People & Accountability
Read about our current members and access our audited financial statements
Board of Directors
As leaders with expertise in public health, health business, technology, medicine, finance, and beyond, members of the CUNY SPH Foundation Board serve as advisors to the school and its Dean to form creative partnerships, expand networks, and develop resources that propel the school forward.
The Board operates several committees to oversee its operations: Executive, Finance and Investment, Audit, Communications, Resource Development, and Board Nominations and Recruitment.
Marilyn Aguirre-Molina
CUNY SPH Professor Emerita, Department of Community Health and Social Sciences
Katrina F. Mateo
Associate Director, Development Innovation, Regeneron Pharmaceuticals, Inc.
Lyndon Haviland
Chair
President, Lyndon Haviland and Co. LLC
Lyndon Haviland, MPH, DrPH, is an international health consultant with more than 30 years public health experience. Dr. Haviland began her career in the US Refugee Service, working in multiple camps with South East Asia refugees. In 1991, she co-authored the first humanitarian needs assessment of Cambodia for the US Agency for International Development. Since that time, Dr. Haviland has led various public health campaigns, initiatives and organizations. Her consulting clients include UN agencies, international NGOs, and former Heads of State. She has served as a Board member for numerous international and domestic NGOs including the American Public Health Association where she is the recipient of two of its highest honors, Friend of the Student Assembly and the Director’s Citation.
As a consultant, Dr. Haviland has advised global leaders, presidents and agency heads on maternal and child health, access to vaccines, vaccine hesitancy, sexual and reproductive health, tobacco control and health promotion/disease prevention. Her work spans strategy, communications, leadership and partnership development. She was the Senior Project Leader for the UN Secretary-General’s Global Strategy for Women’s and Children’s Health Every Woman, Every Child) , an initiative helped to align all member states of the United Nations around a common strategy for saving more than 16 million lives and raised more than $40 billion in new resources for women and children’s health globally. Every Woman, Every Child is widely acknowledged as a turning point for multi-sectoral partnerships at the United Nations.
Dr. Haviland has worked in a broad range of professional environments spanning domestic, academic, multinational and multilateral organizations including the Earth Echo International, GAVI, UN Women, Policy Wisdom, Rabin Martin, the Aspen Institute, UNAIDS, the United Nations Department of Public Information, the UN Foundation, HRSA/SPNS projects, UNDP, WHO, the International Medical Corps, the American Legacy Foundation, The International Catholic Migration Commission and the International Organization for Migration. She holds a masters and doctorate degrees in public health from the Mailman School of Public Health at Columbia University, and has completed Advanced Management and Leadership training at the Harvard Business School.
Alfonso Chang
Vice-Chair
Co-founder and Managing Director, AC3 Group
Managing Director, Relativity Healthcare Partners
CEO and President, Parsolex
Chang is co-founder and Managing Director of the AC3 Group, a boutique strategy consultancy firm, bringing over 20 years of experience providing counsel to leading global companies, guiding them through complex product developments. He also serves as Managing Director of Relativity Healthcare Partners, an investment group providing growth capital to healthcare companies, where he identifies and structures investment opportunities and provides strategic guidance to investment clients. Chang also provides analytical, development, manufacturing, and strategic solutions to pharmaceutical companies as CEO and President of Parsolex.
Innocent Clement
CEO & Founder, Ciba Health
Dr. Innocent Clement is a trained physician, angel investor, innovator and a serial entrepreneur. He is the CEO and Founder of Ciba Health, a digital health and value-based care company for chronic disease reversal. He is also co-founder and Chief Medical Officer of Innomas Clinical Research, a New York and West African-based healthcare solutions provider. Prior to founding Ciba, Dr. Clement served as CEO and Co-Founder of Kaia Health Inc., a digital therapeutic company where he oversaw US initiatives including partnerships, clinical trials, regulatory submissions, and expansion across North America.
Dr. Clement is a Nigerian immigrant to the United States and considers himself a global citizen having grown up living in multiple countries and as a result, learned different cultures and languages. This experience has made him deeply culturally sensitive and this has enhanced his MPH education to make him keenly aware of the challenges public health faces globally. He currently lives in New York City with his family.
