Please tune in tomorrow night at 7:30 pm for the first Door to Door Podcast of the 2021-2022 academic year. Sara Robert ’22 and Billy Kitchell ’22 will interview this month’s featured alumna, Joan Denckla Ingram ’94:
Joan Denckla Ingram is a graduate of the class of 1994, one of the first years to have females at Deerfield. Ingram went on to study Environmental Studies and Spanish at Bowdoin college. One of her favorite experiences was her study abroad in Costa Rica, a semester that later influenced her path in public health. Upon her return, Ingram continued her studies at Yale, where she received her Master’s in Public Health.
Joan’s career in public health took her from Boston, to New York City, to her current state of Maine. For the most part, her work has focused in chronic disease prevention. She helped to pass the original smoke-free outdoor dining ordinances for the city of Portland, Maine, and worked for several years on policy and environmental change initiatives focused on obesity prevention.
A few years ago, Joan’s work shifted to substance use prevention. Her current role is the State Director for Groups Recover Together, a company that provides medication assisted treatment for opioid use disorder. Ingram works with her team to support individuals combating addiction and meets them where they are to support them on their journey of recovery.
While extremely passionate about her career, Joan also loves time away from her computer and work. Highlights include spending time with her 10 and 12 year old children, morning runs with her friends, Sunday crosswords, growing vegetables in her garden, soaking in the beauty of the Maine coast, and even coming back to visit Deerfield.