BOARD OF DIRECTORS

BOARD CO-CHAIR, Ingrid Chiemi Schroffner is an attorney, singer-songwriter and author who joined the AWFH board in October of 2022. She served as a Co-Chair for the AWFH 10th Anniversary Celebrasians Fashion Event and the proceeds of her 2022 book, “Odd Simple Beauty” are directed to AWFH. Her books and songs are available at Newtonville Books, Sherman’s Maine Coast Bookshop and online. She is the Senior Associate Attorney at the Office of Management at the University of Massachusetts Chan Medical School, having joined in March 2020. Previously, she served as Acting Deputy General Counsel and Associate General Counsel at the Executive Office of Health and Human Services ("EHS"), having joined as Assistant General Counsel in 2008. Prior to EHS, Ingrid had practiced at Burns & Levinson LLP since 1998. Ingrid also clerked for Chief Justice Joseph P. Warner at the Massachusetts Appeals Court and the Massachusetts Superior Court justices. A native of Hawaii, Ingrid is a past president of the Asian American Lawyers of Massachusetts, served on its Board, has also served on the Boston Bar Association Council and as president of the Boston College Law School Alumni Board, also having served on its Board. Ingrid chaired the Legal Intern program for EHS, as well as the EHS Diversity Council, the latter for which she received a Certificate of Appreciation from Massachusetts Medicaid. In addition, since 2012, she has served on the Supreme Judicial Court Standing Advisory Committee on Professionalism, and in 2022 was appointed as its Co-Chair. She has also served on the Board of Trustees for Massachusetts Continuing Legal Education since 2019 and is Co-Chair of its Diversity & Inclusion Committee.

In 2022, Ingrid was named as part of the Massachusetts Lawyers Weekly (“MLW”) “Circle of Excellence" for its Top Women of Law event, having been previously named as one of MLW’s Top Women of Law in 2013. She was also named a Massachusetts Bar Foundation Life Fellow by its Board of Trustees in 2015. In 2008, the Asian Community Development Corporation presented Ingrid with its Excellence in Community Service Award.
Ingrid graduated from Boston College (Phi Beta Kappa), summa cum laude, and Boston College Law School (Campbell Fellowship Recipient and White, Inker, Aronson Professional Achievement & Service Award). She is dedicated to expanding horizons, promoting diversity, empathy and connectivity, and is excited to serve on AWFH’s board to help advance efforts to improve the health and lives of Asian women in the community.

Ingrid graduated from Boston College (Phi Beta Kappa), summa cum laude, and Boston College Law School (Campbell Fellowship Recipient and White, Inker, Aronson Professional
Achievement & Service Award). She is dedicated to expanding horizons, promoting diversity, empathy and connectivity, and is excited to serve on AWFH’s board to help advance efforts to improve the health and lives of Asian women in the community.

BOARD CO-CHAIR, Adam Thomas, joined the AWFH board in February 2022.  Adam is currently serving as Chief People & Experience Officer at MOMA Therapeutics. In this role he is responsible for all human resource functions leading office operations and serving as Corporate Secretary. Adam has spent more than 20 years in human resources helping lead companies recruit and retain top talent. Prior to joining MOMA Therapeutics, he served as the Chief People Officer and Secretary at Synlogic, he also served as Vice President and Head of Human Resources for Research and Development at Shire during a period when the company underwent major expansion, doubling the size of its research and development workforce in Massachusetts. Before joining Shire, Adam served as Head of Human Resources for Research, Development, and Engineering for S.C. Johnson and Company. Earlier in his career he served as director in various human resources functions at Pfizer. Adam holds an M.B.A. from Boston University, a Bachelor of Laws degree (LL.B.) from the University of Edinburgh and an M.A. in human resource management from the University of the West of England. Adam also serves on the Board of the Massachusetts Science & Technology Fair, a STEM-education focused non-profit.

