Deborah Austin, PhD

Director, Outreach & Communication
REACHUP, Inc.
2902 N. Armenia Avenue, Suite 100
Tampa, FL
USA 33607-1660
Email: DAustin@reachupincorporated.org

Biographical Sketch: Committed to “keeping one foot in the academy and one in the community,” Dr. Deborah A. Austin serves as Director of Outreach and Communication for REACHUP, Inc., a community nonprofit whose mission is to build community capacity aimed at improving racial and ethnic equity in healthcare and positive health outcomes for families in the Tampa Bay region. She also maintains a Courtesy Appointment to the faculty of the College of Public Health at the University of South Florida (USF). Recently she received a certificate of successful completion of the foundational Appreciative Inquiry workshop with one of AI’s pioneers, Dr. David Cooperrider. AI is a theory and strategy of strength-based approach to change. Dr. Austin formerly served as Community Development and Communication Specialist for the Central Hillsborough Healthy Start Project, which was a program of The Lawton and Rhea Chiles Center for Healthy Mothers and Babies at the USF College of Public Health and is currently a program of REACHUP, Inc. Thus, REACHUP maintains a close relationship with USF faculty who serve as primary partners in its research and evaluation efforts. While at USF, Dr. Austin also served as Adjunct Instructor in the Department of Africana Studies. She also has worked in various capacities in Boston, MA, central North Carolina, and central and south Florida, providing technical assistance to faith and community based organizations desirous of collaborating with local universities. Dr. Austin received her Bachelors and Masters degrees in Communication Studies at the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, and her Doctorate in Communication from the University of South Florida. She has served principle investigator and co-investigator on several grants at focusing on improving reproductive health and birth outcomes. Additionally, he has book chapters published in Nature of a sistuh: Black women’s lived experiences in contemporary culture; Composing ethnography: Alternative forms of qualitative writing; Perspectives on Womanist Theology, Black Church Scholars Ser. 7; and Studies in Symbolic Interaction. Her articles and book reviews can be found in the American Journal of Men’s Health; Progress in Community Health Partnerships: Research, Education and Action; Women and Language; Journal of the Interdenominational Theological Center; Text and Performance Quarterly and Communication Theory.

Papers:
5096.0 Achieving health equity through “undoing racism”: The case of the Florida health equity commission