Margaret Crotty
Senior Public Health Leader
Margaret M. Crotty was the president and CEO of John Snow, Inc. and JSI Research & Training Institute (JSI), global public health consulting firms dedicated to greater health equity and improving the health of individuals and communities. Margaret was also the president of World Education, a JSI affiliate, which works to improve the education and economic security of people around the world.
Most recently, Margaret served for ten years as CEO of Partnership with Children, a major provider of community health services and school-based mental health programs through a broad range of federal, state and local contracts. Previously, she launched and led Save the Children’s flagship $2 billion initiative to reduce global maternal and child mortality, and served as president and chief executive officer of AFS-USA Intercultural Programs. In the private sector, Margaret held several executive positions at EF Education, the world’s largest privately held education company, in Shanghai, Hong Kong and Paris. She has lived in Indonesia twice, working for McKinsey & Co. and Save the Children.
Margaret graduated from Princeton University with a BA in History and African-American Studies. She also holds an MBA from Harvard Business School and a Masters in Public Health from the Mailman School at Columbia University.
Margaret also serves on the boards of Northwell Health, the Open Medical Institute, the United Hospital Fund, and ACCESS Health International.
James Gohar
CEO, Chief Medical Officer and Co-Founder, Viva Eve
Dr. James Gohar is an entrepreneur and practicing obstetrician and gynecologist with over 20 years of experience in women’s health. After taking ownership of Forest Hills Medical Services in 2013 and establishing Viva Eve in 2016, Dr. Gohar saw the potential to build one consolidated practice catering to all women’s health needs. In 2021, he launched the expanded Viva Eve, a health destination offering integrated specialty care from Ob-Gyn services to fertility and fibroid treatments under one roof.
Dr. Gohar continues to practice as a physician at Viva Eve. He also serves as a Clinical Instructor at Weill Cornell School of Medicine and an Attending Ob-Gyn at Mount Sinai West and New York Presbyterian Hospital. Dr. Gohar received his medical degree from Cairo University School of Medicine and completed his residency at the Medical College of Georgia.
Michael Meng
Treasurer
President and Chief Financial Officer, Stellar Health
Michael Meng serves as Chairman, President and Chief Financial Officer of Stellar Health, a healthcare technology company that improves population health outcomes for providers and insurers around the country. Michael has extensive experience investing in and working with healthcare companies from payors, to providers, technology solutions, and other ancillary services. In addition, Michael has served on the board of companies ranging from $50 million to $3 billion plus in enterprise value.
Prior to founding Stellar Health, Michael was a Principal in the Healthcare Group at Apax Partners, a large cap global private equity firm. Key deals that he led and worked on include Vyaire Medical (medical technology), Ideal Protein (consumer health), Medicomp (medical technology), One Call Care Management (workers’ comp network services), GENEX (workers’ comp nurse case management) Qualitest Pharmaceuticals (generic pharmaceuticals), and TriZetto (payor and provider IT).
Previous to his tenure at Apax Partners, Michael was an investment banker in Lazard’s Healthcare Mergers & Acquisitions Group in New York, where he worked on pharma, biotech, and healthcare services M&A and financing transactions. He currently also serves on the board of the nonprofit Global Language Project.
Michael received his MBA in Healthcare Management from The Wharton School of Business and his Bachelor’s of Business Administration degree from the Ross School of Business at the University of Michigan.
Ayman El-Mohandes
Voting Member Ex-Officio
Dean, CUNY SPH
Dr. El-Mohandes is a pediatrician, epidemiologist, and academician with a deep commitment to public service; he serves an elected member of the executive board of the American Public Health Association. Prior to his appointment to CUNY in 2013, he served as Dean of the College of Public Health at the University of Nebraska, where he was also professor of epidemiology at the College of Public Health, and professor of pediatrics and of obstetrics/gynecology at the College of Medicine, University of Nebraska Medical Center.
