Director, CHEER and Director and Co-Founder, CHEERing
Focus: CHEER Direction.
Previous/Other Current Work: Director of Communities and Hospitals Advancing Maternity Practices (CHAMPS); Associate Professor of Pediatrics at the Boston University Chobanian & Avedisian School of Medicine; Associate Professor of Community Health Sciences at the Boston University School of Public Health. She was previous Director of The Breastfeeding Center at Boston Medical Center; Consultant to numerous Native American tribes via the Rocky Mountain Tribal Epidemiology Center, and former consultant to the US Department of Health and Human Services’ Indian Health Service; Editor in Chief of the Journal of Human Lactation. She currently consults for the World Health Organization and UNICEF.
Fun Fact: Owns a pit bull and raises chickens and ducks at home.
Focus: Maternal and Child Health Epidemiology and Quality Improvement.
Previous/Other Current Work: Project Manager, Massachusetts NeoQIC Human Milk Collaborative; Quality Improvement Data Coordinator, Department of Neonatology, Boston Medical Center; Teaching assistant at both Boston University School of Public Health and Tufts University.
Activities of Choice: I love to cook and garden. I also love the outdoors and spending time with friends and family.
Fun Fact: My dog, Penne Pasta, is so cute she’s caused a traffic accident. She also knows how to sit, roll over, and shake.
Previous/Other Current Work: Finance & IT Manager, Guardian for Unaccompanied Minors, Personal Assistant, and Food & Lifestyle Blogger. She has worked with refugee populations in Greece since 2015. She directs several programmatic aspects of the CHEERing Program. Airinie also leads educational sessions and trainings for beneficiaries about breastfeeding, sexual health, nutrition, and infant development.
Activities of Choice: I love to cook. I hike sometimes and play the piano when I have free time. Amateur photographer.
Fun Fact: I can play the ukulele, and love to sing and dance. Occasionally all of them at the same time.
Previous/Other Current Work: Farzana has a mathematics diploma and studied first aid and pharmacology in Iran. She coordinates most of CHEERing’s programmatic work including the foundation-funded Sportnet project and Grow Clinics at Malakasa and Thiba refugee camps. She is CHEERing Afghanistan’s liaison. Farzana is also a peer counselor and Farsi interpreter.
Focus: Community Health, Refugee Health, Communications, and Health Equity; Certificates in Community Assessment, Program Design, Implementation, and Evaluation (CAPDIE) and Health Communication & Promotion
Previous/Other CurrentWork: Mariah previously supported immigrant and refugee populations in Boston as the Social Media & Communications Specialist and Patient Advisory Council Coordinator at Boston Medical Center’s Immigrant & Refugee Health Center. She also worked as a communications specialist for the nonprofit Nature and Culture International, promoting environmental and community health in Mexico and South America. Mariah is currently CHEERing’s first ever fellow, coordinating various aspects of CHEERing’s preventative health program in Greece.
Activities of Choice: Hiking; Gardening; Cooking; Traveling; Spending Time with Friends and Family.
Fun Fact: I absolutely love animals! Probably because I grew up in a household with 10+ pets…
Focus: Community Health and Health Equity; Current MPH student at BUSPH in Community Assessment, Program Design, Implementation and Evaluation (CAPDIE) and Maternal and Child Health.
Previous/Other CurrentWork: Kathryn currently works at Boston University as a Teaching Fellow for undergraduate public health courses. She previously interned for Mattapan Food and Fitness Coalition, a non-profit promoting food equity and health in Mattapan, MA.
Activities of Choice: Playing Guitar and Bass; Knitting; Watching Movies with Friends; Cooking.
Fun Fact: I love live music, I went to over 20 concerts this year!
Previous/Other Current Work: Fereidon studied literature and played football for 25 years as a player, referee and coach. He directs the CHEERing Football Club and co-manages CHEERing Afghanistan.
Activities of Choice: Football
Fun Fact: I am a native of Afghanistan who lived in Iran for 38 years, and currently lives in Greece.
Focus: Human Rights, Refugee Rights, Women’s Rights, Children’s Rights, International Law, Humanitarian Law, Humanitarian Aid, Political Science, International Relations.
Previous/Other Current Work: Willow previously worked with a local NGO in Liverpool, UK, supporting the integration of refugees into the community, focusing on teaching English, and aiding with legal processes. She also worked as a benefits advisor for vulnerable communities in Liverpool, in particular those living with brain conditions. Willow is also currently completing a Master’s Thesis on Women’s Rights in Refugee Camps. At CHEERing in Greece, Willow is a Team Leader, involved in all aspects of field work, as well as organising and orienting new volunteers.
