Chef’s Best Dinner & Auction, Annual Gala
Walter E. Washington Convention Center- June 2024

Directed, planned and executed annual gala that raised $950,000 to support Food & Friends’ mission of delivering medically-tailored meals to those living with serious illnesses.

• 28 participating restaurants from around DC

• 100 volunteers & staff on-site

• 800 attendees

• 14 vendors

CUGH 2023 Global Health Conference
Washington Hilton, Washington DC

In-person April 13-16, 2023, Virtual Sessions April 3-7, 2023

This was the 4th annual conference I planned at CUGH but the first that was in-person. (Virtual 2021 and 2022, Cancelled 2020). It was really inspiring to see how CUGH connects people all over the world in global health. 150 countries were represented and speakers included ministers of health, leaders at the UN & World Bank, and doctors, researchers and directors of global health programs from most continents.

• Number of virtual satellite Sessions: 17 sessions, 1,439 attendees

• Number of in-person satellite sessions: 19 sessions (including World Health Summit and AAHCI Global Innovation Forum), 1,119 attendees

• Number of conference sessions: 8 plenaries, 45 concurrent sessions

• Number of countries represented: 150 countries represented, 67 at main conference

• Number of abstracts (posters/orals) presented at conference: 1,068 abstracts submitted, 540 accepted, 445 presented

Roger Glass, the former Director at Fogarty International Center, was the Keynote and Lifetime Achievement Award winner.

Fogarty International Center shared these articles after the conference:

• Reimagining global health: CUGH 2023 plenary panel

• At the intersection of climate change, nutrition & health

• Reducing waste and environmental impact of high-volume eye surgeries

• CUGH satellites: Mental health, climate change, equitable collaboration

Bloom Voyage, RPCV/W Annual Gala
Woolly Mammoth Theater, Washington

April 29, 2023

This was the first in-person annual gala for the Returned Peace Corps Volunteers of Washington DC since 2019. Our organization wanted an opportunity to connect the community and celebrate. This was a chance to share some of the programming that has kept this organization alive through challenging years.

I have served as president of the organization since January 2021. During this time, we have updated our mission, written Community Guidelines that acknowledge power dynamics, held discussions on saviorism, sex- and gender-based violence, racism and equity. We host approximately 60 social events each year- happy hours, bike rides, canoe trips etc. We also offer professional development and community service opportunities.

It has been a lot of work to keep this organization running through a pandemic and with the global evacuation of Peace Corps volunteers, but I am very proud of our accomplishments. You can read a summary of our work in my presidential address below.

United Nations Association Young Professionals Career Dinners- Fall & Spring 2023-2024

As a Program Officer on the Young Professionals Board of the United Nations Association of the National Capital Area, I provide event support for the semi-annual career dinners held at the United Nations Foundation in Washington DC.

PLOS Medicine Journal: A call for diversity, equity, and inclusion: Highlights from the Consortium of Universities for Global Health 2021 conference

CUGH 2021 Virtual Conference Highlights

• CUGH 2021 Keynote Interview: Dr. Anthony Fauci interviewed by Dr. Michele Barry

• CUGH 2021 Interview: Corruption and Global Health with Tom Burgis, Investigations Correspondent, Financial Times

• CUGH 2021 Interview: Resetting our Relationship with Nature: Inger Andersen, Executive Director, UN Environment Programme

• African Leaders: Addressing Critical Gaps in Global Health and Development: John Nkengasong, Director, Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (Africa CDC), Agnes Binagwaho, Former Minister of Health, Rwanda, Tlaleng Mofokeng, Special Rapporteur on the right to health, United Nations Human Rights Council, John Amuasi, Kumasi Collaborative Center for Research in Tropical Medicine

• 30 3 Hour Satellite Sessions Organized by Global Health institutions around the world: 5,000 attendees in total

• Conference Guidebook designed and edited by me.

CUGH 2020- Cancelled

CUGH 2020 was scheduled for April 2020 and was unfortunately cancelled a month out due to COVID-19.

Notable speakers included Dr. Anthony Fauci, Director of NIAID as the keynote as well as Dr. Deborah Birx, US Global AIDS Coordinator, Dr. Chikwe Ihekweazu, Director General of NCDC, Nigeria, Dr. Patty Garcia, Former Minister of Health, Peru, and many many more global health experts from around the world.

We published an eBook with select scientific presentations.

The Impact of COVID-19 in Africa & Latin America: Challenges & Opportunities

Addressing Racial and Socioeconomic Disparities in the US

Coordinated the facilitation of a 2 day workshop in Washington DC:

• promotion

• attendee communication

• catering

• procurement of all materials

• happy hour

View the session recording.

More information about the Sex- and Gender-Based Violence Town Halls Can be found here.

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• Managed logistics and communications for a multi-day conference of 300 attendees, 50 speakers, and 25 exhibitors

• Coordinated teams in Austin and Washington D.C. via zoom with thorough meeting agendas and timelines to manage projects

• Trained 20 volunteers and staff to execute event plan and keep flow and timeliness on-site

• Facilitated venue and vendor specifications for an opening reception at Austin Public Library and the 2-day conference at Etter-Harbin Alumni Center at University of Texas, Austin

• First photo: With Jody Olsen, Former Director of the Peace Corps

During my 2 years as a Peace Corps Volunteer in Tsarasambo, Madagascar, I focused on multiple projects. Every few weeks, my Malagasy Counterpart, Charlene, and I would facilitate programs to teach preventative measures for the various health problems such as Malaria, malnutrition, or diarrheal diseases in the village.

