Board of Directors

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  • Sonia founded UAID to empower students to eliminate health inequities in their own communities in partnership with local organizations. She runs a consulting firm, Strategic Health Innovations, through which she has tackled some of the most pressing public health challenges of today for organizations ranging from Johns Hopkins University to the Maryland Department of Health to the World Health Organization. Sonia is a graduate of Yale University, Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, and MIT Sloan School of Management.

    sonia@uaid.org

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  • Haley is passionate about using research and education to increase health equity. She has worked with numerous organizations, both locally and globally, on community health interventions. With a specific interest in reproductive health, Haley has collaborated with partners in disproportionally affected communities to reduce adverse reproductive health outcomes through education, preventative screenings, and clinical trials. Haley was drawn to UAID because of the community centered approach and emphasis on research driven health initiatives. In her free time, she enjoys running on the beach, trying new matcha cafes, and traveling with her family. Haley is a graduate of Duke University and is pursuing her medical degree at the David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA.

    haley@uaid.org

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  • Nadia is currently pursuing a Master’s Degree in Biophysics, with a concentration in pharmacology at Georgetown University. In the future, she hopes to pursue a MD and care for young patients in the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU) as a neonatologist. Nadia is passionate about all aspects of health equity, empowering communities to champion their needs, and public health education.

    nadia@uaid.org

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  • Nandita is currently earning her Master's degree at the University of Maryland - Baltimore. She is interested in pursuing a a career in medicine and hopes to attend medical school. During her time as an undergraduate student at the University of Maryland - College Park, she volunteered at a women's clinic which sparked her interest in health inequities. Nandita is passionate about increasing preventative care and health literacy. She was compelled to join UAID because of its community project model and direct impact in communities around the country. Outside of her career goals, she enjoys reading, painting, and spending time with her dog.

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  • Hemen is a first-year Master of Public Health student at the University of California, Berkeley, concentrating in Health Policy and Management. She first discovered her passion for public health through her work with the Center for Healthy Communities, an organization affiliated with the UC Riverside School of Medicine that advances research to improve the health of medically underserved, culturally diverse, and economically marginalized communities in the Inland Empire.
    At CHC, Hemen contributed to the Black Health Equity Initiative, where she helped organize a workshop series that reached more than 100 community members and equipped them with tools to better advocate for their health. Building on this experience, she pursued an undergraduate honors capstone project at UC Riverside, completing a two-year study examining the impact of Medicaid expansion on Black–White disparities in augmented income poverty. This work expanded with her co-authors after graduation, and is currently under revision for publication in the Milbank Quarterly.
    Eager to further explore the social determinants of health, Hemen was selected as a CDC Lewis Scholar through the UCLA Public Health Scholars Training Program. During her program, she was placed at the UCLA Trauma Recovery Center, an outpatient clinic, where she supported outreach to underserved populations affected by trauma, including depression, interpersonal violence, and PTSD, connecting them with state-funded mental health resources.
    Looking ahead, Hemen aspires to contribute to public health initiatives in her home country, applying a global perspective and a strong commitment to equity. Beyond her academic and professional pursuits, she enjoys traveling, hiking, going to the gym, trying new foods, and exploring new experiences.

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  • Kari Hill is a Master of Public Health student in Applied Epidemiology with a certificate in Disaster Management at the University of North Carolina at the Gillings School of Global Public Heath at Chapel Hill. She is currently an intern with UAID, where she contributes to advancing public health initiatives and advocacy. Kari’s long-term goal is to earn a Doctor of Public Health (DrPH) in Policy and Leadership and pursue a career with global organizations such as the CDC, the United Nations, or the World Health Organization.

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  • Amithi is currently an undergraduate at Boston University studying Neuroscience and Public Health. She found an interest in public health after preparing and leading a workshop on healthcare discrimination and medical racism. Through that experience she learned the realities and issues within the current healthcare system. Through being a part of UAID she wants to keep working towards fixing healthcare disparities, allow all people access to proper medical care, and create accesible and comprehensive public health resources through writing. Amithi plans to pursue and MD PhD after finishing college, combining her interests in research and medicine. In her free time she loves painting, crafting, and playing the cello., crafting, and playing the cello.


