Today we’d like to introduce you to Amber Huett-Garcia.
Alright, so thank you so much for sharing your story and insight with our readers. To kick things off, can you tell us a bit about how you got started?
Most of the Memphis community knows me in one of three capacities: education, politics, or my patient advocacy work in health. I moved to the city a decade ago after joining Teach For America (TFA). I rented an apartment without having set foot in the city. I was working at the Illinois Governor’s Office of Management and Budget managing over $13 billion in K-12 education funding and had this overwhelming feeling that the order of operations on my understanding of education needed to change.
I applied to TFA on their final deadline for the year and was on the road to teaching elementary school. After teaching, I worked in operations and fundraising for education, dabbling in politics more over the years – even running for the Tennessee House of Representatives – but then shifting again to policy, strategy, and program management. Today, I serve as the Senior Director, Student and Family Supports Comprehensive Planning at the Tennessee Department of Education where I lend strategic support on non-academic supports.
Running parallel to the work in education, I’ve volunteered a significant amount of my free time on obesity care advocacy. I’ve had a long journey to lose about 250 pounds and so I am passionate about reducing weight bias in our healthcare system and increasing access to care for individuals living with obesity.
Would you say it’s been a smooth road, and if not what are some of the biggest challenges you’ve faced along the way?
I think perseverance or grit is one of my strengths, but there has definitely been struggle. I grew up in a low-income family. I’m a first-generation college graduate and so I had to be intentional about figuring out the soft skills, networking, and unspoken rules that middle- or high-income households figure out through modeling.
When it came to my health, getting initial care was really difficult. I had bariatric surgery in 2009 as a self-pay patient and financed out-of-pocket over $14,000 for bariatric surgery. That deepened the financial hole I started in as a young adult. Looking back, I’d do it again because my health was put on a different course because of it, but it sparked my advocacy bug. When I think about my work in education and health, including my own health, the theme is really that there are chronic deficiencies for certain populations to get to optimal outcomes in both systems. I am vocal about inequity in health and education and sharing the stories of individuals who are not getting the outcomes they deserve.
And the more that individuals have to battle poverty, racism, sexism, ableism, and more – the more they have to fight for what many in dominant power groups consider a basic expectation. For me, I keep the perspective that despite the hurdles, I have a lot of privilege that’s undeniable and helped me overcome them. Rather, when it started to feel like I could breathe or things were coming easier, I knew it was time to use that to help others.
Thanks – so what else should our readers know about your work and what you’re currently focused on?
I’m absolutely known for my ability to help people navigate healthcare, especially treatment for obesity. I’d consider myself a national leader in obesity care advocacy; I served nine years, including two years as Chair, of the Obesity Action Coalition (OAC)’s National Board of Directors. It’s the largest membership of patient obesity organizations in the world with over 70,000 members.
I’ve spent the last few years growing my international presence and I’m a founding director of the Global Obesity Patient Alliance (GOPA) to help coalesce around common issues in obesity care and share best practices. Both organizations are members of the World Obesity Federation. In 2018, I was selected for Medtronic’s Bakken Invitation and the only winner from the United States for my advocacy work and using my ‘extra life’ to do good for my community. Most recently, I was selected by an organization called the NCD Alliance (non-communicable disease) to share a photo diary on living with obesity and affordable healthcare, and the need for universal healthcare.
My story as a diarist will be part of a small group presented to the UN’s next high-level meeting on universal healthcare. It really matters to me that everyone who wants access to affordable care receives it. It’s not enough for me to know that I’ve got what I needed; healthcare is a human right and it has to include voices of the individuals who are affected by a spectrum of medical needs so we integrate lived experiences in the delivery.
We’d be interested to hear your thoughts on luck and what role, if any, you feel it’s played for you?
I think luck is always some part of the equation in life and career. I think the timing of my career as an “older Millennial” was bad luck. I graduated college in 2008 – a few months after the housing market collapsed. I ended up in graduate school out of necessity in the face of a terrible job market, but I’m lucky to have had that happen because it really brought my love of public service into focus.
To be sure, I’m diligent and organized. I take immense personal responsibility in all that I endeavor, but I think what often gets touted as ‘good luck’ is often a lot of advantages that were afforded to me as a white woman over the years when others didn’t.
For example, my first apartment office waived my deposit and said ‘I’m sure your credit is good. We won’t need a deposit.” As much as I hate to say it, I had no idea what my credit was at 21.And I absolutely didn’t have money, but I had the presumption of wealth. In fact, the year I lived there my basic living expenses exceeded my income by about $300 a month as I took an assistantship and cobbled together odd jobs and student loans. The same assumptions can do real harm in our healthcare system too. It keeps people with obesity from seeking care because every interaction they’ve ever had was spent shaming personal behavior while withholding evidenced-based medical care (e.g., bariatric surgery, pharmacotherapy). So, yes, I have definitely had some good luck, but the accumulation of what society can deem a ‘break’ or ‘luck’ can also systemic inequity working in our favor. I’ve tried hard to advocate for an education and health system that acknowledges this and rights it through advocacy, education, and support.
Contact Info:
- Email: amberhuettgarcia@gmail.com
- Website: www.amberhuettgarcia.com
- Instagram: www.instagram.com/obesitycareadvocate
- Facebook: www.facebook.com/amberhuett
Image Credits
Paula Ilari
