Our Team

Small but mighty!

GHE staff and volunteers are champions of women’s and girls’ empowerment. They are heroes without capes who seek to uplift the next generation of female leaders, giving them the tools to reach their fullest potential.

Pavita Singh, MPH

Executive Director

Pavita is a graduate of Yale University, where she received her Master of Public Health in Social & Behavioral Sciences. Her graduate thesis explored the relationship between digital intimate partner violence and mental health outcomes. She also has a Bachelor of Arts in Gender & Sexuality Studies, Linguistics, and Child & Adolescent Mental Health from New York University.

Prior to taking over as Girls Health Ed’s Executive Director, Pavita served for six years as the organization’s Director of Programs & Outreach, during which time she created and tailored Girls Health Ed’s curriculum, trained over 100 Teaching Fellows, built partnerships with 50 schools and community centers across all program locations, and taught workshops in the United States and Kenya.

Pavita is the international bestselling author of To All the Magic in Me, a poetry book on mental health, self-care, and emotions. She will be donating a portion of the proceeds from book sales to Girls Health Ed in order to contribute to the health, wellbeing, and happiness of girls and young women everywhere.

Meet the Team: Board of Directors

Sarah Hillware

Founder and Board Chair

Sarah is an award-winning social entrepreneur, global health leader and gender equality champion. In 2012, she founded Girls Health Ed, a nonprofit changing harmful gender norms through its evidence-based approach to gender-transformative comprehensive health and sexuality education (CSE).

Sarah has held roles at the World Bank, WHO and other UN agencies. She currently serves as Deputy Director of Women in Global Health (WGH), a 50,000-strong global movement and the largest network of women and allies working to challenge power and privilege for gender equity in health.

Katherine Tan, MBA

Board Vice Chair

Katherine is a Program Officer in the Development Policy and Finance group at the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation. She is passionate about women and girls’ issues and is a longtime volunteer on issues related to sexual and relationship violence and girls’ education.

Katherine has an MBA with honors from the Wharton School, University of Pennsylvania, where she graduated in the top 20% of her MBA for Executives Class. She graduated cum laude with honors from Harvard College with a BA in Economics.

Dr. Kathryn Kelly

Interim Treasurer

Dr. Kathryn Kelly is a Board-certified internal medicine physician in Silver Spring, MD. She is the President/Owner of Kelly Collaborative Medicine focusing on primary care. Dr. Kelly has a passion for the underserved and community service through healthcare and works to provide comprehensive, compassionate care to her patients.

Dr. Kelly received her BS in Biology and BA in Anthropology in 2001 from Howard University and worked towards her Master in Education at City College of New York and Brooklyn College while teaching high school science in the Bronx, New York from 2001 to 2003. She received her medical degree from Howard University in 2007 and completed her residency and Chief Residency in Internal Medicine at the Washington Hospital Center in Washington, DC.

Jeff S. Puretz, JD

Jeff is active in supporting several charitable organizations. He joined the Board of Directors for Girls Health Ed in 2019. Having served as a legal adviser to the organization, Jeff was moved by GHE’s mission and its people.

Jeff also serves as the Chair of the Board of Governors of the Charles E. Smith Life Communities, which includes the Hebrew Home of Greater Washington. Jeff served as the Chair of the Board of Visitors of Catholic University Law School from 2018 to 2021. Until his retirement at the end of 2018, Jeff practiced law at the global law firm Dechert LLP for 33 years.

Geoffrey Chorbajian

Geoffrey is currently the co-owner of Blue in Green, a clothing boutique in New York City. He attended Northeastern University, where he graduated with a degree in finance.

Geoffrey previously worked at CARE International. There, he spent over 10 years honing his skills in development, specifically individual major gifts. While at CARE, Geoffrey had the great privilege to travel the world and visit programs in several countries. It was during these trips that he developed a strong understanding of international development and the importance of targeting women and girls. Geoffrey went on to work for a few smaller non-profits. His responsibilities were to design and implement major giving strategies as well as board management.