CLERK, Amali De Zoysa, is a Chief of Staff at St Anthony Shrine, a Catholic community with over 20 outreach and evangelical ministries. She has worked in the human services/non-profit field for the past 20 years in a leadership capacity.  Amali grew up in Sri Lanka and is a Licensed Mental Health Counselor. She holds a Master’s degree in Counseling Psychology and an Executive MBA from Boston University. Her work has centered around advocating and providing supportive services to underserved communities. She is excited and proud to serve on the board for AWFH to help advance efforts to improve the health and lives of Asian women in the community.

BOARD MEMBER-AT-LARGE, Dr. Kathy May Tran is a Vietnamese American hospital medicine doctor who serves patients at the Massachusetts General Hospital and a medical educator who teaches students and residents at Harvard Medical School. She is interested in writing and storytelling in the academic, professional, and personal domains, as the Associate Editor of the historic Case Records of the New England Journal of Medicine, the co-editor of the upcoming books Becoming a Better Physician (Springer) and 50 Studies Every Hospitalist Should Know (Oxford University Press), and founder and director of the storytelling series Stories of the Mass General. Dr. Tran is a community builder who prioritizes patient and workforce well-being by leading programs for arts and humanities, music and medicine, and diversity and equity. She is a founding member of the Pan Asian Pacific Alliance, a network across the Mass General Brigham system to bring together and support issues for Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders, and director of the Happiness Committee, a healthcare initiative to build resilience and celebrate community. Dr. Tran received her education at Yale College, New York School of Medicine, and Massachusetts General Hospital Internal Medicine. When she is not working in Boston, she is traveling or serving indigenous communities and patients in Rosebud, South Dakota and Kotzebue, Alaska. ​

BOARD MEMBER-AT-LARGE, Namrata Sengupta (Ph.D.), is the associate director for science engagement, policy, and advocacy at the Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard. Based in Broad's offices of communications and government relations, she develops and leads programs and community partnerships to advance Broad’s public engagement efforts and organizes strategic thinking and connectivity on matters concerning government relations and public policy across the institute. Sengupta facilitates Broad's relationships with neighboring communities; local, state, and federal government; international delegations; and the general public. She is also responsible for overseeing the Broad Discovery Center and related public outreach and educational efforts.Outside of Broad, Sengupta serves as an adjunct professor of science communication at Clemson University. She speaks at various career panels and gives invited lectures on STEM careers and science communication in the higher education community. 

Sengupta holds a Ph.D. in environmental toxicology from Clemson University, an M.S. in biotechnology from Bangalore University, and a B.S. in chemistry from the University of Calcutta. 

BOARD MEMBER-AT-LARGE, Marilyn Gardner, is a public health nurse consultant and writer who lives in Boston, Massachusetts. She is the Director of Clinical/Community Operations at the Center for Health Impact in Worcester, MA.. Prior to this position, she worked for 10 years as the manager of the Women's Health Network at the Massachusetts Department of Public Health. She has worked in women's health internationally in Pakistan, Egypt, and Northern Iraq as well as in three states - Illinois, Arizona, and Massachusetts. She is a certified cultural competency trainer and the author of two books - Between Worlds: Essays on Culture and Belonging and Worlds Apart - A Third Culture Kid's Journey. Marilyn is passionate about communicating across cultural boundaries and making space for all voices in the health care conversation. You can find her books wherever books are sold and her writing at Communicating Across Boundaries.

BOARD MEMBER-AT-LARGE, Lily Wound, is a partner at Goodwin Procter in its Technology and Life Sciences groups.  She has extensive experience representing pharmaceutical, biotechnology, and other life sciences companies in a wide range of complex commercial, corporate, and licensing transactions, including those involving gene therapy, gene editing, engineered cell therapy, and genomic testing. With broad knowledge of licensing and collaboration matters, Ms. Wound has worked on some of the most complex life sciences collaborations in the industry and has handled transactions at every stage of the life cycle of a life sciences product, and has represented early stage to big pharma companies in connection with these transactions.

