Isaac Lama, Community Outreach Representative, CHOICE SelectHealth
“It’s been a wonderful opportunity to grow, lead, and rally the troops to make a real difference for the population we serve.”
When Isaac Lama first interviewed with SelectHealth and learned the details about the role and the populations it served, it was love at first sight—he knew immediately that this was the job for him. “I loved the idea of working with an underserved community; I recall telling the hiring manager ‘I’m not sure if you will hire me for this position but I’ll take it!’,” he says. “Since then, I’ve been humbled to learn about and connect with transgender and gender-nonconforming people, people experiencing homelessness, and individuals living with HIV. Through networking and outreach I’ve been deeply impacted by their many life experiences.”
In a nutshell, Isaac’s role involves trying to engage prospective members and enroll them in the SelectHealth plan, but—as with everything else he does—he goes above and beyond, taking every opportunity to learn and teach, managing SelectHealth’s social media pages, planning health fairs, initiating the hiring of two transgender outreach workers on the team, and even producing swag—including condoms—branded with the SelectHealth logo. Being a cisgender male has never been a barrier or an issue for Isaac in starting a conversation or reaching out to people in the community. It’s about genuine care and respect, from learning about each person’s unique situation to making sure providers use the correct pronouns. If he doesn’t know something, he says, he never hesitates to ask, listen, and learn.
“I have lots of ideas, which made me a pain in the butt in prior jobs, but here at VNSNY my suggestions are taken into consideration and I feel so useful! It’s been a wonderful opportunity to grow, lead, and rally the troops to make a real difference for the population we serve,” says Isaac. “A lot of my passion is inspired by my five-year-old daughter. I want to help create a better world for her—and I want her to be proud of her dad.”
