Kelly Umaña

SENIOR MANAGER, OPERATIONS AND INNOVATION

Ms. Umaña is a public health professional with over eight years of experience in public, private, government, and non-profit settings. She has worked across multiple public health topics with expertise in implementing community-based programs and community engagement, focusing on health equity. Kelly has worked in maternal and child health, neuroscience research, community health center value-based care programs, grassroots community health worker initiatives, and migrant and preventative health.

During the pandemic, she led a team of community health workers serving our most underserved communities and those who were significantly impacted by COVID-19. At the grassroots community level, she partnered with faith-based organizations, local government, health systems, and the community to enable access to the COVID-19 vaccine, testing, and education to curb the pandemic.

Under her leadership, her team organized over 30 vaccination clinics, leading to more than 500 community members getting vaccinated. She also led a COVID-19 test hotline where she trained CHWs on how to utilize at home kits to bridge health literacy among the Latino and Immigrant populations. She has advocated the enhancement of the community health worker workforce both at the local and state level.

In October 2023, she completed a Health Equity Fellowship at the Bureau of Primary Health Care, Health Resources and Services Administration (BPHC-HRSA) and is currently enrolled in the Doctor of Public Health program at the Milken Institute of School of Public Health.

She received her Bachelor of Science in Public Health Science and Master of Public Health in Public Health Practice and Policy from the University of Maryland, College Park. She is a Certified Community Health Worker through the Maryland Department of Health and was appointed to the Maryland Department of Health, Community Health Worker Advisory Committee in 2022.