UHP Board of Directors
Our Staff
Our Board of Directors
Our Co-Founders
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Nate Ortiz is the Chief Operations Officer for Baptist Hospital of Miami, a 900-bed quaternary level hospital that is home to the Miami Cardiac and Vascular Institute, Miami Cancer Institute and Miami Neuroscience Institute. He is responsible for executing the hospital’s strategic initiatives and master plan and has direct oversight of the hospital’s surgical services division and Miami Neuroscience Institute, amongst other services.
Nate is a veteran healthcare leader with more than 25 years in the healthcare industry and has held board and/or leadership positions for the Miami Vineyard Community Church, American Cancer Society, Sigma Phi Epsilon Fraternity, United Way, and Urban Health Partnerships.
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Dr. Yhovana Gordon’s commitment to the enhancement of clinical education and delivery of quality-safe care to all patients across the lifespan is evident through her leadership and practice.
Dr. Gordon holds a DNP, Doctorate in Nursing Practice, from the University of South Alabama, an EdD, Doctorate in Education from Nova Southeastern University, and an MSN and BSN from Florida International University (FIU). Dr. Gordon’s professional background includes clinical practice multi-generational populations within multi-cultural, primary care/internal medicine settings and minority groups as a nurse practitioner (APRN) and as a Registered Nurse (RN) across multiple hospitals, diverse acuity, and specialty areas; as well serving as a faculty member in ascending roles and responsibilities over the years at Florida International University. Dr. Gordon has served South Florida and international communities with clinical acumen and advanced practice nursing for over 25 years. Dr. Yhovana Gordon has led innovations in undergraduate and graduate nursing program(s); as well as contribute in developing and implementing quality improvement initiatives and successful national accreditation of programs in clinical and higher education settings. Her leadership led numerous Health Resources Service Award submissions, implementation of new programs, cutting edge approaches to clinical nursing education and the infusion of faculty into community-focused initiatives.
Dr. Yhovana Gordon has presented her creative and cutting-edge approaches to nursing education at international and national forums focused on educating nurses in across the lifespan medical-surgical and maternal health. Dr. Gordon has disseminated her work on implementation of interprofessional education through service practice and clinical rotations. She is recognized nationally for her contributions to clinical practice certification exams as a textbook reviewer and item writer.
Dr. Gordon’s clinical education expertise and training is supportive of the evaluation, development and
enhancement of practice and curricula; as well as of the successful delivery and implementation of evidence-based, clinical knowledge to students of diverse cultural backgrounds.
Anamarie Melo, MPH, CPH
UHP Co-Founder, UHS representative, Member, UHP Board of Directors
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Anamarie Melo is the co-founder of Urban Health and was CEO of UHP from 2011-2018. She holds a Masters in Public Health with a concentration in epidemiology and a certificate in international health. She is also Certified in Public Health by the National Board of Public Health Examiners. Anamarie has worked in the field for more than 15 years and has served her community in senior leadership positions while actively securing more than 40 million dollars in funding for South Florida public health initiatives. Her primary focus is in identifying and addressing the root causes of health and social disparities. She achieves this aim through establishing a shared vision with community stakeholders, then assisting with the co-development and implementation of policy, systems, and built and social environmental changes. Prior to establishing Urban Health, Anamarie focused on international public health monitoring and evaluation, HIV/AIDS outreach and research, pedestrian and bicycle safety projects and research, unconventional public engagement, and sports and emergency medicine. Anamarie is currently an active member of UHP’ Board of Directors, Live Healthy Little Havana Board of Directors, Founding Member of the Miami-Dade Age-Friendly Initiative, WalkSafe Ambassador, Miami DDA Homeless Taskforce Committee member, AmericaWalks Walking College Mentor, and President of the MidBeach Neighborhood Association. Anamarie is also co-owner and founder of Urban Health Solutions the parent company of Urban Health Partnerships.
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Alfonso “Alfie” Leon is an attorney who received his J.D. and B.A. in Sociology/Anthropology from FIU. His understanding of policy, advocacy, and litigation allow for Mr. Leon to represent communities and residents in a unique way. He currently works at the Wolfson Law Firm and lives in Little Havana with his wife Katie.
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Dr. Deborah A. Finley is a native of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania and the proud mother of one daughter. Dr. Finley received her doctorate in Communication Sciences and Disorders from Howard University. Her early professional career as a speech-language pathologist gave her the opportunity to provide therapeutic services to pediatric, school-aged children and adults with communication and/or language disorders. Throughout her career she has held various positions as a staff speech-language therapist, a school administrator with Miami-Dade County Public Schools, and an adjunct professor at Johns Hopkins University Graduate School, Baltimore, Maryland, Florida International University, Miami, Florida and Temple University, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Her business endeavors have included establishing Interactive Communication LLC, Partnerships for Health and Education Inc. and Meridian A-Global Intellectual Knowledge LLC. Her business consulting and research interests have included artificial intelligence, healthcare advocacy and healthcare literacy. Her commitment to community service and civic engagement have focused on partnering with schools and educational organizations to promote reading literacy and STEM career development. She continues to advance her leadership development through participating in programs such as Leadership Montgomery (Maryland) and Leadership Miami (Florida).
