Karrington Hendrix (she/her/hers) is a junior at California State East Bay majoring in Health Science with a Public Health Concentration.
Before transferring to Cal State East Bay, Karrington’s exploration into public health began when a close family member started to struggle with mental illness. Karrington recognized a gap in the healthcare system for treating black youth with mental illnesses and since then has been dedicated to advocating for black youths' mental health.
Through the AHEaD Research program with mentor Dr. David Rehkopf, Karrington hopes to better understand the impact of population health research in hopes of conducting her own research on the impact that predominantly white schools have on black and brown mental health and academic performance, with the goal of increasing the number of person of color (POC) counselors in said school systems. Until then Karrington volunteers at the Berkeley Free Clinic as part of their Peer Counseling Services, providing a nonjudgemental space for individuals experiencing homelessness and drug addiction to express themselves with the opportunity to obtain assistance. In her free time, if she is not trying out a new restaurant, Karrington enjoys reading science fiction books.
