Geneva Gordon: Community Engagement Manager, Mass General Brigham

Geneva Gordon currently works at Mass General Brigham-Somerville as the Community Engagement Manager in the Community Health Department of Quality and Patient Experience.  Geneva has an extensive background in racial equity, program development, youth education, and community outreach.  As a member of the Community Engagement Team, throughout the COVID-19 pandemic, Geneva promoted health equity and inclusion by ensuring that black and brown communities were well resourced, including receiving personal protective equipment, obtaining accurate COVID-19 testing site information and vaccination locations. Geneva holds a Master’s Degree in Urban Ministry from Gordon Conwell Theological Seminary and is a Master’s Level life coach, obtaining her degree and certification from Institute for Professional Excellence in Coaching (iPEC). 

Damien Leach, MPH: Communications Specialist, Massachusetts General Hospital

Damien Leach, MPH, is the Communications Specialist for the Office of Equity and Community Health at Massachusetts General Hospital. His role includes promoting equity, racial justice, and inclusion in both virtual and physical spaces, supporting multicultural media partners and deploying arts, culture and music initiatives that reinforce Mass General to be a welcoming environment to all. He is also a member of the Mass General Brigham Community Care Team. Over the past year, Damien has helped manage the Community Care Van by bringing multilingual and multicultural Clinicians also known as Community Messengers to engage with local Boston residents. The Community Care Team continues to build vaccine confidence and address any medically specific concerns about COVID-19 and the vaccine in neighborhoods hardest hit by the pandemic.  

RonAsia Rouse, MPH: Program Manager, Health Equity, Brigham and Women’s Hospital

RonAsia Rouse is the Program Manager, Health Equity in the Center for Community Health and Health Equity. RonAsia currently over sees multiple health equity initiatives and committees within Brigham Health that all have the goal of advancing equity throughout the hospital and system. She also coordinates community outreach and engagement around access to information and resources.   Before this role, she worked on the Youth Programs team in the Center for Community Health and Health Equity as the Education and College Success Coordinator. Throughout her career, RonAsia has led various projects and presentations aimed at providing participants with health education and resources that allow them to access their full potential, in healthcare, education and life. RonAsia has a passion for public health and education and holds a Master of Public Health Degree from George Washington University.

Gladys N. Pachas MD, CCRP: Program Director Center for Addiction Medicine, Massachusetts General Hospital

Gladys is the Program Director at the Massachusetts General Hospital Center for Addiction Medicine and an addiction medicine researcher. She received her medical degree from the San Martin de Porres University, completed an Addictions Fellowship at the Center for Addiction Medicine-MGH-Harvard Medical School, a fellowship on Hispanic drug abuse and addiction disparities at the University of Houston and is currently pursuing an MPH in Epidemiology at the TH Chan School of Public Health. She has been conducting successful, productive, and collaborative addiction research projects and served as the co-investigator/project director of several studies including novel pharmacotherapeutic interventions for smoking cessation and relapse prevention in smokers with and without psychiatric comorbidity as well as marijuana use in adolescents and young adults. During the COVID 19 pandemic she was part of the Spanish Language Care group and now she is actively working in the community as part of the MGH Community Messengers initiative. 

Marie Borgella, RN, DNP: Nursing Director

Dr. Marie Borgella started working as a personal care assistant for mentally ill and developmentally delayed children when she was 16 years old. Borgella graduated with a Bachelor of Science in Nursing from U. Mass, Boston, in 2001, and began her career as a clinical nurse on a Neuroscience unit at Mass General. In 2007, Borgella pursued her interest in teaching and travel nursing. She worked in several hospitals, including several community hospitals while working part-time at MGH. Her experience at other organizations underscored the quality of care and strong professional practice environment at MGH. She earned her Master’s in Business Management and Nursing Leadership from Regis College in 2009 and held her first nursing leadership position as Nurse Manager for Arbour HRI in Brookline. She transitioned to Nurse Manager at Boston Children’s Hospital on a 31-bed Neuroscience unit from 2016 to 2019, and while there earned her Doctorate in Nursing Practice from the MGH Institute of Health Professions. In 2019, Borgella came home to MGH, accepting the position of Nursing Director for the brand-new Bigelow 7 Medical Unit, where she built an entirely new team and collaborated with hospital leadership to successfully open this general medical teaching unit. Borgella recently received a scholarship from the American Hospital Association’s For the Next Generation Leaders Fellowship program.