Ms. Wound has also led Young Women in Bio (YWIB), a non-profit organization within Women in Bio focused on helping girls interested in STEM, for over eight years. She founded the Metro-New York Chapter of YWIB and then went on to become the National Chair, running all 14 YWIB chapters across the country and in Montreal with over 150 volunteers. In her role as National Chair, she is responsible for developing the fundamental tenets of YWIB and launching 8 national, STEM-focused programs for girls from elementary school through college, including YWIB Online, YWIB Showcase, YWIB Teachers and YWIB College. She is particularly focused on diversity and inclusion and expanding YWIB’s outreach to girls who would not have otherwise had an opportunity to pursue their interest in STEM.

​Ms. Wound also has a Master in Public Health, and is a firm believer in the power of the community to address public health issues. As a first-generation Asian American, she is passionate about AWFH’s mission to apply community-based and public health measures to improve health outcomes for Asian women.

BOARD MEMBER-AT-LARGE, Rakhi Ahuja, is a finance professional with extensive experience in financial analysis, revenue management and strategic process improvement. Currently serving as the Director of Finance at ForHealth Consulting, a division of UMass Chan Medical School, Rakhi excels in managing multiple business units, analyzing proposals, and ensuring the accuracy of financial operations. She brings a wealth of knowledge and expertise in budgeting, forecasting and financial analyses. She holds an MBA in Finance from the University of Pune and a Bachelor of Business Studies in Banking & Finance from the University of Delhi.

BOARD MEMBER-AT-LARGE, Nandini Sangarasivam Choudhury, LCSW, MPH, (she/hers) is the Reproductive Health Equity Specialist for Fenway Health's Reproductive Health & OB/GYN  Department. She holds a dual Master's degree in public health and social work. Before coming to Fenway Health, Nandini conducted health equity community-based research projects at Boston University School of Social Work to improve the health, dignity, and overall well-being of communities of color, LGBQIA+, and Transgender & Gender Diverse (TGD) communities. As the Reproductive Health Equity Specialist, Nandini manages cervical cancer and contraception/sexual health population health projects and community engagement and outreach programs that uplift communities of color, LGBQIA+, and TGD communities. Additionally, she is invested in removing the stigma around mental health access and therapies for the AAPID community. Nandini is a first-generation Tamil Bengali American who enjoys playing music, outdoor activities, and good food. 

BOARD MEMBER-AT-LARGE, Michael Sattler, is a long-time technology product entrepreneur who lives in Boston, MA. He has served in leadership roles for new and enterprise-level organizations, primarily around innovation, product development, technology, and operations management, including an operational role with healthtech startup ActivateCare, focused on addressing Social Determinants of Health by enabling partnerships between CHWs and community organizations. He most recently served as the head of technology for MassChallenge, a not-for-profit organization dedicated to promoting startups, founders, and innovation around the world. Michael is currently operating a practice providing fractional executive leadership to a variety of early-stage companies. He publishes content for innovators and entrepreneurs on both Youtube and TikTok, and has several books scheduled for release in 2024.

BOARD MEMBER-AT-LARGE, Jin hui Joo, ​is a geriatric psychiatrist and faculty member in the Department of Psychiatry at Massachusetts General Hospital, Harvard Medical School. She has over 15 years of experience in providing clinical care to older adults and conducting community-based health services research to increase mental health care access to underserved older adults. She has received funding from the National Institutes of Health to develop non-traditional, community-based depression care and cognitive care using peer support for older adult populations that experience persistent barriers to access. She is also an immigrant with a longstanding interest in cultural issues that motivates her research with diverse populations including Asian caregivers of persons living with dementia, uninsured Latino patients and Black older adults. An important part of her work involves bridging the academic and community divide and conducting outreach to translate the wealth of knowledge that exists in health care systems about mental health and brain health to communities. She studied English literature at the University of Chicago, served as a Peace Corps volunteer in Poland, received a Master’s degree in International Affairs from the Fletcher School at Tufts University, and obtained her medical degree from the University of Pittsburgh. She is a firm believer that life is a wonderful
journey.