Congratulations to our 2026 Honos Civicus Honorees

Established in 2009 and administered by Tisch College, the Honos Civicus Society honors and reflects our shared commitment to civic engagement. Friedman School students are deeply passionate not only about food and health, but also about creating meaningful change through public service. Honos Civicus—Latin for “Civic Honors”—formally recognizes graduating students who have demonstrated outstanding dedication to active citizenship throughout their academic journey. Congratulations to our 2026 Honos Civicus honorees!

Camila Sanchez-Gonzalez

Camila is a recent MS/MPH graduate from the Friedman School and School of Medicine, with a focus on Nutrition Interventions, Communication, and Behavior Change (NICBC), as well as Nutrition. She is currently pursuing her Didactic Program in Dietetics (DPD) at Simmons University. Her work focuses on community and public engagement through research and student-led initiatives. As a research assistant for the USDA-funded HEART at Head Start Study, she supported health fairs across Massachusetts, conducting 24-hour dietary recalls and collecting physical health data from early childhood educators. This experience deepened her commitment to bridging research with community-centered public health. Camila also re-established the Friedman Run Club to promote physical activity and student connection within the Friedman community and across other Tufts campuses. Beyond campus, she is actively involved in the Alumni Volunteer Engagement Committee and continue to work on developing a startup, SHEFe, alongside current students and alumni, aimed at reducing maternal and infant mortality through community-centered education and food-based solutions. Following graduation, Camila has continued to pursue her DPD (Didactic Program in Dietetics) certificate at Simmons University and will begin her dietetic internship at Brigham and Women’s Hospital this fall.

Jessica Wallingford

Jess graduated from the Agriculture, Food and Environment PhD program in February 2026. During her time as a student at the Friedman School, Jess has been volunteering with Nourri-Source Montréal, an organization helping parents to meet the nutritional needs of their infants, especially through breastfeeding. Jess has worked to maintain and shape free, weekly breastfeeding clinics run in partnership with a Montréal centre local de services communautaires. These clinics are open to anyone from pregnancy through weaning, and continue to be an important resource for subsets of the population that do not otherwise have easy access to healthcare resources and professionals, including individuals waitlisted for family physicians and new arrivals to Québec who do not yet qualify for provincial healthcare.  Jess’ work has helped to address misinformation related to breastfeeding and infant nutrition, and support breastfeeding experiences that are successful and comfortable for new parents within her community.