Preparation for these programs would involve:

• Creating the program with input from the doctor in the village, the mayor, the secretary at the commune, and other Community Health Workers in Tsarasambo

• Gathering lessons on the subject in Malagasy and ensuring the vocabulary was culturally appropriate and applicable to daily life

• Collecting supplies and using locally available food and products to keep the activities accessible

• Charlene would use word of mouth to ensure high participant numbers

• Working with Community Health Workers to map the village to monitor illnesses

WICE Launch Over Paris Publicity Event

• Organized annual networking and publicity launch of their spring schedule

• Conducted all business in French and English

• Visited many potential venues all over Paris

• Ultimately chose to host the event in an historic high school in the 16th Arrondissement

• Designed hot air ballon floral arrangements and other decor

WICE Social Events and Activities

• Coordinated events for members of WICE in and around the city of Paris such as picnics in the park, coffee hours, and museum outings

That one time my fundraising project for AIDS/LifeCycle was featured on Huffington Post

• Raised $3,000 for the San Francisco AIDS Foundation

• Created dress of condoms to promote AIDS awareness and fight stigma

• Bicycled 545 miles from San Francisco to Los Angeles with 2,000 cyclists in AIDS/LifeCycle 2013

California Dreaming Fundraising Gala

As President of the Fresno State Recreation Association co-chaired a fundraising gala to connect notable Recreation Administration Alumni with current students to raise funds for activities, professional development workshops, and community service initiatives.

• Solicited donations for raffle fundraiser, as well as donated food and wine

• Designed unique centerpieces to represent theme of “California Dreaming” featuring live gold fish (in treated water and released into a pond after the event)

• Managed committee of fellow students and served as a liaison with faculty, including the College Dean and Department Chair

Rollin’ With Da ‘90s: A Nostalgia Fest

• Brought students together for a warm and fuzzy escape from mid-terms

• Sourced clubs from around Fresno State to contribute booths and activities to a 1990s Nostalgia Fest

• Built a “Walk Down Memory Lane” Exhibit for students to explore and reflect on their childhoods

• Created balloon stands with toys, games, and stuffed animals from the 1990s to decorate the event

• From this project, was awarded “most creative coordinator” and most “original event idea” by University Student Union Productions, the on-campus event planning group.

In partnership with Fresno Street Saints, we put together a panel of former gang members, a retired police officer, a woman who lost her son to gang violence, a lawyer, and a Fresno State Criminology Professor to answer questions about gang violence and prevention on the streets of Fresno.

300+ students were in attendance.

Floral Design

Where technique meets creativity.

Worked as a floral assistant for 1.5 years at Fresno State Floral in Fresno, California

Projects included:

• Providing floral for a wedding at the world famous Majestic Yosemite Hotel (formerly Ahwahnee Hotel) in Yosemite National Park

• Designing corsages, boutonnières, bouquets, and center pieces for weddings in the Central Valley

• Creating large arrangements for funerals and special events

• Yielding high requests during holidays and fashioning thematic floral ornaments

• Building a floral float for the Fresno Christmas Parade with the team

While serving as President of the Fresno State Recreation Association, I chaired a gala to raise funds for scholarships and professional development activities in the field of Recreation Administration. We’d been gifted the charming event space at Wedgewood Weddings through our Vice-President, a catering manager there.

We wanted a centerpiece that represented the theme of California Dreaming and our gorgeous state. Fresno, in the heart of California, is truly at the center of everything: mountains, beaches, wine country, and agriculture. Using candelabras donated by Wedgewood, I pieced together fresh flowers, grapes and corks, shells, and live gold fish for a twist. The water was treated and the fish were added to my friend’s pond after the event. None were harmed and they made for a memorable embellishment.

When I was working on the spring publicity launch for WICE Paris, I loved the idea of hot air balloons as a theme to commemorate the first hot air balloon launch which took place over Paris in 1783… and of course, to represent our “launch.”

This vibrant concept gave me so much to work with and the great opportunity to adventure around Paris in search of materials. In my walks around Paris, I would always pass boutique floral shops filling the street corners with fragrant colors. I was nostalgic for my time working in a floral shop and had been waiting for a chance to practice with some stems again.

I knew I wanted a floral base, but what for the balloon? I took the Métro to Chinatown and found bright lanterns and baskets. I used rods and some elementary physics to support the balloons, and found floral foam to weigh it all down so they wouldn’t tip. I thoroughly enjoyed making these.

One of my first event projects in university in 2010 was working with the CFO of Fresno Street Saints, a local organization in Fresno with a mission to support families and prevent young children from falling into gang life.

The organization was holding a fundraising luncheon with a prominent speaker Gus Newport, and the Mayor of Fresno in attendance. We needed a centerpiece to distinguish the sponsor tables, but had no budget.

One day, the CFO brought me a bundle of green garden stakes and challenged me to make something of them. I stared at the twigs for a while and considered the passion of community growth that was behind Fresno Street Saints organization. I gathered smooth river rocks to weigh down the stakes, and floral garland to emerge from the stones and crawl up the stake.