Willona joined Care Share Health Alliance as ACA Project Specialist in October 2014 and was promoted to Director of NC Get Covered in March 2016. She works closely with the NCGC Advisory Board to develop and implement a strategic plan to help guide the work of the coalition and ensure its sustainability. In addition, Willona plans and facilitates monthly coalition meetings on critical topics related to the ACA, reports outcomes from the coalition’s work to local funders, manages the program budget and website, and serves as the state’s point of contact for the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Region IV.
Willona has more than 15 years of experience in program development and management, grant writing, stakeholder engagement, and data management. Before joining Care Share, Willona served as the founding director of the NC Council of Churches’ health initiative, Partners in Health and Wholeness – helping to promote health as a faith issue and to connect people of faith to statewide resources, including mini-grants. She also served as Public Health Program Consultant II for the NC Sickle Cell Syndrome Program and Statistical Research Assistant II for the NC State Center for Health Statistics.
Willona holds a Bachelor’s degree in Psychology and a Master of Public Health degree, with a concentration in Maternal and Child Health, from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.