Faith Otchere Ph.D. ’25 Discusses her ACLS Leading Edge Fellowship

Otchere is working at the Rhode Island nonprofit Sojourner House.

By Jessica Weiss ’05

As a doctoral student in communication, Faith Otchere often wondered how the research skills she was developing could make an impact beyond academia. 

Her dissertation examined how Ghanaian immigrant women in the United States communicated about their maternal health experiences, and documented their encounters with racism, neglect and other challenges in the health care system. The work deepened her desire to address the problems she was learning about.

“I thought, ‘how can I bring that theory we learn in the classroom to life?’” she said. “How do you apply it in an organizational setting to help real people?”

Now, as an American Council of Learned Societies (ACLS) Leading Edge fellow, she’s exploring one answer.

Otchere is in her second year as strategic communications and research director at Sojourner House, a Rhode Island nonprofit serving survivors of domestic violence, sexual assault and human trafficking. The two-year ACLS fellowship supports outstanding recent Ph.D.s in the humanities and social sciences as they join the staff of organizations advancing justice and equity in communities across the United States. 

At Sojourner House, Otchere is bringing research skills honed during her Ph.D. directly into the organization. She developed surveys and interviewed clients, staff, donors and community partners to assess perceptions of the organization and identify ways it can better serve its communities. She has also helped create research protocols that guide staff in collecting, protecting and analyzing qualitative data — resources designed to remain useful after her fellowship ends.

Working more closely with the people whose experiences inform her research has been particularly meaningful, she said. At Sojourner House, she sees how the organization helps survivors access shelter, housing, food and other resources.

“The ability to take them out of that situation and help them rebuild their lives,” she said. “That was the satisfying part of me going out there, leaving the classroom and being in the field. Sometimes you have to be in the field to actually understand what people are going through.”

Beyond research, Otchere has developed communications strategies for Sojourner House’s 50th anniversary, helped the nonprofit better understand its different audiences and worked to raise awareness of its services among potential supporters.

Originally from Ghana, Otchere came to UMD as a Flagship Fellow after earning a master’s degree in communication and development studies at Ohio University. She said she has long been drawn to communication because of its capacity to change behavior, foster dialogue and solve problems.

She credits the Department of Communication at UMD with providing strong mentorship and a sense of community. She first learned about the ACLS opportunity through a departmentwide email sent to students by Assistant Professor Briana Barner.

The fellowship has expanded Otchere’s sense of where her training can lead, she said. Although she has enjoyed working outside academia, she also misses teaching and hopes eventually to return to the classroom, bringing firsthand experience of putting communication theory into practice. She’s also training to become a hospital corpsman — or enlisted medical specialist — in the U.S. Navy, a role that involves assisting health care professionals in caring for Navy personnel and their families.

“I’m so grateful to ACLS for the opportunity to get out there,” she said. “I think it’s really valuable to go try other things — try corporate, try nonprofits, try industry. Then you know what you like and don’t like.” 

Photo courtesy of Faith Otchere.