When Deborah Levine was in graduate school at New York University, she was diagnosed with dyslexia and encouraged by a counselor to go into an industry like hair and makeup as opposed to public health, believing the rigor would be too intense for her. But her passion was helping people, particularly in the mental health space. So with the support of her parents, Levine continued on that path and began working with emotionally disturbed and acting-out latency-age children who were impacted by the early days of HIV, which began her work dealing with the illness.
She now serves as the Community Engagement Director for the CUNY Graduate School of Public Health and Health Policy (SPH), where she’s been since 2020. Within that role, she is the director for the Harlem Health Initiative, addressing the unique priorities and health disparities facing the community with a focus on HIV and access to care.
A Queens native, Levine, 62, worked with Harlem Congregations for Community Improvement for 11 years as the Vice President of Health and Wellness. Along with her love of the community, she says working in Harlem allowed her to become the best health advocate and community engagement officer she could be, learning from watching figures like Dr. Hazel Dukes, Frederick Boyd Williams, and Bishop Preston Washington.
“Listening to how they strategically thought about how to create safe spaces and economic development and access to health care in the community, I was very fortunate to be able to sit at their feet,” Levine said. “These were people who were creating playbooks when we didn’t have playbooks.”
Trained as a clinical psychiatric social worker, Levine has worked in the public health space for over 30 years, primarily in Harlem, working with community members, faith leaders, and health officials. She holds degrees from Fairleigh Dickinson University, Columbia University, NYU, and Hunter College. She continued her work in HIV and AIDS through leadership roles at nonprofit organizations like the National Black Leadership Commission on AIDS and the Alison Gertz Foundation for AIDS Education. She was also a founding member of the National Black Women’s HIV AIDS Network.
While working with the Gertz Foundation in 2017, Levine experienced two mergers within five years, resulting in her being laid off. After working in consulting for a short while, she was offered the position at CUNY, and she was happy to find herself back in Harlem once again.
CUNY SPH was established as an independent school in 2016, with the Harlem Initiative being created in 2019. Levine says the community outreach work has evolved based on the needs of Harlem, from navigating COVID, educating and mobilizing around vaccines, creating a Cannabis Equity Board, and also making sure the students are community-centered in their areas of focus.
Levine says she is both “nervous and cautious” with regard to what legislative cuts will do in the long term to services like NYC Health and Hospitals and their impact as a network hospital or Federally Qualified Health Centers like Ryan Health in Manhattan.
“When you think about public health and what public health means, it is really looking at all the social and racial inequities, everything from environmental issues to maternal child health, to food insecurities, to immigration, to housing, to the data collection, to access to care. That’s what public health is,” Levine said. She says, cuts to agencies like the National Institute of Health, and the Centers for Disease Control all impact public health.
Levine says moving forward in addressing Harlem’s health inequities, as well as meeting the unique challenges of this administration, will require community leaders from all sectors, including local medical leaders, elected officials, attorneys, to interpret the laws and be able to develop the best strategy, and community stakeholders such as block associations and community boards. “It’s all of us,” Levine said. “When we think that the table is full, look around and say, who’s not here being represented?”
Last week, Donald Trump announced the government would not acknowledge World AIDS Day. Healthcare leaders across the country pushed back and commemorated the day of remembrance anyway.
“We’re not going anywhere. This administration can try to cancel World AIDS Day, but they can’t cancel our sort of love, our community, or commitment,” Levine said. She affirmed CUNY SPH would continue to amplify the occasion, which honors those who have been lost to the illness and those who continue to fight for solutions. “They can cancel it in D.C., if they want to, but that’s not going to stop me and others from just shouting a little louder.”
“(World AIDS Day) belongs to the people,” Levine continued, “and we have a responsibility to keep lifting our storytellers up and telling our story and demanding the resources and the respect that our communities require and need.”
Great to see Deborah and her strong commitment to the Harlem community.