Originally from Trinidad and Tobago, Abby Charles, MPH joined The Well Project Board of Directors in the Spring of 2012. She presently works as a Program Manager at the Institute for Public Health Innovation, the Public Health Institute for DC, MD and VA. Ms. Charles joined the Institute after serving for five years at The Women’s Collective, a nationally-recognized organization providing care, prevention, and advocacy services for women, girls and their families living with and at risk for HIV in the Metropolitan DC area. Leveraging her knowledge and experience in sexual health and HIV, Ms. Charles provides leadership and coordination for two programs in DC and Northern Virginia that aim to increase the participation of people living with HIV/AIDS in medical care using a network of peer Community Health Workers and by increasing connectedness among clinical and non-clinical service providers. In this role she has been an advocate for including peers as integral members of the interdisciplinary care team and as essential members of the health system in the implementation of the Affordable Care Act.
Ms. Charles is involved in various community HIV coalitions and community advisory boards (CABs)including the DC Community Coalition, the DC D–Center for AIDS Research CAB, and the GW University HIV Prevention Trials Network (HPTN) CAB. Ms. Charles also volunteers on the Board of Directors for The Women’s Collective and the Alumnae Association of her High School Alma Mater, Bishop Anstey High School, as well as serves as the language arts coordinator at the Cultural Academy for Excellence.
A dancer and performing artist, Ms. Charles performs with the Taurus Broadhurst Dance company as well as with other dance and theater companies. In the fall of 2012, Ms. Charles will be featured as a monthly host of CaribNation Television a Caribbean based television show that airs in the DC region as well as in 19 islands of the Caribbean.
An alumnus of George Washington University, Ms. Charles earned a Bachelor’s of Science in Environmental Science and a Master’s of Public Health in Global Health. In 2006 Ms. Charles was awarded the George Washington University Martin Luther King Junior Award for Service and was honored with an Impact award from the GW Black Alumni Association. Ms. Charles is also an inductee of the George Washington University Wall of Fame.