Board of Advisors

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  • Peter L. Holtgrave, MA, MPH (he/him) is the Associate Director of Health Promotion Programs at the National Council on Aging (NCOA), where he strengthens the capacity of community-based organizations to implement and sustain evidence-based health promotion and disease prevention programs for older adults and adults with disabilities. With more than 20 years of experience in public health and community development, Peter has previously led national programs, including at the National Association of County and City Health Officials (NACCHO), The OASIS Institute, and the Boston Public Health Commission, and has managed the evaluation of the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation’s Healthy Kids, Healthy Communities demonstration project. His work advances health and community well-being through performance and systems improvement, workforce and leadership development, and the designing and scaling of innovative, data-driven programs and services.

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  • Lisa Howley is an Educational Psychologist and Senior Director for Transforming Medical Education at the Association of American Medical Colleges. She joined the AAMC in 2016 and currently leads a diverse portfolio and multiple teams to advance the continuum of medical education, support experiential learning, and curricular transformation across its member institutions and their clinical partners. Under her leadership and vision, the long-standing national initiative FRAHME (pronounced ‘frame’) was born and built which is designed to realize the Fundamental Role of Arts and Humanities at improving the practice, education, and wellbeing of medical learners and practicing physicians. Prior to her national role, she spent eight years as the Associate DIO and AVP of Medical Education and Physician Development for Carolinas HealthCare System, one of the largest independent academic medical centers in the U.S. In that role, she led several medical education initiatives across the professional development continuum, including graduate medical education accreditation, as well as physician leadership development for the large integrated healthcare system. She holds an adjunct faculty appointment at the University of North Carolina School of Medicine. She began her career as a member of the medical education faculty at the University of Virginia School of Medicine where she designed and led performance-based assessments and simulationenhanced curricula. She received her bachelor's degree in psychology from the University of Central Florida, and both her M.Ed. and Ph.D. in Educational Psychology from the University of Virginia.

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  • As Associate Director of the Interprofessional Education Collaborative (IPEC), Shelley McKearney collaborates with IPEC’s 22 member associations to develop initiatives, resources, and events that position member schools and programs in successful, evidencebased teaching and learning for collaborative practice. At IPEC, Ms. McKearney is involved in facilitating a variety of projects including the 2021-2023 Core Competencies revision and interprofessional education and patient care scoping literature review, as well as the development of faculty institutes and interprofessional leadership program. She also serves as a member of the IPEC Planning and Advisory Committee and as Secretary on the IPEC Board of Directors. Previously, Ms. McKearney was a Program Manager at the American www.uaid.org Association of Colleges of Nursing (AACN). At AACN, she helped coordinate Quality and Safety Education for Nurses (QSEN) faculty development grants from the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation and the Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation and assisted with AACN’s 2016 innovative report, Advancing Healthcare Transformation: A New Era for Academic Nursing. Prior to AACN, Shelley executed international events and teleconferences as Member Forums Coordinator at Frontier Strategy Group, a market intelligence and advisory firm for global business professionals. Ms. McKearney earned a Bachelor of Arts in Diplomacy and International Relations from Seton Hall University.

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  • Tracie Seward is passionate about helping students find their path to a meaningful career in public health. As the Senior Director for Educational Pathways and Undergraduate Education for the Association of Schools and Programs of Public Health (ASPPH), she oversees student pathways to public health, from awareness of the field to career entry, through the brands This Is Public Health (TIPH), SOPHAS and Public Health Jobs. Additionally, she oversees the Undergraduate Network for Academic Public Health. Prior to her role at ASPPH, Tracie worked in admissions, alumni relations, and legal recruiting, giving her a unique perspective of the student journey to career readiness, including the places where there are opportunities for enhancements. Tracie received her Master of Arts in Education and Human Development – Higher Education Administration (MA) from The George Washington University and her Bachelor of Arts (BA) in Psychology from the University of Virginia. She is currently a DrPH student at The George Washington University Milken Institute School of Public Health, where she is focused on how academic public health institutions can improve both the health of their local communities and the diversification of the field by providing education in public health to K12 students. When not at work or school, you can find Tracie with her husband and two boys, usually at an O’s or travel baseball game. Or you might find her writing, dreaming up new businesses, planning adventures or renovating her home.