As the youngest of five on her mother’s side and an immigrant who moved to the states when she was a year old, Nephtalie Dorceus doesn’t let anything stop her success.
Dorceus is a Lynn Public Schools alumna who is using her city upbringing to pave her way into the public healthcare world. The 25-year-old shared her story at the United Way’s Women’s Leadership Breakfast in Boston on Oct. 11, with her mother and older sister in attendance.
“It was super cool, I have a close bond with United Way,” she said. “During my undergraduate experience they were my scholarship provider and then ended up allowing me to intern with them. They really helped me learn about United Way, showed me the ropes in terms of what they do, provided me with a mentor, and helped expose me to a lot of things.”
In 2012, as a freshman in college, Dorceus received one of United Way’s Marian L. Heard Scholarships, after being nominated by her mentors at Girls Inc. of Lynn. With help from a combination of other scholarships, a huge chunk of the cost of her undergraduate education at Springfield University, where she graduated in 2016, was already paid for.
The United Way’s leadership breakfast asks a former MLH scholar to speak at the event every year it is held.
“When they reached out to me to speak at this event, I was ecstatic,” said Dorceus. “Whenever I tell my story, I always feel like I have to mention that I’m an immigrant from Haiti and I’m a product of an awesome single mother. I always tell people they can do anything they put their minds to and work hard for because nothing is going to block your light or stop your success as long as you put your right foot forward and have the right support.”
Dorceus grew up in East Lynn and attended Drewicz and Ingalls Elementary Schools, Thurgood Marshall Middle School, and Classical High School. Earlier this year, she graduated from New York University with a master’s degree from their Global Public Health Program. She has spent the last two years living in New York City and said the fast-paced environment is vastly different from what she is used to.
The mound of opportunities in the Big Apple are exactly what she needed to propel her career forward, she said, and it was the perfect place to be while starting it off. Late last year, Dorceus started her own blog, publiclysexy.com, which is a healthcare blog that focuses on the reproductive and sexual health for women of color.
“The biggest impact our current society has made is how I go about things,” she said. “It only makes me more passionate to fight the inequalities that people are fighting everyday, such as trying to get access to healthcare or just trying to get basic resources like housing.”
Since receiving her master’s, Dorceus has been working for the Institute of Advanced Medicine at Mount Sinai Hospital as program coordinator for the young adult sexual services program. She does program planning, outreach services, HIV and STI education and testing, and various healthcare related things for those part of the LGBTQ population.
Although she enjoys her work, the Lynn native has a long-term goal of opening up her own non-profit organization for women. She plans to use her background to provide proper healthcare resources for women in a low socio-economic group, women of color, and single mothers.
“If there is ever a time where young women are given a platform to be able to speak and have their voice be heard, it’s now,” said Dorceus. “I tell them their story is unique and to never be afraid to tell it because someone else may connect with it and you never know how that may impact their lives.”
