In light of Meredith's departure, we have restructured and added a new person to our team. Samuel Jackson will become the Vice President of Programs and Grants and will oversee grantmaking, community engagement, and strategic initiatives in addition managing the physical health grant portfolio. Sumita Keller will join us in August as the Senior Program Officer for Policy and Advocacy. She will manage the Healing from Abuse Neglect and Violence and Advocacy Grant portfolios. She will also engage in systems change advocacy alongside our grantee partners to help improve health care access and prevent/mitigate Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs).
Sumita Keller most recently served as the Director of Statewide Partnerships at the Tennessee Commission on Children and Youth (TCCY). She also served in the roles of Director of the Home Visiting Leadership Alliance and Policy Advocate at TCCY. Sumita also served on the Executive Team at the Tennessee Department of Human Services in the role of Customer Service Administrator. Prior to joining her roles in state government, Sumita was an International Student Adviser at Vanderbilt University and the Director of the TeenPEACE program at the Domestic Violence Interventional Center. Through her work at TeenPEACE, Sumita provided individual and group therapy for youth who came in contact with the juvenile justice system and/or experienced intimate partner or family violence. Sumita holds a B.A. from Barnard College of Columbia University in New York City and a M.Ed. from Peabody College of Vanderbilt University in Nashville.
