Say Ah!’s Our Board of Directors is dedicated to keeping Say Ah! a strong and sustainable organization so that everyone can gain the skills needed to make positive choices about their health. We are:
Heather Paladine, MD, MEd
Arafat Omiridan, Vice President
Jill Povol, Treasurer
Ethan Cohen, M. Arch., Secretary
Anna J. Allen, MS, Co-Founder & Executive Director
Lisa Bellucci, MPA
Helene Eisman Fisher, Co-Founder
Derek McCracken, MS, MA, President
Andrew McKuin, MBA
Tyree Oredein, PhD
Valerie Williams-Sanchez, Ph.D, PMP
Heather Paladine, MD, MEd
Dr. Heather Paladine is a family physician and the residency program director at the New York Presbyterian/Columbia University Family Medicine residency program. She attended Columbia College and Mount Sinai School of Medicine in New York. She then completed a residency in Family Medicine at Oregon Health and Science University and went on to do a fellowship in Maternal and Children’s Health Care at California Hospital in Los Angeles. Her interests include women’s health, medical education, and health care for underserved patients. She is fascinated by how people make health care decisions, and how to encourage shared decision-making between patients and physicians.
Arafat Omiridan, MHA, Vice President
Arafat Omiridan is a public health data analyst and program manager with experience in both start-ups and serving under-resourced communities. She is currently manages provider and partner relationships for a data driven behavioral health and life sciences company. Prior to that, she directed research and evaluation for programs addressing community health interventions and health issues, including COVID-19, HIV/AIDS, diabetes, and hepatitis.
Arafat is a graduate of Columbia University Mailman School of Public Health and Concordia College, where she ran cross country.
Jill Povol, Treasurer
Jill Povol is a senior business analyst, project manager, and product manager in the financial industry. She has spent her career working at various global trading firms and investment banks. Dedicated to philanthropic volunteerism, Jill volunteers her time to various health, veteran’s, and youth mentoring nonprofit organizations. Jill developed an interest in health literacy from personal and family experiences dealing with the changing healthcare system, so when Helene and Anna shared information about Say Ah! it was an easy decision to join the organization. Jill graduated from the University of Connecticut with a Bachelor of Arts in Economics and holds various business certifications.
Ethan Cohen, M. Arch., Secretary
Ethan Cohen is an architect and planner who works in community development. He has spent his career improving the quality of life in lower-income communities by improving the physical environment and assisting stakeholders to access resources towards achieving their goals. Ethan’s work has been both rural and urban, having been the Director of the City College Architecture Center in Manhattan and the Chief Planner for Sullivan County, New York, located in the Southern Catskills. He is currently a Senior Advisor at City of Baltimore Office of the Mayor. Ethan graduated from Yale University with a bachelor’s degree in history of art and a master’s in architecture. He is a registered architect in New York State and accredited as a LEED “Green Associate.”
Anna J. Allen, MS, Co-Founder and Executive Director
Anna J. Allen is a writer and health care advocate who first learned about health literacy in 2004 and has been fascinated by it ever since. Prior to starting Say Ah!, Anna worked as a journalist in Asia and New York. She is a graduate of Union College and Columbia University’s Graduate School of Journalism, and the recipient of a Thomas J. Watson Fellowship. Contact: allen@say-ah.org
Lisa Bellucci, MPA
Lisa Bellucci is a Government Relations/Communications executive at Pfizer Inc., where she is responsible driving strategy and execution of healthcare public policy initiatives. Additionally, she is a respected government/media relations counsel to senior corporate executives leveraging trusted partnerships to promote public awareness and public policies in support of the company’s key healthcare objectives. Lisa is ranked among the top 25% of managers within the company, globally.
Lisa came to Pfizer with eighteen years of experience in government affairs and grassroots advocacy. She was the Vice President of Communications for the Partnership for New York City, the press assistant and senior legislative aide to Representative Guy Molinari and Representative Susan Molinari, respectively, and was a federal lobbyist for the National Association of Home Builders. She earned her MPA from Harvard University’s John F. Kennedy School of Government with a concentration in Press Communications. She completed her undergraduate studies at Wilkes University, graduating Magna Cum Laude with a Bachelor of Arts degree in Economics and Spanish.
