Vice President, U.S. Programs
Americares Vice President of U.S. Programs Saqi Cho, DrPH, MSPH, leads the strategic direction of the organization’s health programming in the United States. She designs, implements and directs innovative clinic-based programs to expand health equity and improve the quality of patient care. Americares U.S. Programs provide medicine, supplies, education and training to nearly 1,000 partner clinics and community health centers serving more than 7 million patients in need.
Cho leads a team focused on helping partner clinics to increase capacity, provide comprehensive care, improve health outcomes and reduce costs for low-income, uninsured and underinsured patients. The programs—tailored to meet the unique needs of safety net clinics—help patients manage chronic disease and educate health workers in behavioral health and COVID-19 treatment and prevention. Her team also supports Americares programs that help health care providers prevent or address the health impacts of climate change, including the Climate Resilience for Frontline Clinics Toolkit and the Climate and Climate Health Equity for Community Clinics Program—both collaborations with the Center for Climate, Health, and the Global Environment at Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health (Harvard Chan C-CHANGE).
Cho has a wealth of leadership experience in the public health sector, addressing the broad social and economic policies that unintentionally shape the health of communities, particularly in the areas of housing, community development, agricultural and food policy. For the past 20 years, she has been working to build healthier communities by engaging in cross-sector collaborations, ensuring that community members are a part of the decision-making process and translating research into evidence-based policy.
Prior to joining Americares in 2022, Cho served as the director of research, policy and health promotion at the National Center for Health in Public Housing. She also serves as a guest lecturer at the Milken Institute School of Public Health at the George Washington University in Washington, D.C. Cho also spent several years as a senior associate with the Health Impact Project, a collaboration between the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation and the Pew Charitable Trusts, where she developed a mentorship program to promote and improve the practice of health impact assessment among local health agencies.
Cho earned a Doctor of Public Health degree from George Washington University in Washington, D.C., a master’s degree from Meharry Medical College in Tennessee and a bachelor’s degree from the University of Tennessee.