Board of Directors
Jessica A. Jolly
MHA, MPH, NBC-HWC, CHES, CLSSGB
President of the Board of Directors
Jessica Jolly is a Detroit native and passionate Public Health and Healthcare Administrator with over 15 years of experience in healthcare management, executive leadership, healthcare operations, teaching, and health coaching.
Jessica currently serves as Senior Director of Operations and Workforce Development for HealthEfficient, a Health Center Controlled Network (HCCN) serving 50 Federally Qualified Health Centers (FQHCs) across the country and in the Pacific Islands. Jessica’s previous executive leadership roles include serving as the Chief Organizational Development Officer for Foremost Family Health Centers, Chief Operating Officer for SWLA Center for Health Services, and the Bureau Director of Regional and Clinical Operations for the Louisiana Department
of Health where she was responsible for 700 employees, a $35 million budget, and the operations and management of 64 public health clinics, 9 regional public health offices, nursing services, and pharmacies throughout Louisiana.
Teaching Kindergarten, 1st grade, and 5th grade in inner city Atlanta, GA as a 2008 Teach For America Corps Member, ignited her passion for eliminating health disparities and achieving health equity. Jessica is ardent about providing care to underserved communities through culturally sensitive leadership, strong public health infrastructure, access to primary care, school-based healthcare, and care coordination. Jessica was selected as a 2016 Public Health Hero by Research America for her efforts to raise Public Health awareness. Jessica is an active member of the National Association of Health Services Executives and serves on several local boards including the City of Dallas MLK Jr. Center Advisory Board, InnerCity Community Development Corporation, Eva’s Closet, Queen City Neighborhood Association, and Children’s Bread Ministry.
Jessica is also passionate about health and wellness as evidenced by her becoming a National Board-Certified Health and Wellness Coach, a Certified Health Education Specialist, and the Founder and CEO of Nourish & Flourish, LLC, a boutique health coaching, training, and consulting practice. Jessica is a Certified Lean Six Sigma Green Belt and applies her love for process improvement whenever possible. She earned her Bachelors of Arts in Psychology with a minor in Spanish from the University of Michigan, her Early Childhood Education teaching certification from Georgia State University, and her Master of Health Administration and Master of Public Health in Health Behavior Health Promotion from The Ohio State University.
Good Health Family Healing Center
Here to inspire change, nurture resilience, and foster a community of wellness.
Patty Rodriguez
Patty Rodriguez brings over 15 years of administrative healthcare experience in both the nonprofit and private sectors. She is passionate about community service and dedicated to public health.
Born in El Salvador and raised in San Francisco, she is familiar with the changing demographics and needs of her community. Through her work, Patty is committed to addressing the economic and social conditions and influences responsible for health inequities in the most vulnerable populations of San Francisco. Patty sees the direct link between nutrition and preventing disease and believes that in teaching people how to make healthier food choices, it can have such a ripple effect in communities, especially in areas where access to healthy food might be limited.
Patty is the COO at Richmond Area Multi-Services, Inc. (RAMS) and is also a small business owner in San Francisco. Patty holds a Master of Public Health and Bachelor of Public Administration from the University of San Francisco. She is a mom of two and enjoys music, dance, and being surrounded by her family.
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Angela Green, Esq
Angela is a Foreclosure Prevention Project Manager and HUD-certified Housing Counselor at North Mississippi Legal Service (NMRLS). She has been in that position for the past six years and assists clients with loss mitigation applications and counsels them on a variety of housing-related issues. Previously, Angela specialized in immigration law and helped hundreds of non-citizens, and their family members obtain legal status in the United States. Angela holds a B.A. from the University of California at Davis and obtained her JD at Hastings Law School with a certificate in Public Interest Law. She is admitted to practice law in California and Mississippi. Angela has a passion for growing herbs and spices. In her spare time, she enjoys working on her small herb farm.