Helene Eisman Fisher, Co-Founder
Co-Founder and former Co-Executive Director and President (2007-June 2016), Helene Eisman Fisher is a writer, plain language expert and a public awareness advocate who co-founded Say Ah! when she saw that the health care system itself had become a barrier to people’s health and health care. Prior to founding Say Ah!, Helene devoted her nearly thirty year career in writing, film and nonprofit work, primarily focusing on both grassroots and nationwide awareness campaigns in the service of some the most vital health and other key issues of our time including HIV/AIDS, breast cancer, child sexual abuse prevention, adolescent health and women’s issues. Helene is currently pursuing her MFA in Creative Writing at City College of New York.
Derek McCracken, MS, MA, President
Derek McCracken is a narrative medicine activist residing in New York who facilitates workshops for multinational audiences. He is a Lecturer in Narrative Medicine Pedagogy at Columbia University, where he also serves on the DEIA committee. Before working at Columbia, Derek worked at H&R Block (corporate communications) and Hallmark (product development). Derek’s background in strategic planning, leadership, and health literacy informs his ongoing research into how health justice can be achieved through messaging, design and co-creation of experiences that transcend hierarchies. He is a member of the Intellus Worldwide Health Literacy Committee.
Andrew McKuin, MBA
Andrew McKuin is a Managing Director at Credit Industriel et Commercial (CIC), where he is a co-head of the Asset Finance group. Andrew is responsible for development and management of CIC’s Americas transportation loan portfolio. Before joining CIC in 2008, he held positions at Fortress Investment Group, GATX Corporation and USL Capital over his 30-year career focused on structured finance.
Andrew received an MBA from the McDonough School of Business at Georgetown University. Upon graduating with a Bachelor of Arts degree in History from Hamilton College, he was awarded the Darling Prize in American History.
Tyree Oredein, DrPH, MPH
Tyree Oredein (she/her/hers) has dedicated her work to serving People of Color, LGBTQ+, and other marginalized communities in health, social service settings, schools, corporate spaces, and society at large. She has developed and delivered a wide array of workshops and trainings to health & social service providers, educators, administrators, law enforcement, corporate personnel, parents, youth, and community members.
Tyree is the founder of Left Turn Village, which provides education, training and support for social change and is an Adjunct Professor at Montclair State University in the Department of Public Health. In addition to Say Ah!, she also sits on the Boards of Directors for What Makes You Feel Beautiful, an organization created to empower women and non-binary people, and the Wellesley Racial Justice Initiative (WRJI), an organization created by an independent group of Wellesley College alums engaging in anti-racism work. She also co-leads the development and implementation of WRJI’s programming. She earned her Bachelor’s Degree from Wellesley College, her Master’s of Public Health (MPH) from Hunter College, and her Doctorate of Public Health (DrPH) from Rutgers University.
Valerie Williams-Sanchez, Ph.D, PMP
Dr. Valerie Williams-Sanchez is currently the Vice President of Multicultural Intelligence and Relevance, for Blue Chip Worldwide, and full-service brand and ad agency based in Chicago. With more than 25 years of experience in marketing and communications and a theoretical grounding in Culturally Relevant Pedagogy, Dr. Williams-Sanchez blends her professional and academic acumen, putting pedagogy to practice across industries. Dr. Williams-Sanchez holds degrees from St. John’s University, Columbia University, and the University of California, Berkeley, and continues her literacy work in the areas of culture, education, and health, through her small business, Valorena Online. A Say-Ah! Board Member since 2017, she is a passionate advocate for the elimination of health disparities among BIPOC through her health literacy activities and activism.
Valerie has written and contributed to articles and essays in Associated Press, The Los Angeles Times, National Geographic, Orange County Business Journal, and More Magazine, online in the US and in Spain. She is a graduate of the University of California, Berkeley and Columbia University’s Graduate School of Journalism.