Caldwell Relishes Task of Helping Arkansas’ Public Health Professionals
| Kristy Jones-Caldwell, Dr.PH., MPH, embraces any opportunity to help Arkansans, both professionally and personally.
“I’ve always been the kind of person to nurture others,” she said. “I love connecting people to the resources they need in order to thrive.”
Jones-Caldwell is a graduate of the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences (UAMS) Fay W. Boozman College of Public Health’s Doctor of Public Health in Public Health Leadership program. She currently works for the Arkansas Department of Health (ADH) as its workforce director and student placement coordinator.
As student placement coordinator, Jones-Caldwell oversees health department collegiate internships and special intern projects. Additionally, she connects with undergraduate and graduate students who have an interest in a public health career, advising them of the opportunities available at the agency.
In her role as workforce director, she advocates for the department’s employees. Jones-Caldwell aims to assure that the ADH work environment is safe and conducive to helping team members understand that they’re significant to its mission.
“We must have happy and healthy workforce in order to do the critical work we do each day,” she said. “Being in a proper place mentally helps our team members do their jobs to the best of their abilities.”
She acknowledged that she routinely becomes excited about her job.
“Working with people and helping to foster a healthy work culture is something I’m passionate about,” Jones-Caldwell said. “One of the most important things I do is get out of my office and go amongst the ADH workforce — whether it’s outside of the central building in Little Rock or going into the field. We have offices in five regions across the state, and I make it a point to visit each of those regions.”
Jones-Caldwell sees aspects of herself in many of her colleagues, especially the ones in Arkansas’ rural areas. A native of El Dorado, an oil town about 15 minutes from the Arkansas-Louisiana border, Jones-Caldwell benefited from the kindheartedness of her family and townspeople. She makes it a point not to forget those humble beginnings.
“El Dorado is a close-knit community with a lot of great people,” she said. “We have a lot of pride in being from El Dorado.
“Growing up in El Dorado’s eastside and coming from an underprivileged background influenced me a lot. The tough times made me work hard and study hard in school. I was a bookworm. Some of my classmates called me a nerd. But when I graduated from high school in 1989, I was the only Black student in my class to have a gold tassel. Over three decades later, that’s something my family and I remain proud of. But that disadvantaged background drove me to focus on school.”
Using education to blaze a path to a better life prompted Jones-Caldwell to enroll at the University of Central Arkansas. As a student at UCA, she was a member of Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Inc., the biology club and a resident assistant of a dorm. Each of those activities revolved around service to the community and was a prelude to the next stage of life for Jones-Caldwell, who earned a degree in biology in 1993.
Following college, she eventually began working for a UAMS clinic. However, Jones-Caldwell was not using her degree.
While working at the clinic, she crossed paths with a lady who was attending the College of Public Health. The individual ultimately introduced her to public health and the college. In the process, she gave Jones-Caldwell a life-changing charge.
“She challenged me to look into taking a course,” Jones-Caldwell said. “That was in 2004. I decided to enroll as a certificate student. Four years later, I graduated with an MPH in health behavior and health education. Six months after that, I became the first full-time recruiter for the college. Three years into my role as recruiter, I applied for the Dr.PH program. I finished the Dr.PH program in 2020.
“During that journey, I’ve learned that all health really is public health.”
Jones-Caldwell, the mother of three, appreciates how the college positioned her to assist people throughout Arkansas.
“Going to the College of Public Health is one of the best decisions I ever made,” she said. “It made me a better person, a better parent, and it prepared me to be the best professional that I could possibly be. Public health has a focus on prevention and health promotion, which helps people make choices that lead to a better lifestyle. Public health has a ripple effect of positivity.”