Karuna Leary Psy.D
My name is Karuna Leary Psy.D. I bring 20+ years experience working as a Clinical Psychologist in communities impacted by racial disparity, including Atlanta, Denver, and Marin City, California. I initially focused on families and teenagers, but moved into adult work focused on Anxiety, Depression and Posttraumatic Disorder (PTSD) upon starting the Behavioral Health program as a part of the Marin City Health and Wellness Center (MCHWC). It was during this time that I had the opportunity to work with and learn from the leadership of Ms. JayVon Muhammad. In our partnership, we continually witnessed the healthcare system’s failed offerings of health that would never produce “thriving” communities. Ms. Muhammad was continually approaching these issues and guiding us to approach them with new eyes. If the current system doesn’t work, then be creative and develop things that will.
When Ms. JayVon asked me to be a part of this project, I immediately said, “yes.” When looking at the 6 Pillars of Health, these vital areas are essential to individuals and communities being empowered and finding their strengths and supports in transcending their current situation. This empowerment when combined with a healthcare system that promotes collaboration and whose focus is to create “thriving” individuals and communities is the way to truly promote health. I am excited to be a part of a group looking to combine ideas, wisdom and creativity to develop new ways to teach about health and offer new visions of what healthcare looks like when ‘health” is the main focus.
Dr. Karuna Leary graduated with a PsyD in Clinical Psychology from the Georgia School of Professional Psychology in Atlanta GA. Pre-doctorate hours in inner-city Atlanta and Denver at Child and Family sites. Post-doctorate work at Kaiser Permanente in Santa Rosa, CA. Licensed in California since 2011. Started the Behavioral Health program at Marin City Health and Wellness Center (MCHWC) 2011, served as Director of BH for several years. Started 14th year as Clinical Psychologist at MCHWC December 2024
Dr. Lasha Pierce
OB-GYN
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Dr. Lasha Pierce is an Oakland California native who has served her community for nearly two decades. She attended Oakland High School as a teen, earned her Bachelor of Science in Physiology from San Francisco State University, and
ultimately her medical degree from the University of California at Irvine. Her specialty training in Obstetrics in Gynecology was at Kaiser San Francisco and she also received midwifery training from community midwives in the Bay area. Dr. Pierce is married, the second of seven children and mother to three adult human beings. She is also now a grandmother.
Dr. Pierce is a staunch community advocate and is dedicated to improving healthcare quality, patient safety and eliminating healthcare disparities. She served the Oakland community as an OB/GYN physician at Highland for 21 years and held several leadership roles during that time including UCSF Medical student OB/GYN Clerkship Site Coordinator, Interim Department Chair, Division Chief of Gynecology and Co-Director of the Women’s clinic. She also worked to provide care for incarcerated women at various jails, including Santa Rita for 10 years. Dr. Pierce is dedicated to and enjoys mentoring and teaching other providers of healthcare as well. To that end Dr. Pierce collaborates with community midwives on best practice development, is volunteer clinical faculty at UCSF where she teaches medical students, served as faculty and Highland site Director for Kaiser OB/GYN residents and served as the founder and director of the Women’s Reproductive Health Equity Fellowship at Alameda Health System.
Dr. Pierce continues to serve the Bay Area community as an OB/GYN provider at Baywell Health, a FQHC dedicated to the improvement of healthcare outcomes in the African American community in Oakland and beyond.
Additional Board Members
Marlenea Watkins
Secretary
Lisa Sonnier
Treasurer
Patricia Rodriguez
Karuna Leary, PsyD
Dadisi Najib
Rolanda Wilkins
Demetrius Dillard
Demetrius Dillard, Sr. brings over 18 years of healthcare technology and management experience to Aspire, emphasizing health equity and non-bias technology integration. As Vice President of Information Systems and Technology, he ensures the security, accessibility, and reliability of Aspire’s data systems while fostering unbiased workflows in cloud platforms, communication systems, and databases. With degrees from Purdue and Western Governors University, Dillard is committed to advancing equitable, secure, and efficient healthcare technology solutions. He actively contributes to several technology developers as a Customer Advisory Board member, Indiana’s cybersecurity committee, and the Indiana Security & Privacy Network. In addition to this Dillard works to ensure that public health partners with clinical care organizations through Indiana by serving as the Data Analytics Committee Chair for the Indiana Council state association.