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Dr. Alwyn Leiba serves as President of Miami Dade College, Medical Campus. Dr. Leiba is a dedicated alumnus and educator whose journey began as a student at Miami Dade College. Returning to his alma mater, he has served in numerous roles including associate professor, chairperson, and most recently, Dean of the School of Health Sciences, where he successfully implemented numerous allied health programs to meet critical workforce demands. During his time as Dean, he successfully implemented several allied health programs addressing vital workforce needs. Dr. Leiba‘s commitment to education and the healthcare field has earned him respect among his peers and students alike. As an accomplished leader, Dr. Leiba holds the distinction of being the first African American president of both the Florida Dental Hygienists’ Association and the South Florida Dental Hygienists’ Association. Dr. Leiba‘s impressive academic credentials include a doctorate in higher education leadership from Northcentral University, an MBA with a concentration in healthcare management from American Intercontinental University, a bachelor’s degree in dental hygiene from Saint Petersburg College and an associate in dental hygiene from Miami Dade College.
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A native of North Jersey and a long-time resident of South Florida, Alberto Padron is now based in Southwest Florida. A proud veteran of the United States Air Force, he serves as the CEO of Stinghouse Creative, a marketing communications agency headquartered in Coral Gables, FL. Today, Alberto specializes in aiding mission-driven institutions to strengthen their identity and craft their creative message(s) to effectively appeal to key audiences. Stinghouse helps recruit deserving students, engage donor prospects, raise impactful resources, but mostly, guide institutions on clarifying and strengthening the why, where, when, and how to communicate the full power of their purpose. Stinghouse is a 45x award-winning agency, both nationally and internationally recognized for their work in capital campaigns, fundraising, community engagement, public service & activism, branding, video, design, animation, and more.
Alberto started his marketing communications career 25 years ago working for leading agencies and Fortune 100 clients across various categories including automotive (Ford Motor Company), travel (American Airlines), banking (Chase), and consumer package goods (Unilever), among others. In addition to leading Stinghouse, Alberto has served on several boards to include the very selective Leadership Florida, an organization comprised of senior executives from across the state focused on Florida’s advancement in the areas of business, environment, diversity, and inclusion.
As a volunteer, Alberto has been the keynote speaker for National Society of Hispanic MBA’s regional conferences at the Cornell SC Johnson Graduate School of Management and the Simon Business School at the University of Rochester in NY. Alberto has emceed five TEDx events. He holds an undergraduate and MBA from Florida International University (FIU) in Miami, FL, an MSc. degree in marketing from Mercy College in NY, as well as a certificates in Post-Crisis Leadership from the University of South Florida and Multicultural Marketing from Florida State University.
He is married and the father of three boys. His middle child, Andres, is currently serving in the active-duty Air Force, stationed at the Royal Air Force Base in Fairford, United Kingdom. In 2021, Andres returned from a multi-month combat operation deployment to Camp Dwyer Marine Base in Afghanistan in support of Operation Freedom’s Sentinel.
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Dr. Edreco Amos is a visionary healthcare leader and founder of 1ne Health, where he harnesses technology to solve complex operational challenges in healthcare and communities. He serves as Vice Chair of GenM and Head of Agile at Moffitt Cancer Center, championing innovation, collaboration, and operational excellence across clinical, operational, and IT functions. A proud UHP Board Member and HOA Vice President, Dr. Amos is deeply committed to improving both healthcare systems and the communities they serve.
With a background in IT, compliance, and operations, Edreco is known as a strategic problem solver who builds high-performing teams and delivers meaningful results, quickly. Outside of work, he’s a family man who enjoys cooking (ask him about his meatloaf or stuffed shells), cheering on his favorite sports teams, and gaming with his kids (2). A former all-star athlete and lifelong creator, Edreco finds joy in building solutions that make life better for patients, families, and communities.
Jacqui B. Colyer
Member, UHP Board of Directors
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Jacqui attended Public Schools in Miami, graduated college at Winthrop University, completing graduate and post graduate studies at Barry University and University of Miami. She has served on numerous Boards of Directors and Directorships with the Department of Children and Families in Miami, Florida and Chicago, Illinois. On her way to her third retirement she was bitten by the Historic research in Miami’s forgotten and over looked neighborhoods – Liberty City, Brownsville, Lemon City, Nazarene, and so many others.
Her service on the Historic Hampton House Board of Directors took on a leadership role during Covid and she was tapped to become the Executive Director. She has grown the organization to National prominence as a site on both the State and National Registry of Historic Places. The budget has grown to more than a million dollars and the Historic Hampton House is in the midst of building a permanent exhibition that will become the ONLY restored Green Book Hotel Museum in the country that chronicles the countries Green Book locations that were ‘safe places’ for Black people to seek accommodations in daily life and while traveling.
The Green Book featured – hotels, motels, restaurants, mechanics, gas stations and places for accommodations without aggravation. Jacqui is a proud daughter of Thomas and Hester Bland , wife of Leroy Colyer for 30+ years and sister of Thomas and Valeria.
Interested in Becoming a Board Member?
UHP is currently seeking passionate board members to join the Board of Directors.