A Heart for Advocacy

Nancy Valentin C’13 works tirelessly to ensure health equity for all Chicagoans.

During her time at North Park, communication studies alumna Valentin grew a heart for advocacy, something she taps into daily in her position as director of health equity at Chicago’s Northwest Center, a nonprofit founded in 2003 to address the housing crisis. Her work was recognized by the City of Chicago, which gave her the Mayor’s Medal of Honor Award in 2022.

Valentin leads the city’s northwest region in a program that identifies social determinants of health, which the Chicago native describes as an enormous task. The vulnerable residents in that community, Belmont-Cragin, tend to live 10 to 15 years less than their wealthier peers, according to U.S. Census statistics.

“Our organization started because a lot of residents were dealing with bad mortgages, and since then we’ve expanded to meet the needs of the community,” Valentin said. “I’m committed to health care equity for all Chicagoans.”

The desire to help others was something she learned firsthand as she struggled academically and socially after transferring to North Park her sophomore year.

“There was a lot happening in my life then,” she said. “A lot of people at North Park were extremely kind and generous in their time with me, really nurturing me to help me finish.”

In particular, Dean Liza Ann Acosta, a fellow Latina, and Professor Tim Lowly were there when she needed support. In addition to a counselor she saw during her tenure at North Park, they helped her feel “seen as a whole person, which is so important for a young person.”

Now, she’s applying to master’s in public policy programs, something she wouldn’t have been able to achieve without North Park, she said.

“I’m doing what I am now because I had a stroke of luck in that I had opportunities, and people who believed in me. I want to put opportunities in front of other people.”