East Boston Neighborhood Health Center General Counsel and Compliance Manager Ernani DeAraujo was named an Emerging Leader by the Geiger Gibson Program in Community Health Policy, which is part of the Milken Institute School of Public Health at the George Washington University. DeAraujo shown here with EBNHC CEO Manny Lopes.
By John Lynds
East Boston Neighborhood Health Center General Counsel and Compliance Manager Ernani DeAraujo was named an Emerging Leader by the Geiger Gibson Program in Community Health Policy, which is part of the Milken Institute School of Public Health at the George Washington University
“I’m honored to have been selected as a Geiger – Gibson Emerging Leader and to be the first attorney to receive this recognition,” said DeAraujo. “As I lifelong patient of the East Boston Neighborhood Health Center, I’m very proud to be part of this organization and grateful to our Board and staff for providing me and my family with excellent care.”
Each year, the Geiger Gibson Program in Community Health Policy in the Milken Institute School of Public Health at the George Washington University honors young professionals currently working in community health.
EBNHC nominated DeAraujo because he exemplifies the mission and vision of Dr. H. Jack Geiger and Count Gibson, pioneers of the community health movement. DeAraujo was one of seven Emerging Leaders that were selected by a committee of senior health center leaders to receive the designation.
DeAraujo was recognized at the annual winter meeting of the National Association of Community Health Centers last week in Washington, DC.
“Ernani (DeAraujo) has played a leadership role in this community for years, and he remains very committed to the health and welfare of our neighborhood,” said EBNHC CEO Manny Lopes. “Since joining the Health Center as our Legal and Compliance Officer he has showed great more potential in his ability to lead key processes and we are thrilled to see his work recognized by NACHC with this award.”
Sara Rosenbaum, JD, the Harold and Jane Hirsh Professor of Health Law and Policy and founder of the Geiger Gibson Program at the Milken Institute said DeAraujo and the other Emerging Leader recipients, “embody the future of health centers and exemplify what makes the program so strong.”
Before becoming Center General Counsel and Compliance Manager at EBNHC, DeAraujo, a lifelong Eastie resident, served as former Boston Mayor the late Thomas Menino’s community liaison to Eastie.
When he landed that post in 2009 he brought some impressive credentials. A Boston Latin School and Harvard graduate. He served as a White House Intern for Presidents Clinton in 2000 and Bush in 2001. After graduating Harvard in 2003, DeAraujo worked as an investment banker with JPMorgan Securities, Inc. in New York and Texas. DeAraujo attended law school at the Washington and Lee University School of Law in Virginia and was a summer clerk for U.S. District Court Judge Michael A. Ponsor in 2006. As an attorney licensed to practise in Massachusetts, DeAraujo practiced in the Business Department of the law firm Foley Hoag LLP from October 2008 through December 2009 until landing the position as community liaison.
He left the Mayor’s office in 2012 and a year later joined the EBNHC.
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East Boston Neighborhood Health Center General Counsel and Compliance Manager Ernani DeAraujo was named an Emerging Leader by the Geiger Gibson Program in Community Health Policy, which is part of the Milken Institute School of Public Health at the George Washington University. DeAraujo shown here with EBNHC CEO Manny Lopes.
East Boston Neighborhood Health Center General Counsel and Compliance Manager Ernani DeAraujo addresses the crowd at the annual winter meeting of the National Association of Community Health Centers last week in Washington, DC where he received the award.
From left, EBNHC Chief Medical Officer Dr. Jackie S. Fantes, MD, Jim Sorrento, EBNHC Chairwoman Rita Sorrento, Ernani DeAraujo (center holding award) with wife, Carmen (fourth from left), EBNHC CEO Manny Lopes, and Massachusetts League of Community Health Centers CEO Jim Hunt.