Jen Idrovo ’16

Degrees: B.A. in public policy and law, with a minor in Hispanic studies; M.P.H., University of Illinois at Chicago

Job title: Employee wellness manager, Chicago Public Schools

Favorite Trinity memory: Studying abroad in Buenos Aires, Argentina, alongside my lifelong best friends. While abroad, I took courses in Spanish on human rights, anthropology, and history to better understand the complex history of the country. I also traveled the country as well as neighboring countries such as Chile, Uruguay, and Ecuador. The friends I made abroad are my lifelong best friends, and I’m forever thankful for the experience.

What was your path to your current position?

After Trinity, I returned home to Chicago and worked in a few industries, including community development, environmental justice, and population health. In 2020, like many people during the pandemic, I reflected on my career and recognized that public health has always been a thread that has woven my story together. I’m passionate about access to health care, education, economic development, environmental justice, and system change. In 2021, while working at Sinai Chicago, a safety-net hospital, I completed my master’s on a full academic scholarship. Shortly after graduation, I started my role at Chicago Public Schools (CPS), which is truly a dream role in many ways.

What do you do in your position?

The mission of CPS, the fourth largest school district in the country, is “to provide a high-quality public education for every child, in every neighborhood, that prepares each for success in college, career, and civic life.” I work in the Talent Office overseeing the Be Well employee wellness program. We launched Be Well in August 2024 as a district-wide initiative to support the holistic health of all 50,000-plus employees, including teachers, school leaders, and administrative staff. The program’s mission is to provide employees with knowledge and access to all the resources made available to them with the goal of cultivating a culture of wellness. My role involves onboarding wellness vendors and co-creating offerings to best support our diverse population and their needs. Examples of our offerings include digital solutions for anxiety, sleep, depression, substance use, and nutrition, as well as for chronic disease management for diabetes, hypertension, and musculoskeletal pain. Lastly, we created a Wellness Champions program where school leaders can help us champion this work from the ground up. The education field is very challenging and sometimes unstable. Our teachers and school leaders are facing the highest levels of burnout, turnover, and early retirement CPS has even seen. Be Well was created as a robust support system to point employees to resources to better balance their personal and professional lives.

What do you enjoy most about what you do?

As a product of CPS, it is very humbling to work with the same district that was instrumental in my academic journey. I’ve worked with schools in the neighborhoods that I was raised in and even worked with my former high school. CPS is a historic institution in Chicago, and every person or family has a connection to it. It’s been the honor of a lifetime to support the dedicated employees who engage more than 300,000 students citywide.

How did your time at Trinity help prepare you for your career?

Trinity provided me the opportunity to become a lifelong academic. The level of flexibility in designing my degree allowed me to take classes that I never dreamed of taking and facilitated my love for learning. These classes included “Basic Acting,” “Sociology of Gender,” and even serving as a teaching assistant and first-year mentor. Outside of academics, my involvement with the Queer Resource Center (QRC) and women’s rugby gave me the courage to create safe spaces for myself and for my peers. I look back fondly at my time in Hartford, and I’m forever grateful for it and, most importantly, for my lifelong best friends.

What was the most memorable course you took at Trinity?

“Economics of Health and Health Care” was one of my first introductions to public health.

Did you have a professor who was particularly influential?

Professor Abigail Williamson was very influential during my time at Trinity and beyond. She served as my faculty adviser and guided me to select courses that challenged me and helped me develop a broader perspective outside my major. As a result, I minored in Hispanic studies, and my concentration within public policy was policy analysis, which consisted of analytical courses. Professor Williamson also served as a reference for my application for my graduate program.