Jalen Coleman is a champion for telling stories fueled by insights and narrative change which empowers communities. At a young age, he noticed the lack of minority representation in research and practice within communication science – contributing to growing gaps in engagement and behavioral change. Putting aside the hoopla of waiting for a Superman, he charged it to himself to step up to be the change communities like his needed via pursuing communications strategy.

Through the support of the Bill Gates Millennium Scholarship, Jalen obtained his MPH from Columbia University – allowing him to understand the impact of translational knowledge and engagement frameworks to create engagement that matters. He has served as a judge for two years in the CU Health Messaging for Justice Student Competition – providing expertise to students in creative health communication campaigns to enhance social justice.

He helped pilot the NYC DOHMH’s Brother’s Thrive and Sister’s Thrive Program – a campaign to address minority mental health stigmas via partnerships including Google, LinkedIn, Twitter, and Therapy for Black Girls. He assisted in the COVID-19 response efforts via developing equity-framed health promotional messaging guidance for digital and social.

As a Social Strategist, Jalen oversees the digital and social advertising strategy for healthcare/pharma brands. He volunteers his time as a strategist within Black Health Connect – an organization aiming to create and curate a digital and physical hub for Black Healthcare Professionals.

He aims to continue to make shifts in narrative change and emerge as a future leader within the communications science.