Brenda Henry-Sanchez, a senior program officer in the Research and Evaluation unit, joined the Foundation in 2008 and works to create new opportunities for better health for society's most vulnerable members. As a member of the Vulnerable Populations Portfolio, she oversees evaluations of programs and initiatives with the potential for widespread replication and national impact and funds research that expands our understanding of how best to improve health and well-being where we live, learn, work, and play. She also helps to further the Foundation’s work with researchers from historically disadvantaged and underrepresented communities and to expand the diversity within the evaluation field overall. As she puts it: “What we do at the Foundation, whether it is addressing diversity, disparities, or population health, puts the nation on the road to better health, and that’s extremely rewarding.”

Previously, Henry-Sanchez was program director for the Center for Applied Research and Technical Assistance, Inc. in Baltimore, a national nonprofit organization that was dedicated to ensuring the healthy development of all young people, specifically youth of color. Her extensive research background includes a range of positions at High/Scope Educational Research Foundation, University of Michigan, Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center, and the Joseph L. Mailman School of Public Health, Columbia University.

Henry-Sanchez received both her PhD in health behavior and health education and her MPH from the University of Michigan. A member of the American Public Health Association, Population Association of America, and American Evaluation Association, she has received numerous academic awards and honors. Born in Puerto Rico and raised in New York City, she and her husband Safiy reside in Harlem. In her spare time she enjoys movies, concerts, dining out, scuba diving, and engaging in sports, especially softball.