Kimberly Pettigrew, director of healthy communities for United Way of Greater Knoxville (UWGK), has been selected by the prestigious Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health as a Bloomberg Fellow beginning in August 2026.
Pettigrew is the first fellow selected from Tennessee to enter the Doctor of Public Health Program at Johns Hopkins through the Bloomberg Fellows Program.
“I am full of gratitude to receive this fellowship and proud to represent United Way of Greater Knoxville in this national program,” Pettigrew said. “This opportunity will strengthen the work we’re doing in East Tennessee to improve community health outcomes through collaboration, research and systems change.”
The program is part of the new Bloomberg American Health Initiative, which aims to improve health and save lives in the United States.
“Kimberly’s selection as a Bloomberg Fellow is a well-deserved recognition of her contributions to building healthy communities in East Tennessee,” said Chrystal Armstrong Brown, president and CEO of UWGK. “Her work has helped strengthen partnerships and advance solutions that improve lives across our region. United Way of Greater Knoxville is excited about the opportunity to further enhance the impact of our work by joining the national, public health dialogue.”
Pettigrew joined UWGK in August 2021 as director of food systems and now leads the organization’s healthy communities portfolio. In this role, she directs community-engaged research, collective impact initiatives and grant-funded partnerships across university and hospital systems, community-based providers and neighborhood leaders in East Tennessee.
In an email to inform Pettigrew of her selection, Joshua Sharfstein, director of Bloomberg American Health Initiative, said, “The Bloomberg Fellows Program will reshape how our nation approaches some of the most complex challenges affecting public health. You will be at the leading edge of this change.”
The Bloomberg Fellows Program is a national initiative that provides public health training to individuals in organizations working on critical challenges facing the United States. Fellows receive a full scholarship to earn a Master of Public Health (MPH) or Doctor of Public Health (DrPH) degree from the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health.
Pettigrew earned a bachelor’s degree in nutrition from the University of Tennessee in 2009. In 2025, she earned a Master of Arts in applied community development from Future Generations University.
As a Bloomberg Fellow, Pettigrew will combine coursework in food systems, policy, environmental health and program evaluation, bringing those tools back to UWGK in its efforts to improve health outcomes in East Tennessee.
Pettigrew is a longtime member of the Knoxville-Knox County Food Policy Council, which led the city’s food system response to the COVID-19 pandemic and partnered with the Johns Hopkins Center for a Livable Future. Under her leadership, UWGK has secured more than $2 million in grants, including its first Robert Wood Johnson Foundation grant.
She led the community-driven effort that prompted the Tennessee Department of Health to launch its Food and Nutrition Security Collaborative and secure a multi-million-dollar grant for a statewide SNAP doubling program. She has led collaborative initiatives funded through Tennessee Department of Health, Robert Wood Johnson Foundation and Healthy Food Financing Initiative.
To learn more about UWGK, visit uwgk.org
About United Way of Greater Knoxville
United Way of Greater Knoxville (UWGK) unites people and resources to strengthen communities. As part of United Way Worldwide, the largest charitable organization in the world, UWGK is dedicated to creating a community where all neighbors can thrive. For more information, visit uwgk.org.
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