An established researcher in the field of infant mortality reduction in minority populations, Dr. El-Mohandes was supported by the NIH between 1994 and 2009 to conduct community-based interventions with pregnant women and new mothers in underserved communities. He has more than 100 citations published in the peer-reviewed literature, including published works on infant mortality in African-Americans and American Indians and Alaska Natives, preterm births, and the environmental effects of tobacco smoke on pregnancy outcomes.
Dr. El-Mohandes currently serves as the Dean of the Graduate School of Public Health and Health Policy at the City University of New York. In this capacity he has dramatically expanded the school’s collaboration with the New York City Department of Health and Mental Hygiene. Under his leadership the New York City NHANES study was completed in 2014, and a new collaboration to pilot a community health workers’ initiative in East Harlem was launched in 2015. The CUNY School of Public Health currently is a collaborative home, along with the NYU School of Medicine, to the CDC Prevention Center in New York City. The School has expanded significantly with 50 faculty and more than 600 graduate students, and a revitalized research portfolio. In the past year the School has established two new institutes, one addressing urban food policy and the other focused on implementation science.
Adam M. Doyno
Non-Voting Member Ex-Officio
Executive Director, CUNY SPH Foundation
Adam M. Doyno, a Certified Fund-Raising Executive, is the Founding Executive Director of the CUNY SPH Foundation and the Inaugural Chief Development Officer of the CUNY Graduate School of Public Health and Health Policy. Since 2018, he has been an essential catalyst in the school’s rise to become an independent, accredited, and top-ranked public health authority in New York City and nationally. As the architect of CUNY SPH’s fundraising enterprise, Adam leads strategies that advance opportunities for CUNY SPH students, the 500,000+ students and continuous learners across the CUNY system, and the broader New York City community.
Before CUNY SPH, Adam served as Director of Development at FPWA, where he successfully re-launched the organization’s annual fund. Earlier, as the founding National Director of Donor Development at the National Kidney Foundation, he oversaw donor-centered fundraising efforts across 27 markets to support kidney patients and their families. He began his career at United Way of New York City, managing and expanding major, individual, and event fundraising during the challenging post–Great Recession era.
Adam is deeply engaged in the philanthropic sector, serving on the Board of Directors of the Association of Fundraising Professionals–New York City Chapter as Co–Vice President of Member Engagement, and on the Board of Directors of the 125th Street Business Improvement District in Harlem. In 2021, he was recognized by NYN Media as a member of its “Nonprofit 40 Under 40” class. In 2023, he was honored as a founding recipient of the Spotlight Award from Hofstra University’s College of Liberal Arts and Sciences.
He holds a BA from Hofstra University and an MPA from Long Island University’s C.W. Post campus.
Helen Arteaga
Deputy Mayor for Health and Human Services, the City of New York
Dr. Helen Arteaga is the Deputy Mayor for Health and Human Services in NYC, appointed by Mayor Mamdani in January 2026. As Deputy Mayor for HHS, she oversees thirteen agencies and offices across the health, social services, children’s services and related areas.
Prior to this appointment, Dr. Arteaga served as CEO of NYC Health + Hospitals/Elmhurst, a Level I Trauma Center and the second oldest public hospital in New York City. She was the first woman and the first Latina to helm the hospital’s executive team. Under Helen’s leadership, Elmhurst has been recognized as one of U.S. News and World Report’s “Best Regional Hospitals” and as one of the nation’s “High Performing” hospitals, as well as a “Top Place to Work” by City and State NY. Over her five years as CEO of Elmhurst, Helen secured close to $140 million in public funding for major capital projects and improvement initiatives.
She has a bachelor’s degree from New York University, a Master of Public Health from Columbia University, and a Ph.D. from the Graduate School of Public Health & Health Policy at the City University of New York. Helen is a recipient of the prestigious Joan H. Tisch Community Health Prize from the Laurie M. Tisch Illumination Fund for her distinguished accomplishments in the field of urban public health, the Mujeres Destacadas award from El Diario NY, and the City University of New York’s “50 Under 50” alumni award.
