Board of Directors

Pam Silverstein, MD
Pam Silverstein is a board certified obstetrician and gynecologist and works in high-risk obstetrics with midwives. She is a clinical faculty member for the family practice residents on Obstetrics in addition to her private practice, Pam Silverstein MD, FACOG is co-founder of UJAMAA Medical Connections and director of the Maternal Child Project. Dr. Silverstein has traveled to Rwanda 3 times during the last 2 years leading a team in the Bugasera District to 10 clinics to teach health care workers obstetric and neonatal skills. Dr Silverstein is also leading the committee to establish a mobile van clinic in Rwanda.

Adie Goldberg, ACSW, M.Ed.
Adie Goldberg is a psychiatric social worker, educator and author. Her international work began in Togo West Africa as a Community Health Extension Agent in the Peace Corps. As UJAMAA’s co-founder, she has made two trips to Rwanda facilitating training for trauma counselors, hospital administrators and the board of Health Development Initiative-Rwanda. During her most recent trip, as UJAMAA’s director of community health programming, Adie evaluated UJAMAA’s previous clinic training programs and developed new programs for mental health care and village housing.

Sandy Goldberg, PT
Sandy Goldberg is a physical therapist currently working to help coordinate the Healing Hearts Northwest Project of UJAMAA. Prior to moving to Spokane, she was the acting Director of Therapy Services at Childrens Hospital in Los Angeles. Since that time Ms Goldberg has been on the Board of Directors for Discovery School, the Medical Auxiliary. She will be making her first trip to Rwanda in February of 2010.

Meryl Gersh PhD, PT
Meryl Roth Gersh, PhD, PT has been a Professor of Physical Therapy at Eastern Washington University in Spokane, WA. Since the inception of the Physical Therapy Program there is 1985. Professor Gersh has served as Vice President of the Section on Clinical Electrophysiology of the American Physical Therapy Association and currently is on the Board of Directors of the Physical Therapy Association of Washington. She recently returned from an international rehabilitation medicine mission in Chisinau, Moldova with Medical Teams International and is committed to extending the reach on health care service and education to regions in need across the globe.

Mary Hadley
Mary Haley is an administrative Assistant in the insurance industry. She has 30 years of experience in corporate office management, including 5 years as Eastern Washington Program Coordinator for a non-profit organization. Mary has extensive experience with compassionate care, grief management, and pet therapy programs. Mary was part of the initial fat finding mission in June of 2008 and was instrumental in raising money to provide shoes uniforms and health insurance to the B’twa community.

Christopher Zilar MAA
Christopher Zilar has worked for the Spokane Regional Health District since 1997. He currently is the program Manager IV for Tobacco Prevention/Control and Breast/Cervical/Colon Health. Mr. Zilar has worked as a HIV Prevention specialist, public health educator and ASSIST Program Director. His current job includes management education, training, and program development. Nr Zilar was a member of the initial fact finding team in June of 2008.

Jennifer Day
Jennifer Day joined the Healing Hearts Northwest Team in February as the principal grant writer. She joined the Board of Directors of UJAMAA in September of 2009. Ms. Day recognizes that lasting solutions to health care are found trough comprehensive approaches. Ms. Day has worked over 12 years in Africa and Asia with community members, government health providers, policy makers and researchers to improve health care. Her primary focus is reproductive health, including family planning HIV/AIDS and maternal and child health Ms. Day has worked on innovative, cross-sectoral approaches to improve community access to health services and quality of are; strengthen health workers’ and health systems’ capacity promote men’s and women’s health; test new technologies to prevent HIV and/or STI’s; and sue research to evaluate programs and advocate for policy change. Ms. Day will join the Healing Northwest Team in February to begin to develop the comprehensive plan for the detection of Rheumatic Heart Disease with Health Development initiative and King Faisal Hospital.

Project Directors

Maternal and Child Health
Pam Silverstein, MD

Community Health
Adie Goldberg, ACSW, M.Ed

Healing Hearts Northwest
Hal Goldberg, MD