Meet Our Board MEMBERS
ALEJANDRA SALINAS, DIRECTOR
Alejandra Salinas is an associate at Susman Godfrey. Her practice focuses on commercial litigation at every level and ranges from two-party business disputes to complex, multi-party, and class action cases involving antitrust and patent law. Before joining Susman, Alejandra was active in politics. Alejandra addressed 20,000 delegates on the final night of the Democratic National Convention in 2012 in a nationally televised speech. She also traveled to U.S. embassies around the world on behalf of the U.S. State Department to speak about the Latino community and national political parties. She has appeared on various state and national media outlets including USA Today, MTV, NBC, CNN, Politico, Teen Vogue, Univision, Telemundo, NPR, Houston Chronicle, San Antonio Express, and Los Angeles Times.
ALISA CURRY, DIRECTOR
Dr. Alisa Curry PT DPT GTC GCS FSOAE is a Physical Therapist and Board Certified Geriatric Clinical Specialist. She has worked in the acute care hospital setting for over 20 years. She is a subject matter expert, national lecturer, peer reviewer, and educator. She worked as a volunteer for almost 20 years, helping the logistics team plan and coordinate medical services for a multi-day cycling event, which raised millions of dollars during her years of participation. Always interested in health-related physical interventions, Second Mile Haiti’s mission of treating and educating malnutrition and promoting healthcare drew her to this organization’s Board. “I love that the program is about empowering the families, not just provision of services, but education and training. It’s not just "giving a person a fish”, but “teaching them to fish”. I fully commit to supporting Jen and Amy’s vision and commitment to women’s health, maternal education, empowerment, and business development.
ARMEN RASHIDYAN, DIRECTOR
I work on the sustainability committee for Second Mile Haiti, focusing on locally viable business opportunities that can offer sustained revenue and empowerment to mothers in our program. I lived in Haiti for 3.5 months and I loved the entrepreneurial spirit of the organization in finding new ways to economically empower families!
I love Second Mile because of the clear-headed, holistic approach to childhood malnutrition and gender violence. Our organization is dedicated to incorporating solid programing with evidence-based practices because the data demonstrates that these interventions lead to good outcomes for families and babies.
My favorite project at Second Mile Haiti is the livestock program; especially counting and corralling all the baby goats on the land.
JENNIFER SCHENK, DIRECTOR
Jenn Schenk, a native of Ft. Worth, Texas has been leading Second Mile since its founding in 2011. As one of the organization’s co-founders, Jenn was instrumental in taking the organization from vision to reality. A graduate of Arizona State University, Jenn has a Bachelor’s degree in Organizational Leadership and a Masters in Business Administration. Jenn is a trusted advisor to many and has served on various non-profit boards. She believes that great organizations require a culture of innovation and creativity that permeates every organizational decision. It is from this position that she helps bring Second Mile Haiti to new heights each and every year. Her favorite Second Mile Haiti programs are school sponsorship and Tou Natirel, Second Mile’s social business, but if she’s forced to pick the one thing she loves most about her job, it’s working every day with the Haitian team. She has been living in Haiti, full-time, since 2010.
NATHAN JEROME, DIRECTOR
Nathan Jerome lives in Denver, Colorado with his wife, Vali, and their four kids. He has been the Managing Director of the McPherson Family Foundation since 2014. The foundation currently partners with 15 non-profits and NGOs in six countries, that use a multitude of programs including, incentives, health care, job training, school building, and education to help women and children to improve the quality of their lives. The Family Foundation has been so excited to be a part of Second Mile’s tremendous impact on the lives of families in the Cap Haitien area. Whether is bringing back a malnourished child back to health, performing hundreds of safe births or providing business kit for a family, the positive impact has spread to many and will go deep for generations. After years of working with organizations in the non-profit space it is wonderful to see a great example of is needed more, a well-run, efficient organization that solves problems effectively.
TIM HINTON, PRESIDENT
Dr. Tim Hinton is a Board Certified internal medicine physician that has worked at Vanderbilt University Medical Center since 2002. He has a busy outpatient practice caring for adult patients. He also has medical students and residents that work with him regularly as he teaches them the skill sets involved with being a primary care physician. He has been involved with short-term mission trips to various developing countries since he was in undergraduate college. He has always been drawn to repeat trips to Haiti.
