Farewell Gail! Gail Emrick will be resigning as Executive Director of SEAHEC at the end of August. Since 2008, Gail has led SEAHEC - the Southeast Arizona Health Education Center –to achieve national and binational recognition. Dedicated to improving health and wellbeing of rural, border and migrant communities in the U.S. Mexico border region, under Gail’s leadership SEAHEC grew as a health workforce agency into one honored with a prestigious National Institutes of Health (NIH) ComPASS award (2023-2028) one of only 25 such awards in the nation, leading to financial sustainability for SEAHEC and programming to increase access to mental & behavioral health services throughout 4 counties in southeastern Arizona. Highlights of Ms. Emrick's professional contributions throughout her SEAHEC journey include:
National AHEC Organization’s Community Programming Award (in 2021)
Serving as co-President & member of the Ambos Nogales/US Mexico Binational Health Council.
Selected as “Border Health Employee of the Year by Sonora Mexico’s Ministry of Health.
Creation of a national model for farmworker health & community action through construction of a community center & training/support for a locally developed nonprofit for farmworker families.
We say thank you for your hard work and dedication and we look forward to continuing this legacy through the continued compassionate work and service of SEAHEC.
Welcome Brenda! Brenda Sanchez, MPH, will take the reigns as SEAHEC’s Executive Director on September 1. A graduate of the University of Arizona’s College of Public Health, Brenda served as SEAHEC’s Program Manager for the past several years, overseeing a large portfolio of community and public health initiatives. A certified Community Health Worker herself, Brenda helped lead Arizona’s CHW Workforce Coalition to develop the State approved voluntary CHW certification program, and provides capacity building and support to CHWs and the agencies that employee them. Some of Brenda’s professional highlights to date include:
Collaboration with University of Arizona Health Sciences faculty in the design and implementation of service-learning courses including MILAGRO focused on migration and health; and
Development of a SEAHEC/JTED – Joint Technical Education District of Pima County, where she spearheaded design and implementation of Arizona's first high school-level Community Health Worker curriculum ensuring students from diverse & underserved backgrounds receive comprehensive education.
Brenda, we look forward to your leadership and direction for SEAHEC and for rural and border health!
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