Profession:

Director of Community Health and Engagement

Five Words About Me:

Passionate, Inventive, Empathetic, Engaged, Intentional

One Surprising Skill:

I can alter any recipe to make it healthier- and make it still taste good!

I can alter any recipe to make it healthier- and make it still taste good! Ruth Dudding, CHES, CHW, is the Director of Community Health and Engagement at the Athens City-County Health Department in Southeastern Ohio. Ruth received her BS from Ohio University in 1987 and never left Athens, OH. Ruth works with communities, worksites, and health systems to create policies, systems, and environmental changes to make the healthy choice, the easy choice. Economic development, connection to community, and creative problem-solving are essential elements to positive health outcomes. Through her 19 years of experience at the health department, Ruth has learned that community engagement and shared decision-making are the keys to better health outcomes. Ruth is passionate about social justice and social participation. Ruth participates in a global health community, Shaping Health, whose focus is to develop models for grassroots leadership. In her spare time, she loves to cook delicious vegan food and play music with her family.