to pursue an MPH in your area of specialization? 

I chose to pursue my MPH in Nutrition to obtain a well-rounded perspective on how to teach people the importance of healthy lifestyle changes.  With statistics showing that this generation of children may be the first to not outlive their parents due to health complications as a result of obesity, it is essential to be able to communicate effectively that the costs invested in obesity prevention programs today will be less than the expense of treating obesity co-morbidities in the future. 

What drew you to the Tufts Program? 

I have been passionate about educating myself and others to create change that will curb the overwhelming obesity epidemic since my freshman year of high school.  I was very active in my hometown community as a “teen advocate for healthy eating” where I visited many elementary and middle schools to give presentations about healthy eating to the younger students.  One of the things that drew me to Tufts as an undergraduate student was the ability to take courses at the renowned Tufts University School of Medicine and the Friedman School of Nutrition Science & Policy.  Once I was accepted as an undergraduate and was pursuing my Bachelors of Science degree in Psychology and Community Health, the dual degree BA/MPH program seemed to be the perfect opportunity for me.  

How did your Tufts degree help prepare you to work in the field? 

My Tufts degree allowed me to interact with and learn from classmates and professors who are all equally passionate about health but with a range of different interests and expertise.  I also gained valuable experience in working on teams and writing group papers.  As project manager of the employee wellness programs, I know I will be able to draw from the collective knowledge and skills of my MPH Program peers’ research to implement best practices in the field.    

What advice do you have for prospective students? 

Take advantage of the fact that an MPH degree is such a broad and well-rounded degree.  Be adventurous and sign up for courses outside of your concentration to experience all the facets of public health.  Even though I always knew I wanted to focus on nutrition, I also came away with a very strong interest in health communication because I allowed myself to try something that was unknown.