Marilyn Aguirre-Molina
CUNY SPH Professor Emerita, Department of Community Health and Social Sciences
Dr. Aguirre-Molina retired from CUNY SPH in 2019 after more than 40 years of dedicated service to the public health of communities of color in urban settings. During her career, her primary research focused on the social determinants of health (SDH) and taught courses in health equity and social justice, and program planning and funding. Dr. Aguirre-Molina’s applied research activities centered on the impact of policies, poverty and racism on urban poor populations, with the focus on policy development to address the SDH. Most recently, she conducted research on birth outcomes among women in the South Bronx, where infant mortality rates are among the highest in the City.
Aguirre-Molina has edited several books on Latino health, among them the seminal, “Health Issues in the Latino Community” (with C. Molina & R. Zambrana, 2001). She was commissioned by the UN Population Fund to study AIDS Poverty and Gender Inequality in Latin America; and, The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation on Primary & Preventive Care among Latino Populations. Prior to CUNY, Aguirre-Molina was Professor of Population and Family Health, Columbia University Mailman School of Public Health. Before returning to academia, she served in senior leadership roles at the California Endowment and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. She’s served on numerous national public health boards and committees including APHA, NIH-NIAAA, NY Health Foundation and the IOM Study Section. As a Kellogg Foundation Fellow, she studied the impact of political economy on health systems.
Austin Cheng, Esq., MHA, FACHE
Chief Executive Officer, Gramercy Surgery Center
Austin Cheng joined Gramercy Surgery Center as the Vice President in September 2019 and was promoted to Chief Executive Officer in February 2020. He previously served as a Business Development Associate as well as a member of the Board of Directors from 2012-2015. During this time, Gramercy Surgery Center expanded from a one-facility ambulatory surgery center to our current two-site operation. Austin is the son of the Founder of Gramercy Surgery Center, Katy Chiang. His vision is for Gramercy Surgery Center to become synonymous with being the premier multi-facility, multi-specialty ambulatory surgery center in New York City.
Austin brings with him prior experience from the New York City healthcare industry as well as recent experience in the legal field—both as a prosecutor and defense attorney for the United States Army and as a prosecutor for the United States Attorney’s Office. Though Austin has chosen to continue leading the company that his mother founded over ten years ago, he still maintains his qualifications to practice law in the states of New York and New Jersey. Austin is a proud alumnus of Union College, Brooklyn Law School, and Cornell University (Executive Masters of Health Administration). He has been recognized as a Fellow of the American College of Healthcare Executives (FACHE) and also holds a certification as a Lean Six Sigma Black Belt.
Jordana Kier
Co-founder, LOLA
Jordana Kier is the co-founder of LOLA, the first lifelong brand for reproductive health. In her role, Jordana was responsible for overseeing the marketing and sales teams, leading the brand’s efforts to provide an ever-expanding portfolio of trusted products and reproductive health resources for every stage of life. Jordana was responsible for overseeing LOLA’s omnichannel expansion into Walmart, marking the retailer’s largest investment in the natural feminine care category to date. Before co-founding LOLA, Jordana received her MBA from Columbia Business School. She graduated from Dartmouth College and was named to Forbes 30 Under 30 in 2016 and Crain’s 40 under 40 in 2019. Jordana also serves on the Dartmouth Entrepreneurial Network Advisory Board.
Daniel Knecht
Chief Medical Officer and Senior Vice President, EmblemHealth
Daniel Knecht, MD is a board-certified internist currently serving as Chief Medical Officer and Senior Vice President at EmblemHealth. In his prior role, he served as Vice President and Chief Clinical Innovation Officer at CVS Caremark, where he collaborated with clients as well as the product team to identify unmet needs in the marketplace and accelerate innovation to improve health outcomes and better manage costs. Additionally, Dr. Knecht served as VP of Clinical Product where he drove clinical product development across all major CVS Health business lines to develop and execute clinical strategies that address unmet health needs. Since joining the company in 2016, Dr. Knecht has led a series of enterprise-wide strategic initiatives including the company’s efforts to combat opioid misuse and addiction. As part of the combined organization, his team focused on leveraging data analytics and enterprise assets to provide actionable insights for patients and providers that increase value of care.
