above: The Build Missouri Health staff, l to r: Rob Gipson, Jasmine Hall Ratliff, Maria Nunes
Meet the team: Maria Nunes, title here
Maria Nunes came to Build Missouri Health with a master's degree in public health and experience working in both smaller and larger local health departments, including Platte County and Kansas City. She was drawn to BMH by the opportunity to work more directly on health equity, collaborate with community members and leaders, and explore her growing interests in advocacy, grantmaking and philanthropy.
As Project and Relationships Associate, Maria gets a front-row seat to the many different ways organizations across Missouri are working to improve health and opportunity. "I've learned how many different solutions there can be to the same problem,” she says. “The approaches may be different, but they can all work together to get us where we're trying to go."
Her work at BMH has also introduced her to organizations doing important work in communities throughout Missouri, giving her what she describes as a much bigger picture of what's happening across the state.
Maria is especially excited about BMH's growing role as an intermediary and fiscal sponsor. She currently helps lead BMH's intermediary work with Upward Momentum, coordinating the Bridging Divides learning cohort and helping create opportunities for organizations from rural and urban Missouri to connect and learn from one another. "I'm really excited to see the creative ways these organizations bridge rural and urban communities, and to see the impact that comes from the work they're doing," she says.
Maria sees even more opportunity in the future to provide the behind-the-scenes infrastructure that allows smaller organizations to grow and thrive. And ultimately, that's what she wants partners to experience when they work with BMH: "I hope they feel empowered and know that we can really help them grow,” she says.
As Project and Relationships Associate, Maria gets a front-row seat to the many different ways organizations across Missouri are working to improve health and opportunity. "I've learned how many different solutions there can be to the same problem,” she says. “The approaches may be different, but they can all work together to get us where we're trying to go."
Her work at BMH has also introduced her to organizations doing important work in communities throughout Missouri, giving her what she describes as a much bigger picture of what's happening across the state.
Maria is especially excited about BMH's growing role as an intermediary and fiscal sponsor. She currently helps lead BMH's intermediary work with Upward Momentum, coordinating the Bridging Divides learning cohort and helping create opportunities for organizations from rural and urban Missouri to connect and learn from one another. "I'm really excited to see the creative ways these organizations bridge rural and urban communities, and to see the impact that comes from the work they're doing," she says.
Maria sees even more opportunity in the future to provide the behind-the-scenes infrastructure that allows smaller organizations to grow and thrive. And ultimately, that's what she wants partners to experience when they work with BMH: "I hope they feel empowered and know that we can really help them grow,” she says.