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Ruth Fisher Pollard, MS, MBA
Executive Director, Developing Families Center
rfpollard@developingfamilies.org  |   www.developingfamilies.org

Ruth Fisher Pollard serves as Executive Director, Developing Families Center, Washington, DC. The Developing Families Center (DFC) promotes the empowerment of low-income families through the collaboration of two nonprofit service providers—Community of Hope Family Health and Birth Center and Edward C. Mazique Parent Child Center. Ruth maintains an appointment in the Department of Health Systems Administration at the Georgetown University School of Nursing and Health Studies as an Adjunct Instructor.

With more than 20 years of leadership experience, Ruth recently served as a healthcare consultant with a portfolio of projects, including workforce development, program planning and operations, and emergency preparedness and response to the COVID-19 pandemic in Washington, DC.

As the former Vice President and Chief Strategy Officer of Providence Hospital, Ruth’s work focused on transformation of the local market through internal and external strategic and collaborative relationships and partnerships. As part of the executive team, Ruth led the conceptual planning to transform the acute care hospital into a community-driven, healthy village. In a spirit of collaboration while at Providence, Ruth was deployed as an executive-in-residence to the District of Columbia Hospital Association (DCHA). In that role, Ruth collaborated with DCHA’s chief executive to develop a business plan to create a market-driven workforce development program.

Prior to Providence, Ruth proudly worked in government relations and advocacy at Children’s National Hospital for 10 years. During her tenure, Ruth activated strategic communications to educate and advocate for legislative and regulatory policy changes. Ruth served as the inaugural chair of the DC Healthy Communities Collaborative—an alliance of hospitals and federally qualified health centers (FQHCs) to improve community health through collective accountability—leading the first comprehensive and collective community health needs assessment (CHNA) and corresponding community health improvement plan (CHIP).

Extending her impact, Ruth is a member of Capella University School of Nursing and Health Sciences Advisory Board; and serves as Vice Chair, Board of Directors of Volunteers of America Chesapeake and Carolinas (VOACC), a faith-based ministry serving vulnerable populations—in the District of Columbia, Maryland, Virginia, North Carolina, and South Carolina—through housing and social services. 

 

Zenash Tamerat
Director, Administration & Programs
Ztamerat@developingfamilies.org   |   www.developingfamilies.org

Zenash serves as Director of Administration and Programs, Developing Families Center, based in Washington, DC. The Developing Families Center (DFC) promotes the empowerment of low-income families through the collaboration of two nonprofit service providers: Community of Hope Family Health and Birth Center and Edward C. Mazique Parent Child Center. Zenash has worked in diverse industries ranging from government, private, and non-profit management organizations. Prior to joining the Developing Families Center, she supported local Entrepreneurs in the Interior Design and Fitness industries. She spent several years with Teach For America’s D.C. region, primarily leading alumni engagement work.

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