Dr. Knecht graduated with honors from Dartmouth College and received a joint MD, MBA from Weill Cornell Medical College and Johnson Graduate School of Management where he was a recipient of the Lee Family Scholarship. He is a Fulbright Scholar in medical sciences and has performed research that explored health care deficiencies in the Negev region of Israel. Dr. Knecht is also an associate clinical professional at Mount Sinai West in New York City where he still sees patients.
Katrina F. Mateo
Associate Director, Development Innovation, Regeneron Pharmaceuticals, Inc
Katrina F. Mateo, PhD, MPH, MBA, is a public-health trained researcher, interventionist, and strategist. Her work leverages human-centered design thinking, systems-thinking, behavioral science, and implementation science to drive innovation, optimization, and meaningful impact in clinical trials, digital health research, and public health initiatives. In her current role at Regeneron, she is responsible for identifying, evaluating, evangelizing, and leading innovation opportunities to modernize and accelerate clinical trial development.
Dr. Mateo holds a PhD in Community Health & Social Sciences from CUNY Graduate School of Public Health & Health Policy, where she received both the Dean’s Fellowship Award during her training, as well as the Dean’s Dissertation Award for her research developing and evaluating innovative digital health tools to improve dietary behaviors among low-income minority families. She also holds an MPH from Columbia University and MBA from Boston University.
Saquib Rahim
Strategy & Innovation, Immunology Data Science, Johnson & Johnson
Board-Certified Attending Physician at NewYork-Presbyterian
Dr. Saquib Rahim is a digital health executive and a board-certified attending physician at NewYork-Presbyterian. He formerly served as the chief medical officer of Alyvant and as chief medical officer and vice president of clinical strategy at Aetna Digital. He also served as director of integrated health at Quartet and chief medical officer at CipherHealth – both New York-based healthcare technology companies.
Dr. Rahim brings extensive experience in healthcare from both clinical and business perspectives to the CUNY SPH Foundation, having practiced and consulted in more than 20 different health systems. He graduated from Northwestern University with a BA in political science and earned his MD from Northwestern University with honors in internal medicine as a member of the combined seven-year BA/MD program. He earned his MBA at Harvard Business School, where he co-authored a teaching case on outcomes measurement in healthcare and advised the HBS Healthcare Initiative.
Nicole F. Roberts
Executive Director, Feed A Billion
Nicole F. Roberts is the Executive Director of Feed A Billion, an international nonprofit that feeds girls around the world to prevent exploitation, and the founder of Health & Human Rights Strategies, a health care and human rights-focused advising firm in Washington, D.C. Roberts is also the host of The Global Good Podcast based on her years of international work. Roberts contributes to Forbes, contextualizing health and highlighting public health ideas, companies, and people that are changing the global landscape. Her writing has appeared in numerous journals and publications, and her talks can be found on the United Nations website and various news and sports outlets. Roberts holds a doctorate in public health from the University of North Carolina, a master’s degree in public policy from the University of Chicago, and an undergraduate degree from the University of Missouri.
Ruth Wooden
Marketing and public policy communications professional
Ruth Wooden retired in 2011 after a 40+ year career as a marketing and public policy communications professional. Early in her career she worked in the private sector at the Ralston Purina Company and NW Ayer Advertising. In 1987 she was elected President of the Advertising Council, the nation’s leading provider of public service advertising campaigns for government agencies (e.g. drunk driving prevention for Dept. of Transportation) and nonprofit organizations (e.g. United Negro College Fund). In 1999-2000, she served full time as the advertising coordinator for Senator Bill Bradley’s Presidential campaign. From 2001-2003, she worked for the international PR firm, Porter Novelli in their social marketing practice and from 2003 until her retirement she served as President of Public Agenda, the NYC based research and public policy think tank founded by social scientist Dan Yankelovich and Secretary of State, Cyrus Vance.
Ms. Wooden has served as a director for a number of nonprofit organizations including CARE, the Edna McConnell Clark Foundation, Partnership for Drug Free Kids, St. Luke’s Roosevelt Hospital, Columbia University School of Health Sciences and the Mailman School of Public Health, Research!America, Harvard Business School Social Enterprise Initiative, Demos, The Public Good Projects Inc. She is the former Chair of the Board of Encore.org (formerly Civic Ventures), and current Chair of the Board of Futures Without Violence (formerly the Family Violence Prevention Fund), as well as a board member of the CUNY School of Public Health Foundation. She was also a corporate director of the U.S. Trust Company.
