Our Team

Our People Make Us Great

Located in hubs across the country, our team is connected both locally and nationally. We offer deep experience and expertise and are always looking for new ways to support you, your partners, and the communities with which you work.

In addition to our expert team, we are pleased to work with a team of outstanding consultants — Jeff Gould, MDiv, Strategic Advisor; Bernadette Maloney, RN, MSN, APRN-CNS, and Mary Cullinane BSN, ARNP-BC, Clinical Consultants; Jaebi Bussey, Aya Port, MA, and Eimear O’Neill, Instructional Design Consultants; and Emelia Leon, MPH, Robin Mills, MA, Marcus Mitchinson, and Mary D. Patterson, MPH, Training Consultants.

Staff Board

Wendy Nakatsukasa-Ono, MPH
President / CEO
Melanie Ogleton, MHSA, MPH
Chief Strategy Officer
Tony Peterson
Chief Financial Officer
Vanessa Sarria, MPA
Chief Program Officer
Cathy Bogan
Senior Accountant
Graham Ambrose, MPH
Research and Evaluation Manager
Cynthia Cervantes, MPH, CHES
Training Manager
Vittoria Criss, MS
Program Director
Michelle Daugherty
LMS and Program Manager
Pavithra Devarajan
Social Impact Writer
Sunil Dutt
Financial Analyst
Sofia Ellis-Curry, MA
Training Manager
Molly Feder, MPH
Research and Evaluation Director
Nick Garcia
Senior Accountant
Montana Gill, MPH
Research and Evaluation Manager
Christine Hagstrom, MPH
Program Director
Aly Henniger, MEd
Training Manager
Avanthi Jayasuriya, MPH
Senior Research and Evaluation Manager
Shailey Klinedinst, MPH
Program Director
Otis Lee, MBA, MEd
Director of Learning Design and Experience
Olivia Lutz, MPH
Senior Research and Evaluation Manager
Pegah Maleki, MPH, MSW, LSW
Research and Evaluation Manager
Madeline Martinez, MCHES
Program Manager
Mona Mazraani, MPH
Research and Evaluation Director
Sarah McQueen, MSW
Program Director
Lizzy Menstell, MPH
Research and Evaluation Manager
Robert Mitchell
Systems/Operations Director
Nneoma Nwobilor, MSc
Research and Evaluation Manager
Sarah Orton
Training Manager
Paige O’Sullivan
Program Coordinator
Mar Padilla, LMSW, MSEd, CHWI
Training Manager
Laura Potter, LCSW
Program Director
Beatriz Reyes, MPA
Training Manager
Ryan Mateo Sharnbroich, MEd, MPH
Director of Professional Learning and Sexuality Education
Emma Singer
Learning and Instructional Design Manager
Jiselle Soss
Program Coordinator
Tristan Stitt
Continuing Education (CE) Coordinator
Marlene Valdovinos
Training Manager
Lori Weber
Learning and Instructional Design Manager
Rebecca Wheaton, MS
Research and Evaluation Manager
Eric Wheeler
Instructional and Graphic Design Manager
Heidi Winig, MEd, MPH
Program Director
Amanda Winters, MPH, MPA
Director of Program and Impact
Erica Wei Wu
Research and Evaluation Coordinator

Wendy Nakatsukasa-Ono, MPH

President / CEO

Pronouns: she/her

Wendy Nakatsukasa-Ono, MPH, President / CEO at Cardea, has more than 25 years of experience in public health. Wendy has extensive experience in training and organizational development, with a particular focus on clinical systems change, community-based programs, and nonprofit leadership and management. In addition, she has significant experience in research and evaluation, including integration of quantitative and qualitative data to inform program improvement and policy development.

Wendy has worked closely with federal, state and local partners, including key roles on much of Cardea’s work related to HIV, STD, and other sexual health issues. For the last 20 years, she has been a major contributor to research and evaluation initiatives supported by a variety of federal, state and local partners. Wendy has published and presented widely on Cardea’s work, as well as other areas of interest including the impact of health reform on public health programs and health equity/social justice issues.

Prior to joining Cardea, Wendy served as Community Health Planner for the Center for MultiCultural Health. She graduated from the University of Washington with an MPH.

Melanie Ogleton, MHSA, MPH

Chief Strategy Officer

Pronouns: she/her

Melanie Ogleton is a skilled public health community development and capacity building expert with a focus on substance use disorder, HIV/AIDS, minority health, and women’s health. Melanie has close to 20 years of experience directing large-scale federal government technical assistance, capacity-building, and training contracts. She possesses a strong commitment to increasing the capacity of state and local systems to develop, implement, evaluate, and sustain effective public health programs for minority and under-served populations. Consequently, her program management expertise spans the continuum from work with federal agencies, state systems, local health departments, and community and faith-based organizations. Melanie is an experienced facilitator and trainer with significant experience designing and facilitating national, regional, and local events that have helped communities and stakeholder groups nationwide expand systems of care, support partnership development, and enhance staff competency.

Prior to joining Cardea, Melanie served as Practice Area Lead for the Center for Behavioral Health at Altarum’s Population Health Strategies division. She holds a Master’s Degree in Health Services Administration and a Master’s Degree in Public Health from The George Washington University.

Tony Peterson

Chief Financial Officer

Pronouns: he/him

Vanessa Sarria, MPA

Chief Program Officer

Pronouns: she/her

Vanessa Sarria has 30 years of health and human services experience leading public health initiatives and programs at the national, state, and local levels. Vanessa is passionate about enhancing equity and opportunity and has dedicated her career to improving public health. She is an experienced convener and has extensive expertise engaging diverse community members and organizations in collectively raising awareness, promoting collaboration, and engaging underserved communities in the areas of housing, workforce/economic development, food security, healthcare, language access, substance use, mental health, transportation, early education and care, and sexual health. Prior to joining Cardea in 2016, Vanessa served in executive leadership, management, coalition-building, and community engagement roles for a range of organizations including the Community Advancement Network, Office of Austin Mayor Steve Adler, Workforce Solutions Capital Area, Austin Public Health, Charter Behavioral Health Systems, Integral Care, National Public Health and Hospital Institute in Washington, DC, and the Texas Department of Family and Protective Services. She holds a Bachelor’s Degree from the University of Texas at Austin and a Master’s Degree in Public Administration with a concentration in health policy from Syracuse University.