Activities of Choice: Bouldering; Traveling; Cooking; Learning languages.
Fun Fact: I am a qualified Cheerleading Coach and have competed nationally in various dance competitions across the UK.
Focus: Maternal and child global health, and health policy and law.
Previous/Other Current Work: Medical student at Rush Medical College; Co-founded the Rush Advocacy and Medical Policy organization at Rush University Medical Center; Received a B.S. in Health Science and a Master of Public Health degree in Health Law and Policy and Global Health from Boston University; Previously a Global Health Research Assistant for BUSPH on topics such as health challenges for Eastern European migrants and best communication practices in HIV/AIDS treatment; Provided research support at the Epidemiology COVID-19 Response Corps, BUSPH Global Health Department, the Take Back the Court Epidemiology Commission, and Health Education Teacher in the Boston Public School System.
Activities of Choice: Traveling, reading, and getting outside.
Fun Fact: I am a big history fan, and can recite all the kings and queens of England in chronological order!
Focus: Disease Surveillance, Rural Health Equity, and Community Health
Previous/Other Current Work: Prior to pursuing her MPH at Boston University School of Public Health, Kelsey served as an AmeriCorps VISTA in the Utah Department of Health and supported several programs that increased health access to veterans and rural Utahns. She completed her MPH practicum with the Maryland Department of Health as a Healthcare Transformation Intern where she designed a project to increase diabetes prevention and management resource utilization by Maryland primary care practices. She also works as a HealthMap intern with Boston Children’s Hospital to bring together disparate data sources for real time disease outbreak monitoring.
Activities of Choice:Hiking, baking, gardening, and cuddling with her cats.
Fun Fact: Since highschool, Kelsey has never visited anywhere she has moved prior to the day she actually moved in.
Focus: Community training, education and support. Community includes: healthcare professionals, the business and academic centers and organizations, mothers, babies and families.
Previous/Other Current Work: Nurse practitioner and president and CEO of Reaching Our Sisters Everywhere in Atlanta, GA.
Activities of Choice: Providing resources for healthcare providers, mothers and their families so that breastfeeding can be initiated and maintained, especially in marginalized and vulnerable communities.
Focus: Serves as content expert as a physician with breastfeeding medicine expertise as well as quality improvement and research experience. Also provides expertise as a clinical educator and program developer.
Previous/Other Current Work: Lori Feldman-Winter, M.D., MPH, is a breastfeeding medicine expert known for her expertise in physician education, policy, and public health interventions.
Activities of Choice: Besides working as a pediatrician, quality improvement content expert and researcher, I am a co-course director for a novel 4-year medical school curriculum, “The Scholars Workshop.” In my free time, I enjoy family vacations, skiing, hiking, and escaping to my home-away-from-home in the Berkshires.
Fun Fact: As an undergraduate, I was a combined biology and fine arts major, and continue to enjoy painting and decorating.
Focus: With over 20 years providing lactation-related training programs in every U.S. State, Cathy is passionate about educating health care professionals who work with new families. She is co-director of Every Mother, Inc., a nonprofit organization based in Mississippi that develops breastfeeding training curricula for Federal agencies such as the national USDA WIC program and the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. She developed the CHAMPS 4-hour competency training for hospitals and provides it for CHAMPS hospitals in Mississippi.
Previous/Other Current Work: She is the former State WIC Breastfeeding Coordinator for the Mississippi State Department of Health, former Training and Outreach Coordinator for Best Start Social Marketing (which developed the national WIC marketing campaign, Loving Support Makes Breastfeeding Work), and a former university public relations director.
Activities of Choice: Photography, presentation design, travel, teaching, and meeting the most amazing people who work with new families!
Fun Fact: Mom of 5 healthy breastfed children and Nana to 5 breastfed grandchildren.
Mississippi Delta Community and Hospital Consultant, CHAMPS
Focus: Breastfeeding Education in Communities and Hospital Maternity Staff.
Other Current Work: Mississippi State Department of Health Region 1 Breastfeeding Coordinator. Formerly a Hospital, Nursing Home, and Head Start Social Worker.
Activities of Choice: Attending church and spending time with family and friends by gathering together socializing, traveling and going out to eat.
Fun Fact: I am the biological mother of 6, step mother of 3, and grandmother of 2.
Focus: Indigenous Breastfeeding Counselor Training and American Indian/Alaska Native and Pacific Island/Native Hawaiian Outreach.
Previous/Other Current Work: Camie is Founding Executive Director and Doula and Lactation Consultant of Hummingbird Indigenous Family Services. She also serves as Founder and Managing Director of Indigenous Lactation Counselor.
