Lena Hatchett, PhD

Associate Professor

Director, Community and University Partnerships Co-Founder, Proviso Partners for Health (PP4H)

Lena Hatchett, PhD, is Director of Community and University Partnerships in the Stritch School of Medicine, Loyola University Chicago. She leads the institution in health equity research and education through program and policy development.  She received her PhD in Social and Health Psychology from State University of New York Stony Brook and her post-doctoral training in Community and Prevention Research from University of Illinois at Chicago School of Public Health.  Dr. Hatchett’s research reduces racial and economic health disparities.  On-going projects include Proviso Partners for Health, a multi-sector coalition to promote food justice through policy, system, and environmental change.  She co-founded the coalition with community organizations to support over 25 youth serving organizations from the business, health, and community sectors.  This work is funded by RWJ foundation to the Institute for Healthcare Improvement for the SCALE initiative and most recently, the Trinity Health System Transforming Communities Initiative.

Dr. Hatchett is a public health advocate with the following organizations; Cook County Department of Public Health Community Health Advisory Council; Advocates for Urban Agriculture; American Public Health Association Community-based Public Health Caucus Policy Work group; Cook County Department of Public Health, Alliance for Healthy and Active Communities; Institute for Healthcare Improvement 100 Million Healthier Lives.

Midwest Consortium for Equity, Research, Food Justice Publications, Lena Hatchett is a 2021 partner with the Midwest Consortium, a branch of the Chicago Food Policy Action Council. Her collaborative research advances systems with low-income African American, Latinx residents through the Good Food Purchasing Policy and initiatives.

We in the World is a capacity-building network for equity. As the Senior Lead for Racial Justice, Lena Hatchett co-designed the Racial Justice Community curriculum for action for change agents in the US and abroad. The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation funds this work.

Improving Social Determinants of Health - Getting Further Faster is a systems-level evaluation project funded by the Association of State and Territorial Health Officials. Lena Hatchett is the programmatic lead in partnership with Strengthening Proviso Youth and the Cook County Department of Public Health.

CONNECT WITH ME

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Education

• PhD, State University of New York at Stony Brook, Stony Brook, NY
• MA, State University of New York at Stony Brook, Stony Brook, NY

Research Interests

Community-engaged research, racial and economic health disparities, urban agriculture, positive youth development

Courses Taught

• BEHL 407 Social Determinants of Health and Bioethics
• BEHL 411 Public Health Ethics
• BEHL 418 Advancing Health Equity Practices

Publications/Research Listings

PUBLICATIONS

• Springfield-Trice, S., Joyce, C., Williams-Wolford, P., Wolford, D., Onyeise, D., Battles, N., Hatchett, L., ... & Staudinger, U. M. (2025). Unique Stress, Cultural Resources, and Psychological Resilience in Young African American Women: Insights for Effective Intervention and CVD Prevention. Psychology International, 7(2), 34.
• Suh, C. K., Huliganga, A., Collymore, J., Desai, N., Mora, M., & Hatchett, L. (2024). Participants’ experiences with a community based participatory research produce prescription program: findings from a qualitative study. American Journal of Health Promotion, 38(4), 522-527.
• McCune, E., Wojtowicz, J., Adams, W., Sigman, G., Williams, C., Ahn, P., Hatchett, L. ... & O’Keefe, J. (2021). Toxic stress in a mid-sized urban community: An initial needs assessment of families with children in Maywood, IL. Journal of Primary Care & Community Health, 12, 21501327211030136.
• Hatchett, L., & Steinkruger, K. (2024). Application of the Organizational Culture Inventory® in a shared leadership nonprofit. CORALS’ Journal of Applied Research, 2(2), 1-12.
• Hatchett L. (2020) Case Study: Established community partnership pays off during COVD-19. American Hospital Association. (link)
• Wasson K, Chaidez C, Hatchett L, Garcia Manrique B, Garcia Nieto E, Kuczewski MG. (2019) "We have a lot of power...": A Medical School's Journey Through Its New Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) Initiative. Cureus 11(10): e6037. doi: 10.7759/cureus.6037
• Tenfelde, S.M., Hatchett, L., & Saban, K. L. (2018). “Maybe black girls do yoga”: A focus group study with predominantly low-income African-American women. Complementary Therapies in Medicine, 40, 230-235.
• Scaccia JP, Chavez NR, Hatchett L, et al. (2017) Community Health Improvement and the Community Psychology Competencies. Global Journal of Community Psychology Practice 8(1): 1-25.
• Hatchett L, Elster N, Wasson K, Anderson L, Parsi K. (2015) Integrating Social Justice for Health Professional Education: Self-Reflection, Advocacy, and Collaborative Learning. Online Journal of Health Ethics 11(1).
• Wasson K, Bading E, Hardt J, Hatchett L, Kuczewski MG, McCarthy M, Michelfelder A, Parsi K (2015). Physician Know Thyself: The Role of Reflection in Bioethics and Professionalism Education. Narrative Inquiry in Bioethics 5(1): 77-86.

PODCASTS

• Public Health Advocate: Community Vanguards in Maywood, IL- Parts 1 & 2

PRESENTATIONS

• Hatchett, L, "We must walk on in the days ahead with an audacious faith in the future," Trinity Health presents the 2025 MLK Health Equity Symposium – “Mission Possible: Advancing Health Equity.”
• Welger, C., Jarpe-Ratner, E., Barnett, G. M., Chebli, P., Kite, H., Geraci, M., ... & Hatchett, L. (2022). Key drivers of success: What catalyzes lasting change in your organization or community?
• Herrera, Y., Uskali, A., Welter, C., Pinsker, E., Hatchett, L., Hair, X. L., ... & Barnett, G. M. (2022). Suburban Cook County COVID-19 Community Supports Program.
• Hatchett PhD, L. & Springfield PhD, S. (2021). Love and Power: A Community Power Building Case.
• Stout S, VanLanen T, Hatchett L, Howard P, Schall M, Brennan L, & Lewis N (2017, November). Accelerating Community Transformation to Develop Communities of Solution: Lessons Learned from the SCALE Initiative. In APHA 2017 Annual Meeting & Expo (Nov. 4-Nov. 8). APHA.