Chelsea Cole, MPH, Public Health AmeriCorps (PHA) Senior Program Coordinator, brings more than three years of experience working in research, public health grants administration, and program development/implementation. Chelsea joined NACDD in 2024 and supports the development and implementation of NACDD’s Public Health AmeriCorps program, working to recruit, train, and inspire Public Health AmeriCorps Service Members who represent the next generation of public health leaders.

Before joining NACDD, Chelsea worked on the Research and Policy Team at the Eleanor Crook Foundation in Washington, DC. In this role she conducted research to inform investment strategies and opportunities, managed the internal grant process and external relationships with grantees, and led knowledge management on key foundation topic areas including anemia and multiple micronutrient supplements for pregnant women. These operations supported the successful introduction and scale up of high-impact, cost-effective interventions to reduce malnutrition among pregnant women and children under five globally.

Chelsea graduated with a Bachelor of Science in Neuroscience from Trinity University, where she played collegiate soccer for the Trinity Tigers. She earned her Master of Public Health with a concentration in Nutrition for Global Health and Maternal and Child Health from the Rollins School of Public Health at Emory University in May 2023. In her public health career, Chelsea has also worked as a data manager for the Biomarkers Reflecting Inflammation and Nutritional Determinants of Anemia (BRINDA) project, the CDC Foundation during the COVID-19 pandemic, and served as a Community Health Promotion Peace Corps volunteer in Peru.

Chelsea’s career in public health stems from her passion to create healthy communities and environments that give all individuals the opportunity to live a healthy life. She believes that food and nutrition security, safe opportunities for physical activity, and mental well-being are critical components for a healthy life, and has committed her career to the pursuit of equitable and sustainable solutions in these areas through research, policy, systems, and environmental change.

Chelsea resides in Northern Virginia, and in her free time she enjoys spending time outside, staying active (walking, yoga, volleyball, pickleball, etc.), reading, cooking, traveling, and spending time with family and friends.