Sandy Salinas, CRPC

Sandy Salinas is Director and Market Executive for Merrill Lynch Wealth Management in the Lone Star Market consisting of three locations: San Antonio, La Cantera, and McAllen, Texas. The Merrill market she leads is home to trusted financial advisors, international wealth advisors, Merrill private wealth management advisors, and financial advisors in the trainee program. The advisors provide financial guidance and investment solutions to ultra-high-net-worth, high-net-worth, and affluent clients, institutions, companies, and nonprofits.

Sandy joined Wall Street in 2002 as a financial advisor and has served in leadership roles in Dallas, TX; Chandler, AZ, Greater Washington, DC; Northern Virginia; Greater Los Angeles and Sacramento, California; Miami, Florida; and South Texas.

Over the years, Sandy has served as part of the Boards and advisory councils for various organizations, including the Association of Latino Professionals in Finance and Accounting, Collin County Committee on Aging, Greater Dallas Hispanic Chamber of Commerce, and the University of North Texas FIREL Advisory Board. In her free time, you’ll find Sandy supporting her community as a speaker for various women’s organizations focused on financial education and women’s equality and fairness. In addition, she is a member of the Cathedral of St. Matthew the Apostle in Washington, DC and Bank of America’s Hispanic Latino Executive Council.

Dr. Angela Jones

Dr. Angela of AskDrAngela.com is equal parts best girlfriend and bold professional, supporting women’s health with innovative approaches to care and heavy doses of humor.

Dr. Angela has done more than launch a successful practice. She has also defined herself as a voice for a new generation of womanhood, established her Ask Dr. Angela brand committed to authenticity, and built a community rooted in trust, candor, and compassion. She is a wife, a mother, a Midwesterner, and an award-winning OB/GYN.

Dr. Natasha McKay

Natasha is a physician who is passionate about health education and preventive care. She is Board-certified in internal medicine and specializes in acute inpatient care. Her most recent endeavor was in Kenya, where she worked with girls recovering from female genital mutilation.

Upon graduating from the University of Florida with a BA in Food Science and Human Nutrition, then from Ross University School of Medicine with high honors, she completed her residency at the Georgetown University/Washington Hospital Center program in Washington, DC.

Meet the Team: Staff and Volunteers

Angela Young

Director of Communications

“This work is deeply important to me. We put the health and well-being of girls and young women first by providing them with evidence-based, effective, and practical tools, resources, and knowledge to learn about their bodies, behaviors, and personal development throughout puberty and maturation. We provide a safe space and offer girls and young women the opportunity to further understand, cultivate, and honor their community that allows for growth, knowledge-sharing, and transformative change. The work of ending gender-based disparities and fighting for the rights of girls and women everywhere is ever changing, inspiring, and absolutely necessary.”

Carolyn Griffith

Operations Coordinator

“I am so pasionate about this organization mostly because I believe in the mission, purpose, and vision! Let’s inspire confidence, beauty, and strength in women of the future.“

Diana Kasuku

Kenya Program Coordinator

“Let’s educate our girls. Girls need to be in the know. Education is key to life.”

Andrea Perez

UX UI Designer

“Social stereotypes tell girls and women they’re expected to act a certain way only because of their gender. I love that GHE chooses to educate and empower girls so they can stand up for themselves and be their own voice.”

Lucy Alejandro

Communications Intern

CHANGE“I am so pasionate about this organization mostly because I believe in the mission, purpose, and vision! Let’s inspire the confidence, beauty and strength in the women of the future. “

Julia Granito

Outreach Staff

CHANGE“Let’s educate our girls. Girls need to be in-the-know. Education is key to life.”

Your Support Is Powerful!

Join our efforts to improve the lives of girls and young women through comprehensive health and sexuality education. Thanks to your continued support, we can expand our reach and help even more girls and young women change their lives.