Originally from Marietta, GA, Jillian moved to Boston to pursue a Master of Public Health (MPH) degree at Boston University. Through her undergraduate education, she took courses in health and society that introduced her to the field of public health. She decided it was an area she wanted to continue her education in. During her MPH program, she focused on epidemiology/biostatistics and developed a passion for maternal child health. Jillian combined this passion with her quantitative skills in research projects on disparities in breastfeeding durations, postpartum depression, and adverse pregnancy outcomes. Additionally, she had the opportunity to be a Health Equity Initiatives Fellow at Planned Parenthood League of Massachusetts, where she gained further insight to working at a nonprofit and defining measures of success for health equity programming.