Chinasa U. Imo is a development and global health policy strategist, researcher, humanitarian and civil society leader whose work explores how governance, public policy and community participation shape health and social welfare outcomes.

CURRENT ROLES

• Founder and Executive Director, Innovation Hub for Inclusiveness, Empowerment and Social Development (SieDi-Hub)
• Founder, What About Rural Health?™
• Host, What About Rural Health?™ podcast
• Steering Committee Member, World Health Organization Civil Society Commission
• PhD Candidate in Social Welfare and Health Policy, University of Chicago Crown Family School of Social Work, Policy, and Practice

Her career spans health systems strengthening, maternal and newborn health, policy advocacy, public health emergency response, humanitarian coordination, strategic communications and nonprofit leadership across Africa and the United States. She has worked with governments, international development organizations, academic institutions and community based groups to translate evidence and community knowledge into more effective policies and public programs.

Chinasa is a PhD candidate in Social Welfare and Health Policy at the University of Chicago Crown Family School of Social Work, Policy, and Practice. Her research uses political economy analysis and participatory approaches to examine health system reform, decentralization, public accountability and service delivery in low resource, hard to reach and crisis affected settings. Her research and program experience includes child welfare systems in the United States, community participation in Honduras, maternal and newborn health programs in conflict affected countries, and community health interventions in Ghana and Nigeria.

She serves on the World Health Organization Civil Society Commission Steering Committee and is the Founder and Executive Director of the Innovation Hub for Inclusiveness, Empowerment and Social Development, known as SieDi-Hub. Through SieDi-Hub, she leads initiatives that connect social justice, inclusive development, policy engagement and community centered programming, with particular attention to women, young people and underserved populations.

Her earlier work includes technical and communications leadership with Evidence for Action MamaYe, outbreak communication with the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control, health research supported by USAID and Johns Hopkins University, advocacy through the ONE Campaign, and humanitarian and communications work during the African Union Ebola response in Sierra Leone.

Chinasa is also the founder of What About Rural Health?™, an organization dedicated to bringing greater visibility to rural health issues affecting communities around the world. She hosts the What About Rural Health?™ podcast, where she brings researchers, practitioners, policymakers and community voices into conversations about overlooked health challenges, systems and populations. This work forms part of her broader commitment to ensuring that public policy and development decisions are informed by community knowledge and respond to the people they are intended to serve.

Across her work, Chinasa connects research, policy, institutions and community knowledge to strengthen public systems, improve accountability and expand meaningful participation in decisions that affect people’s health and wellbeing.