She is a graduate of the University of Minnesota and has an honorary degree from Northeastern University. In 1996, she was named Advertising Woman of the Year and was a recipient of the Matrix Award in Communications. She is currently consulting with a number of nonprofit organizations and is a 2016 MA graduate of Union Theological Seminary. Ms. Wooden lives in New York City and Callicoon, NY.
Cesar Herrera
CEO & Co-founder, Yuvo Health
With a career in healthcare spanning nearly 20 years, Cesar Herrera is CEO and co-founder at Yuvo Health, an industry-leading healthcare organization that partners with community health centers to help them gain an advantage in value-based care. An experienced business leader with a proven track record for leading the convergence between the healthcare, consumer, and technology industries, his background spans business development, marketing, management consulting, client services, operations leadership, and finance.
Before Yuvo Health, Cesar was Chief Solutions Officer at Healthify, which provides access to networks of social-service organizations, where he was responsible for the strategy, deployment, and long-term efficacy of its social-service networks, with partnerships that ranged from local community-based organizations to at-scale, national services providers. Earlier in his career, he was Head of Existing Business for Zocdoc, a platform that allows patients to find and book in-person or telemedicine appointments for medical care.
Previously, Crain’s New York Business awarded Cesar with its Empire Whole Health Heroes Awards, and Managed Healthcare Executive recognized him among its Emerging Industry Leaders. He also holds numerous academic degrees, including an MBA from NYU Stern School of Business, an MPH from Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, and a BA from University of Michigan.
Cesar and his family live in the suburbs of Washington, DC, where he can be found serving his second job as chauffeur to his three kids for their numerous after-school activities.
Staff
The Foundation’s staff are generously sponsored by the school and CUNY SPH Foundation’s Board of Directors and work to secure and administer gifts and grants which power our programs and initiatives.
Dean
Ayman El-Mohandes
MBBCh, MD, MPH, FAAP
Dr. El-Mohandes is a pediatrician, epidemiologist, academician, and established researcher with a deep commitment to public service. He is an active and engaged participant in the growth of the Foundation and serves on the Board as Voting Member Ex-Officio.
Executive Director
Adam M. Doyno
MPA, CFRE
Adam is a fundraising practitioner and nonprofit leader. He is the inaugural Chief Development Officer at CUNY SPH and founding Executive Director of the CUNY SPH Foundation. In addition to all oversight of the foundation’s daily activities, Adam is also a Member Ex-Officio of the Board.
Director of Programs
Lauren Rauh
MPH
Lauren is a proud alumna of CUNY SPH (MPH ’20) and previously administered a portfolio of mixed-methods research and programmatic activities for CONVINCE and the Vaccine Literacy Campaign for CUNY SPH. Lauren is responsible for the development, execution and evaluation of all foundation-funded programs and initiatives.
Development Manager
Cara Flynn
Cara has been a development professional since 2013. Cara focuses on board candidate identification and research and sourcing new funding opportunities from foundations, corporations and individuals for scholarship / fellowship, the Career Skills Academy, the Harlem Health Initiative and more.
Senior Development Operations Manager
Brianna Lee
Brianna joined CUNY SPH from the development office at the Mount Sinai Health System where she supported fundraising campaigns in cardiology and emergency medicine. She is responsible for the oversight of all finance and business operations.
Accountability
Our Board of Directors and its Finance and Investment Committee and Audit Committee work closely with our leadership and staff, trusted financial experts, and independent auditors to ensure responsible financial management and optimize our ability to advance the mission, vision, and values of CUNY SPH. The CUNY SPH Foundation Board of Directors set a 10% indirect rate on all restricted donations for the 2025 fiscal year from July 1, 2024 through June 30, 2025.
We are pleased to disclose our audited financial statements for public review. Audits are generally conducted every summer and finalized by the following fall:
