Margaret Chaykin, MPH, CHES, RDN, CD

Washington, At Large Director

Margaret Chaykin serves in the role of cardiovascular consultant for the Washington State Department of Health within the Prevention and Community Health Division. In this position, Margaret works through the conduit of cardiovascular health to foster collaboration across chronic disease programs within and beyond the Department of Health. As part of these efforts, Margaret endeavors to coordinate and increase access to evidence-based programming within Washington State through building partnerships with intention and through a process that is authored by the communities the work serves. Bringing both lived experience and over 20 years of providing direct clinical care to chronic disease patients to this position, Margaret understands the real-world barriers to health priority populations navigate. As such, ensuring public health approaches are community informed and driven are tantamount to Margaret’s public health practice.

Margaret is academically accomplished with a graduate degree in public health and in nutrition and dietetics from Bastyr University. Margaret has a long history of serving on community and nonprofit boards, including as the president for New Beginnings, Seattle’s largest and oldest domestic violence survivorship and advocacy agency. Margaret serves on NACDD’s Health Equity Council as the Chair-Elect and will assume the Chair position in 2024.

As a lifelong learner, Margaret has an enthusiasm for mentorship and knowledge sharing. Margaret is proud to be an instructor at the University of Washington’s School of Public Health where she has led transformative and thought-provoking graduate-level projects centering the inclusion of trauma-informed approaches and harm-reduction principles in food service guidelines and public health application. Margaret is passionate about applying trauma-informed approach and harm-reduction principles to public health to curate healing centered engagement within communities, particularly to address chronic disease prevention and management through a lens of equity.

Margaret is a Southern California native residing in NE Seattle. When not addressing the social injustices that may lead to chronic disease, you might find Margaret where she is happiest — near the sun, sand, and sea.