Meet the Team: Avanti Godbole (Digital Media Manager)

*By the way, October is Bullying Prevention Month and LGBTQ+ History month. Help us support even more LGBTQ+ youth with authentic stories and relevant, accurate resources to support their health and wellbeing by donating to our fundraising campaign today!

My name is Avanti and I joined Real Talk as the Digital Media Manager in July 2021. I graduated from the University of Virginia in 2018 and am now an MPH Candidate at University of North Carolina Gillings School of Global Public Health with a concentration in Health Behavior. 

I first reached out to Dr. Leos because I am interested in all things adolescent health. Between puberty, menstruation, and mental health issues, adolescence is an overwhelming time! Throughout my teenage years I did not feel like I had the resources or knowledge to truly understand what changes were happening in my body, nor did I feel comfortable to talk to anyone about it in my school. For context, my high school’s take on health education and sex education was watching episodes of MTV’s Teen Mom. I really am interested in helping build an infrastructure that ensures all teens are able to get resources related to adolescent health. 

It was not until I learned more about Real Talk that I realized what a tremendous opportunity there is in digital health to increase healthcare accessibility and utilization. People want fast and reliable information pertaining to their health, and what better way to deliver it to them than right to their phones. Real Talk provides teens with vetted information about their health in a way that makes them feel supported and heard. It gives them a platform to share their stories, and feel a sense of community during a time where it is really challenging to forge those in-person bonds. 

There are countless stories in the news emphasizing the detrimental effects the pandemic has had and continues to have on adolescent mental health. Real Talk has the ability to intervene at a critical time by helping teens feel less isolated. 

I’m so excited to be on the Real Talk team and work with Dr. Leos. Her commitment to see more accessible and comprehensive adolescent health care is inspiring. As the Digital Media Manager I get the chance to create graphics for and run Real Talk’s social media accounts. Working in health communications has given me a creative outlet and has allowed me to see which messages are resonating with our teens. 

If you have any questions for me on why I love working with Real Talk feel free to message me via LinkedIn!

Avanti & the Real Talk team

P.S. There are lots of ways to support our work further – whether by donating to our fundraising campaign or partnering with us to bring Real Talk to teens in your community. Email us with any inquiries at founders@realtalkapp.com