After visiting the Second Mile Haiti campus in Cap Haitien, he was impressed with the organization’s goal of not only providing medical care to malnourished children as well as pregnant women but also the outreach projects to the local community. SMH seeks to have a well-rounded program that promotes education, health, and business skills. By having a multipronged approach, there is a much higher likelihood of continuity of success. The SMH model is one that can be replicated and moved to multiple locations as the organization continues to grow.
WENDY HINTON, SECRETARY
Wendy currently serves as secretary on the Second Mile Haiti Board of Directors. She is continually impressed with the intentionality and vision of SMH. Second Mile Haiti’s goal of providing educational and growth opportunities to staff, patients, and the community align with Wendy’s passion for education. She earned her B.S. and M.S. in Education at the University of Tennessee, Knoxville. She lives in Nashville, TN, with her husband and three children.
ADVISORY BOARD MEMBERS
KATIE GREGG, NNP-BC
As a teenager, Katie developed a heart for Haiti participating in several mission trips, including a 3 month long trip during college while pursuing a nursing degree. While working as a NICU nurse, Katie experienced first-hand how difficult the loss of a newborn can be when her own firstborn son died unexpectedly from medical complications. This loss inspired deeper empathy and compassion for the families of her tiny patients, and ultimately motivated her to pursue a master's degree in neonatal nursing. Having close to 20 years of experience in neonatal nursing, she now works as a board-certified Neonatal Nurse Practitioner in both a Level IV NICU at Albany Medical Center in upstate New York, as well as at a local community hospital covering the Newborn Nursery. Katie has served as a member of the Second Mile Haiti board and is now thrilled to be a part of the Medical Advisory Team helping to advance neonatal education at Second Mile Haiti maternity centers.
PAM PRAGG, CNM, MS, MPH
Senior Instructor, University of Colorado College of Nursing, Director of Global Health and Health Disparities Programs
Pam became passionate about international development work early in her nursing career and had the opportunity to explore opportunities for collaborative efforts during a field experience in 2006 that included Australia, Indonesia, and Uganda. Shortly after that, she joined the University Nurse Midwifery practice at the University of Colorado Hospital. This practice has the unique privilege of caring for women in the Denver area that have relocated from across the globe as refugees, immigrants and asylees. During the past 14 years, she has built global health immersion opportunities for students to complete Public Health experiences in Nepal, Malawi, Ecuador, and Guatemala. Currently, she is collaborating with a pioneering effort to build a midwifery mentorship program in India. It is a deep honor to support the incredible work of Second Mile Haiti as the organization impacts the lives of women and children in Northern Haiti.
JEN MASSARA, MD
Jen is a board-certified Ob/Gyn physician in Tucson, Arizona. Her medical training was at the University of Iowa and Mercy Hospital St. Louis. She has worked in private practice and as an OB/GYN Hospitalist for the past 15 years. Jen is currently working in multiple hospitals in Washington, Oregon, California and Arizona as a traveling physician, primarily working for OB Hospitalist Group. In addition to her professional career, Jen enjoys hiking and backpacking, cooking, playing pickleball, Broadway musicals and spending time with her husband and dog. She has also been traveling to Haiti on short-term trips since 2013, working with various organizations on maternal health care initiatives. One of her passions in life is empowering other women to recognize and use their potential, and it has been a true blessing for Jen to see the midwifery and nursing staff at Second Mile Haiti grow and become more confident in their professional and leadership skills! Jen loves working with the other medical advisors to develop evidence-based protocols and recommendations.
LEAH RASHIDYAN, MSN, CNM, WHNP-BC
Leah Rashidyan is a Certified Nurse Midwife and Women's Health Nurse Practitioner. Leah grew up in South America, and throughout her studies and career has had the opportunity to work and volunteer in maternal-child health in multiple countries including Uganda, Brazil, South Africa, and Haiti. Through these experiences, she was deeply impacted by the challenges women face around the world, and yet she was further convinced of the strength and endurance that women possess. These experiences have further instilled the desire to empower women to make their own decisions regarding their health and pregnancies. Leah is dedicated to being a helpful resource and presence to the women she cares for and is committed to providing individualized education to women as they seek care and support throughout their lifespan.