Board of Directors
Board Secretary, Advisor for Maternal Health —
Dr. Heather Thompson
Dr Heather Thompson is a Canadian OB/GYN with a longstanding interest in social justice; she is excited to work with Global Health Promise, which aligns well with her interests in human trafficking and women’s health.
Heather’s international experience has taken her to Geneva, where she interned at the WHO, as well as to various countries in sub-Saharan Africa, most recently in Togo with Samaritan’s Purse. Closer to home, she works as an OB/GYN in Canada, and she also does some part time work in addictions.
Heather was in a leadership position for many years in Pneuma, an organization that takes clients from local addiction-recovery facilities and homeless shelters on year-round outdoor adventures. She has been the co-chair for the Student Advisory Committee for the Global Health Education Consortium (GHEC, now CUGH-Coalition of Universities for Global Health). Heather has also worked to organize several fundraisers for organizations such as Save The Mothers and Center for Affordable Water and Sanitation Technology (CAWST).
Heather is also an avid outdoors adventurer; you’ll be most likely to find her somewhere in the backcountry skiing, hiking, or paddling.
Board Treasurer — Betsy Chandler
Betsy Chandler a has a Master’s Degree in reading education from the State University of New York at Albany (SUNY) and a Masters in social work and social research from Bryn Mawr College where she focused on research, advocacy and program development.
In 1992 she founded and was president of a transitional housing program for homeless women and children in Chester County, Pennsylvania, and was the Executive Director from 1997 to 1999.
Most recently she has tutored adjudicated teenage boys at a wonderful not-for-profit home and school in Coatesville, PA.
Board Member — Joanna Cummings, MS, RD, CNSC
Joanna Cummings, MS, RD, CNSC, is the Associate Dietetic Internship Director and an Instructor in The Graduate Programs in Human Nutrition at the Oregon Health and Sciences University School of Medicine. She received her Master of Science in Clinical Nutrition from Oregon Health & Science University (OHSU) and is a Registered Dietitian (RD) with advanced certification as a Certified Nutrition Support Clinician (CNSC). Her clinical and research experience includes pediatric and adult nutrition, inherited metabolic disorders, oncology, and bone marrow transplant.
Additionally, she has worked extensively on the development of nutrition education tools as the Leadership and Education in Neurodevelopmental Disabilities (LEND) trainee at the Child Development and Rehabilitation Center (CDRC) at OHSU, Research Dietitian at Children’s Hospital Colorado, Clinical Dietitian in Oncology at the University of Colorado and as an adjunct professor at the University of Northern Colorado.
Board Member — Dr. Virginia Feldman
Dr. Virginia Feldman was most recently a locum pediatrician at Kaiser Permanente in Portland, Oregon, where she was a Staff Pediatrician (1975-2004). During this period, she served as Chief of Pediatrics (1989-1997), Director of the Adolescent Health Program (1986-2004), Director of the Child Abuse Assessment Center (1976-1997), and the founding member of the Kaiser Bioethics Committee (1985-2004). She is currently an adjunct professor of pediatrics at the Oregon Health and Science University (OHSU). Dr. Feldman received her undergraduate and medical degrees at the University of Michigan and is board-certified in pediatrics.
Dr. Feldman volunteers as a pediatrician at the Essential Health Clinic and the Wallace Medical Concern in Oregon and for the Amigos De Las Americas National Health and Safety Committee. Dr. Feldman has worked in Liberia, El Salvador, and Ecuador and in many parts of India, including Maharashtra, Delhi, Kerala. She has led medical teams providing care in Andhra Pradesh, India.
Dr. Feldman’s clinical research includes studies on smoking and pregnancy (Kaiser Research Center, 1985); domestic violence prevention in health maintenance organizations (HMOs) (Kaiser Research Center, 1998-2000); medical and mental health of sex workers and their children (Andhra Pradesh, India, 2006); social issues of temple prostitutes (Nandyal, India, 2006); cardiovascular health and diabetes (Muthyalapadu, Andhra Pradesh, India, 2008); training foreign community health workers in the US (Portland, OR, 2008); and prostitution rescue rates after modified microfinance loans (Andhra Pradesh, India, 2009).
