meet our STAFF!
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EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR, Naheed Esar, brings a wealth of experience in the non-profit and governmental sectors. Esar is a dedicated public health advocate with over a decade of experience supporting the health and well-being of vulnerable communities, particularly women and children. Her passion for public health and social justice has led her to work in some of the most challenging environments,
both domestically and internationally. Most recently, Esar served as the Deputy Foreign Minister for Resources and Management for the Government of Afghanistan in Kabul. In this role, Esar led and oversaw the operations of various departments and eight provincial directorates. She oversaw the management of over $100 million annual budget, as well as 1,300 staff both at the Ministry and at overseas embassies. She negotiated with foreign officials to build long-term bilateral relationships to support the ministry’s goals and needs. Esar has worked with United Nations Development Program (UNDP) as gender mainstreaming consultant, Department For International Development (DFID) as a gender consultant, and United States Agency for International Development (USAID) as a researcher, and a John Hopkins University researcher where she conducted a longitudinal research project on the lives of widows in Afghanistan. A Fulbright scholar, Esar combines her professional experience, with the US-immigrant lived experience. Esar's dedication to public health and her commitment to social justice have been recognized by her peers, and she has been honored with numerous awards for her work. |
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CHIEF DEVELOPMENT AND INNOVATION OFFICER, Eric Braun, is an Impact Entrepreneur, an Innovator and a Product/Services Leader with expertise from decades of hands-on practice. He proactively builds teams and creates successful product and services businesses. His work environments are safe spaces to bring diverse viewpoints together and to accept failure as critical learning on the path to success. Eric actively follows leadership, startup, business and innovation thought leaders and contributes to best practices.
Over the past 25 years, Eric has co-founded 4 tech startups and an incubator. He has been an ecosystem organizer and startup mentor for 13+ years. His experience bridges both technical and business sides of entrepreneurial ventures and growth businesses. He has a strong belief in Design Thinking and Customer Discovery as the first steps to aligning product-market fit. In early 2022, Eric drew on his experiences building teams, developing ecosystems and working in areas of uncertainty to co-found Innovators for Ukraine (www.in4ukraine.com), whose mission is to help displaced Ukrainians regain independence and thrive through work, entrepreneurship and community. Eric holds a Bachelor’s degree in German and English from the University of Minnesota and Master’s studies in Computer Science. He has also studied and lived in Paris, Cologne and Austria. |
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PROGRAM MANAGER, Meg (Mengyao) Li, is a workforce development professional and educator serving the Boston migrant community. Previously she worked at a variety of community service organizations around Boston.
As a first-generation immigrant, she empathizes deeply with the sometimes difficult situations of migrants in our communities and is passionate about building a positive impact for women in Boston and beyond. Outside of work, You will find her camping as an off-grid caveman and hear her talking about the next exciting place she wants to explore. |
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EVENTS & OPERATIONS COORDINATOR, Sofia Li, is passionate about community development and providing resources and access to healthcare for the community. She has worked in different non-profits such as Madison Park Development Corporation, ZUMIX, and ATASK, each tackling a different issue within the community which has driven her enthusiasm to continue working for POC communities. During her time as an undergraduate at Boston University studying health sciences, she understood the lack of accessibility and knowledge of healthcare in POC communities and wanted to find ways to combat this issue. She is excited to be able to be a part of AWFH and work with an amazing team! Off work, you can find her bombarding you with photos and videos of her bunny, Bunbun, watching anime and going on walks with her bunny.
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COMMUNICATIONS COORDINATOR, Ameena Qayyum, is passionate about empowering women through health, education, advocacy and raising awareness through media campaigns. She strongly believes the key to empowerment is through financial independence. Her current role involves promoting Asian Women For Health's mission and vision at the forefront of several Asian communities and provide the support women need in order to take more control of their health and their future. Her previous experience includes working in a Microfinance institution in Pakistan aimed at empowering women from impoverished communities. She firmly believes in giving back to the community in small ways that hopefully make a positive difference in making lives easier for those lacking agency, support and opportunity.
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ADVOCACY AND PARTNERSHIPS COORDINATOR, Hilary Wong, is a current undergraduate Business Administration and Entrepreneurship student at Babson College, concentrating in Economics and Justice, Citizenship, and Social Responsibility. In the past, she has worked on placemaking initiatives and event programming for local Chinatown organizations in the Greater Boston area where she was able to learn more about how she can leverage her individual impact to empower and give back to her community. With a strong interest in public policy, she has also been a very vocal advocate for the importance of mental health destigmatization and data disaggregation within the larger AAPI community. As such, she is excited for the opportunity to work on these issues firsthand with AWFH and hopes to continue to professionally develop herself as an advocate for social and racial justice within the role. Outside of work, you can find her jamming to Bad Bunny, bartending, or most likely, staying up way too late hyperfixating on weird research topics.
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