Episode #482 What Makes a Community Sticky, with Chelsea Richard, PhD, MSPH
On This Episode Of The Public Health Epidemiology Conversations (PHEC) Podcast
What would change if communities helped decide what their data means? In this episode, Dr. Huntley talks with Dr. Chelsea Richard, an epidemiologist and Vice President of Strategy and Operations at Central Carolina Community Foundation. They discuss community listening and how a community assessment can lead to lasting local change.
From Hospital Research to a Career in Epidemiology
Chelsea planned to become a medical doctor. Her path changed while she worked on a heart research study in Boston. The study’s lead investigator was a physician trained in epidemiology, and working alongside him showed her she wanted to help whole communities as well as individual patients.
That decision brought her to the University of South Carolina. On the first day of her introductory epidemiology class, she knew she had found her field. It combined her love of math and science with real work in real communities.
Building Data Systems in South Carolina State Government
Chelsea spent ten years in state government. At the Department of Public Health, she coordinated a statewide health survey and traveled the state encouraging partners to use the data for policy and programs.
At South Carolina First Steps, she built an evaluation program from scratch. One of the first tasks was making sure each child and family was counted only once. That foundational work gave her deep skills in data systems and showed her how public-private partnerships can drive social change.
Listening to 11 Counties in South Carolina’s Midlands
At the community foundation, Chelsea is leading a comprehensive assessment of an 11-county region that includes both cities and rural towns. The team surveyed residents and nonprofit leaders, heard from about 3,500 people, and held 18 focus groups.
The project is built on community strengths. The team asked residents what makes them want to stay, how connected they feel, and which local assets they use. When fraudulent survey and focus group responses appeared, the team added more in-person sessions. Chelsea calls that a great problem to have, because it brought her into community centers across the region.
Bright Spots, Blind Spots, and Bridges to Decision Makers
The conversation covers what the data is showing so far, including the value of welcoming public spaces. It also covers the questions the team is asking next, such as which voices were missed. Chelsea explains how a funder can connect residents with the government leaders who control larger budgets, and how her own run for county council sharpened that perspective.
Career Advice for Anyone Building a Path in Public Health
Chelsea closes with advice for listeners at every career stage. She encourages them to look seriously at the nonprofit sector and to let their core values guide their career. Press play to hear how one epidemiologist turned curiosity and integrity into a career serving her community.
About Our Guest
Chelsea Richard, PhD, MSPH
Chelsea Richard, PhD, MSPH, is the Vice President of Strategy and Operations at Central Carolina Community Foundation. There, she leads a comprehensive community assessment of the foundation’s 11-county Midlands region in South Carolina. She earned both her master’s and PhD in epidemiology from the University of South Carolina, where much of her work focused on maternal and child health.
Before joining the foundation, Chelsea spent ten years in South Carolina state government. At the Department of Public Health, she served as the state-level coordinator of the Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System from 2015 to 2019. This is a CDC-supported phone survey that asks adults in every state about their health. She also worked on the Pregnancy Risk Assessment Monitoring System.
She later joined South Carolina First Steps, the state’s early childhood agency. She built its first in-house evaluation program and led work in strategic planning and performance measurement. Chelsea completed her PhD in 2021 while working full time. She began her career in medical research at Brigham and Women’s Hospital in Boston, after earning a biology degree from the University of Massachusetts Boston.
Across every role, Chelsea has supported organizations that work toward the common good, using data to guide action. For the past seven years, her focus has been community listening that respects residents and leads to sustainable change. She is guided by curiosity and integrity and is committed to serving the people of South Carolina.
Listen To This Episode Of The Public Health Epidemiology Conversations (PHEC) Podcast
Conversation Highlights
Start with the question before collecting data.
Chelsea encourages teams to decide early which questions they are answering and what impact they want. That clarity keeps data collection focused on outcomes that matter.
Lead with community strengths.
Asking residents what makes their community a place they want to stay reveals assets worth protecting and expanding. In this assessment, welcoming public spaces emerged as one of the clearest bright spots.
Plan for fraud in online surveys.
Open online surveys with incentives can attract large numbers of fake responses, even with careful precautions. Leave time for thorough data cleaning, and consider in-person options when fraud appears.
Go to the community in person whenever you can.
Chelsea ended up facilitating more in-person focus groups than she planned. Sitting with 30 residents in a busy Calhoun County community center gave her a firsthand view of community life she would not otherwise have had.
Ask who is missing from the conversation.
Focus groups held during the workday left out many working residents. The team is now combining survey results, focus group findings, and public data to find those gaps.
Make community listening an ongoing habit.
Chelsea’s team is designing smaller, recurring ways to hear from residents, so listening becomes part of the foundation’s regular work and does not happen only once every 15 years.
Help residents reach the people who can act.
When residents raise concerns like road repair, it helps to know whether the city, county, or state owns that road. A community foundation can serve as a bridge, bringing what residents say to the decision makers who control those resources.
“Science is a team sport, right? Like public health is a team sport. We’re all here to work together to serve these communities.” - Dr. Chelsea Richard
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DrCHHuntley LLC is a public health consulting firm that specializes in epidemiology consulting, supporting large nonprofit organizations in South Carolina, North Carolina, Georgia, Mississippi, and Florida that serve Black, Indigenous, and People of Color (BIPOC). We also provide nationwide public health consulting and epidemiology consulting support to BIPOC organizations across the United States.
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