February 20, 2026 | Erin Bluvas, bluvase@sc.edu
After growing up outside of Charleston, Ashanti Cromedy stayed close to the shoreline for college – studying public health at nearby Coastal Carolina University. She accepted a care coach position with Humana in 2020 and soon after enrolled in the Arnold School’s Master of Public Health (MPH) in Health Promotion, Education, and Behavior program.
“I became interested in public health from lived experience,” Cromedy says. “I grew up in a rural community (Huger) and seeing the inequities that exist between there and places nearby drew me to public health in creating better conditions. USC was always a top choice because of their rankings and employment outlook after graduating.”
During her program, Cromedy continued working full time at Humana and then later as a research coordinator for the American Diabetes Association. She still managed to find time for her studies as well as connecting with faculty, like MPH program director Edena Guimaraes, whom she calls an amazing mentor with a breadth of experience in the field.
Networking – even simply by being a part of email listservs – was also valuable for Cromedy. She gained grant reviewing experience with Wholespire by responding to an opportunity shared via a listserv, which qualified her for the American Diabetes Association position and finally the job she has now.
Just before her 2024 graduation, Cromedy accepted a position with the University of Kentucky as a grants specialist. In this role, she creates budgets for grant proposals submitted by public health faculty and helps them with the university approval process as well as submission to sponsors like the American Cancer Society.
“I can directly tie budget creation to the public health planning class from my master’s program,” says Cromedy, who recently authored an article on Navigating Uncertainty in Public Health Grants in The Colorado Public Health Association Magazine. “It's a real-world application to consider what costs are necessary to implement the project and ensuring we do not go over the budget.”
Her CITI certification – which Cromedy completed as part of her program’s qualitative research class – also comes in handy. Many of the faculty she supports work with human subjects and must therefore obtain this certification themselves. Already having the certification made her a more competitive candidate when applying for new positions, and she recommends the path for other students.
“Having a certification, knowledge or skill set in a particular area helps you stand out in the job market,” Cromedy says. “Look at positions you might be interested in early in the program and talk to alumni or take classes that would be useful to decide if that's what you want to do long term.”
