Julie Lam, founder of Mask Together America

Our guest for this episode is Julie Lam, the founder of Mask Together America, a grassroots organization that began in 2020 with a simple but powerful idea: using storytelling, art, and community engagement to promote COVID prevention, support long COVID awareness, and advocate for health equity. She's also a community representative at NIH Recover, a research initiative for recovery from Long COVID. Julie’s background spans advertising, photography, and writing — and she has brought all of those talents into her public health work, creating campaigns that center the experiences of real people while pushing for evidence-based policy and compassionate messaging.Living with autoimmune conditions herself, Julie has a deeply personal perspective on what prevention and accessibility mean, and she has emerged as a leading advocate for layered protection, long COVID support, and federal programs that ensure no one is left behind.Today we’re going to talk about her journey, the mission of Mask Together America, and the future of public health messaging.