What’s Next with Innovations in Nutrition & Virtual Health Promotion Programming?

Laura Samnadda MS, RDN, LD, Director of Nutrition Services, leads Open Hand Atlanta’s and Good Measure Meals’ nutrition services program development and delivery. Laura has been a Registered Dietitian in Chicago and Atlanta for over 12 years primarily focusing on improving food insecurity and health for those living with chronic illness. At Open Hand Atlanta, she developed the team’s telehealth initiative and is currently coordinating our service expansion across Georgia. Additionally, she is a Master Trainer for the Chronic Disease Self-Management Program, implements Cooking Matters, leads the Open Hand Wellness Committee, and has coordinated many partnerships with health systems, health plans, and other non-profits. She has presented at conferences/webinars including with Meals on Wheels of America, National Council on Aging’s Age + Action Conferences, the Food is Medicine Coalition (FIMC), and The Root Cause Coalition (TRCC). She is an active committee member for FIMC and TRCC and advocate for improving the social determinants of health. Laura brings excellence in project management and oversight and innovation in our service offerings.

Miranda is the Research & Evaluation Manager for Open Hand Atlanta, a non-profit focused on eliminating disability and untimely death due to nutrition-sensitive chronic disease in Georgia. She is a recent graduate of the Emory University Nutrition & Health Sciences Doctoral program where she first got involved with Open Hand Atlanta projects. Her dissertation focused on evaluating a produce prescription program administered through a partnership between Open Hand Atlanta and Grady Health System.

Prior to beginning her doctoral studies, Miranda received her Master of Public Health degree in Epidemiology from Emory University’s Rollins School of Public Health. She has worked on surveillance projects and program evaluations for organizations including the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Planned Parenthood, Wholesome Wave Georgia, and Emory University. A North Carolina native, Miranda attended Appalachian State University where she graduated with a Bachelor of Arts in Interdisciplinary Studies, a self-designed program incorporating Biology, Chemistry, Spanish, and Health Care Management.

Aleta joined Open Hand’s Client Services team as Program Manager in 2004, was promoted to Director in 2010, and Senior Director in 2014.  She is a Licensed Professional Counselor with a Masters in Professional Counseling and a Bachelor of Science in Community Health Education.  She directs Client Services team members who work to ensure that services are coordinated with multiple community partners and providers, and that clients are satisfied with services received. Aleta has been a driving force in Open Hand becoming a preferred provider of partner-agencies. Aleta also manages the Programmatic Team which leads programs and policy, processes, and evaluation of outcomes, and the Community Nutrition Services Registered Dietitians.  She participates on the agency’s Continuous Quality Improvement (CQI) team, ensuring client concerns are being heard as part of determining any process/procedure improvements.  Aleta has led several successful expansion initiatives in terms of service delivery area and new approaches to client satisfaction that lend themselves well to this project. Her prior experience includes provision of case management and counseling services.

Ellen Davis is a registered dietitian and the Health Promotion Director at the Iowa Department on Aging as well as part of the Nutrition and Aging Resource Center team. As a member of the Nutrition and Aging Resource Center team, Ellen provides support to the national senior nutrition network by way of thoughtful technical assistance. In her role as Health Promotion Director for IDA she supports service delivery in evidence-based and non evidence-based programming, nutrition education and nutrition counseling for Iowa's six AAAs.