Focus: Statistical analyses for causal inference, analysis of linked administrative data in health research, evaluation research, population maternal and child health, and maternal and child health policies.
Other Current Work: Assistant Professor of Community Health Sciences; Research Scientist at Manitoba Centre for Health Policy; Instructor for graduate course in Epidemiology at University of Manitoba; Member of Executive Counsel for International Society for Research in Human Milk and Lactation; Scientific Chair of Breastfeeding for the Annual Meeting of the American Public Health Association; Member of Board of Directors for Sexuality Education Resource Centre of Manitoba.
Activities of Choice: I enjoy backpacking, rock climbing, sailing, cross country skiing, and snowshoeing.
Fun Fact: The first date that I had with my spouse involved a road trip across five states to go to a waterski competition in which I was competing. At the end of the weekend, we figured, if we could survive a road trip across five states as a first date, we should give dating a go. We’ve been together for 10 years!
Executive Assistant, Interpreter and Cultural Mediator, CHEERing
Focus: Teaching and Community Service.
Previous/Other Current Work: Originally from DRC, Papy studied pedagogy at school and further studies in commercial sciences. He worked on his father’s farm from 2008 to 2015 as a sales negotiator.
Activities of Choice: Learning Greek.
Fun Fact: I speak 4 languages and I am the father of a breastfed baby.
Grow Clinic Peer Counselor and Interpreter, CHEERing
Focus: Breastfeeding and French and Lingala Interpretation Services.
Previous/Other Current Work: Studied Nursing for three years in the DRC and had internships at various health institutions, including the Red Cross Hospital, Kinshasa General Hospital, and Mother & Child Center of Kinshasa. She works at all of CHEERing’s clinic locations with a focus on community-based breastfeeding support in Athens.
Fun Fact: I go to church every Sunday and love to sing gospel songs. I love drama and historic films, and love to cook especially regional African food.
Focus: Pharmaceuticals, Toxicology, and Translation Services.
Previous/Other Current Work: Rana volunteered for four years with the Syrian Arab Red Crescent as a Medical Logistics Officer and as hygiene promoter in camps for IDPs (Internally Displaced Persons). She holds a master’s degree in Disaster Management with the University of Nicosia, Cyprus, and is currently completing a master’s in Toxicology in Germany. Rana previously worked in person for CHEERing in Athens, Greece and now volunteers remotely from Germany.
Focus: Maternal and Child Health Care and Midwife Services.
Previous/Other Current Work: Samana is a university-trained midwife employed at the Herat Public Hospital. She is leading on-the-ground efforts to enhance the CHEERing Afghanistan Program in Herat. She is identifying high-need mothers to attend the Grow Clinic. Samana and other professionals are weighing and measuring babies, giving vaccinations, checking women postpartum, and providing breastfeeding support as well as promoting a safe women-only environment.
Previous/Other Current Work: Somaye is an Afghan-trained doctor at the Herat Public Hospital. She co-manages the CHEERing Afghanistan Program and provides support in the Grow Clinic.
Focus: Maternal and Child Health Care and Midwife Services.
Previous/Other Current Work: Basira works as a midwife at a pubic hospital in Herat. She supports CHEERing Afghanistan’s program leaders to enhance the program and provides support in Herat’s Grow Clinic.
Previous/Other Current Work: Alina holds an MD degree from Afghanistan. She previously worked as a junior doctor volunteer and as an interpreter in Athens, Greece. She left Afghanistan with her parents after the August 2021 crisis and ended up staying several months in Greece. She is CHEERing’s clinical team lead and guide for all medical matters.
Focus: Maternal and Child Health Support and Office Management.
Previous/Other Current Work: Tareq previously studied nursing in his home country of Afghanistan. He is passionate about combatting poverty, maternal mortality, and malnutrition in Afghanistan. He currently manages the CHEERing office in Herat. Tareq collaborates with CHEERing Afghanistan’s program leaders and coordinator to address health issues and provide critical maternal-child health support.
Previous/Other Current Work: Hamideh became a certified football coach after completing the two-day SportNet methodology training by the Barca Foundation. For CHEERing, she escorts children to and from training, assists coaches on the field, helps at cooking and nutrition classes, and provides supervision and support to all children involved with CHEERing’s activities.
Focus: Child and maternal health and mental health.
Previous/Other Current Work: Chika holds an MSc in Global Health & Development from the University College London and a BSc in Biology and Psychology from the University of Toronto. Having had several early career experiences with a diversity of NGOs, she hopes to continue a career advocating for the health and well-being of the most vulnerable.
