The Rutgers School of Public Health has named Hajar Shirley Ph.D.’25 the recipient of its inaugural 2025 Community Partner Recognition Award.
The award recognizes Shirley as the founder of the initiative “Inclusive Health Innovation Together - Vaccine Equity Education Coalition (VEEC),” and her continued work and achievements through VEEC, which support and engage Rutgers School of Public Health students.
“The award is given annually to honor a community partner organization that supports the school’s public health practice experiences,” wrote the School of Public Health. “Aligned with the school’s current Strategic Plan, the award recognizes an organization that supports the mission and values of the school through its own work with the school’s students, faculty, and/or staff. The award strengthens the school’s commitment to community engagement by recognizing organizations that work with and for the populations the school seeks to serve.”
Shirley will receive the award at the Student Showcase and End-of-Year Awards Ceremony on Friday, May 9, 2025.
“Haj wears so many hats, which has made working with her incredibly interesting and equally inspiring," said Associate Professor of Communication Lisa Mikesell, Shirley’s Ph.D. advisor. “She is a community leader, bringing many different organizations and academic divisions at Rutgers together to make change directly in our local communities. She is a health equity scholar, using her research skills to better support the health and well-being of underserved communities in New Jersey and underserved students on campus. She is an educator, and one of the most thoughtful I have worked with. She has developed a number of educational programs and learning experiences on campus that bring together faculty and industry leaders to provide students with real-world problem-solving skills and connections to community and industry organizations that can directly impact their future employment. And she has a past life as an industry leader in health technology, and she brings this incredible industry experience and knowledge to her academic and community work. There is really nothing that she can't accomplish.”
Envisioned, designed, and launched by Shirley, VEEC was formed in 2022 through the support of the Inclusion Equity Diversity and Advocacy (IDEA) Innovation Grant from Rutgers University–New Brunswick, under the Division of Diversity, Inclusion, and Community Engagement (DICE). VEEC is a collaborative effort designed to build Vaccine Confidence across communities.
“VEEC focuses on overcoming barriers to vaccine confidence, particularly among mothers and caregivers, and the role of youth in advocating for vaccines,” Shirley said.
Having designed the curriculum around training middle school and high school students as VEEC Ambassadors, VEEC trains students across Rutgers to serve as VEEC Fellows, who then train and empower VEEC Ambassadors to drive change — working in collaboration with local schools, community centers, and public health departments across New Jersey.
Soon after its launch, the initiative expanded to involve Rutgers campuses in Camden, Newark, and New Brunswick, and the Boys and Girls Club. VEEC has also hosted leadership events on campus.
“What began as a grassroots initiative has since evolved into a statewide, student-powered coalition that equips youth, educators, and community leaders with culturally responsive health education and advocacy tools,” Shirley said. “VEEC is rooted in the belief that community trust is built through proximity, presence, and partnership. Our programming spans digital campaigns, peer-to peer education, design thinking workshops, and interactive health challenges.”
In partnership with the Boys and Girls Club of Newark, VEEC has hosted youth health leadership events at the Rutgers Paul Robeson Cultural Center (PRCC), where VEEC Fellows and Ambassadors have led engaging sessions on vaccine confidence and community health.
“This effort led to impactful youth engagement and state recognition in NJBIZ and Rutgers Today,” Shirley said.
VEEC’s reach has even extended to Capitol Hill, where the organization’s leaders have advocated for global health programs and presented research nationally and internationally. VEEC also appeared at the World Vaccine Congress, where VEEC was featured as an exhibitor for its innovative, community-led model.
VEEC’s current partners include Rutgers Health; Rutgers School of Public Health; Rutgers School of Nursing; Ernest Mario School of Pharmacy; Rutgers Camden - School of Nursing; Eric B. Chandler Health Center; North Jersey Community Research Initiative (NJCRI); NJ Dept of Health; United Nations Foundation; Shot@Life; Camden County School District; Newark Board of Education; Boys and Girls Club of Newark; CareSparc; and the list of partners keeps growing.
Led by VEEC’s Research Fellows, in 2025-2026 the program will continue to expand by training elderly community members as ambassadors, with a focus on intergenerational educational outreach, Shirley said.
“VEEC is a case study for building cross-sector, intergenerational, and interdisciplinary partnerships,” Shirley added. “As VEEC expands, we aim to address broader health challenges beyond vaccines, such as oncology care and chronic diseases, including pulmonary arterial hypertension.”
Despite recent funding cuts, including a grant from the New Jersey Department of Health and the termination of the AmeriCorps program, VEEC continues to expand its intergenerational educational outreach and advocacy efforts.
“VEEC continues to find ways to move forward,” Shirley said, “By emphasizing the importance of community voices and academic and industry partnerships and by highlighting the need for advocacy training and education to counter misinformation and disinformation.”
Following her graduation from the SC&I Ph.D. program on May 15, Shirley will continue VEEC’s mission work by absorbing VEEC into the Health Equity Education Coalition, a newly established non-profit organization she founded.
“From educational circles in Camden to maternal health campaigns in Newark to youth panels in New Brunswick—VEEC continues to advance a vision where students lead, families are informed, and our beloved communities thrive,” Shirley said. “Through VEEC, we have demonstrated what can happen when people are passionate about the communities in which they serve. At Rutgers, we aim to ‘amplify across our beloved community,’ and this was also our aim through VEEC. Our work shows the power of Rutgers students and community spaces. We dreamed we could demonstrate how to co-create solutions, and we succeeded – with little time and few resources.”
Read the Rutgers Today story, “How Rutgers Health and Vaccine Equity Education Coalition Ambassadors at the Boys & Girls Club of Newark Are Promoting Vaccine Equity.”
Learn more about the Ph.D. Program at the Rutgers School of Communication and Information on the website.
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