Leslie Kaze, Ex officio member, Country Director

Raised in Kigali, Leslie holds a bachelor’s degree in Health Policy from the University of Rochester. In addition to her degree, she was part of the first pioneer class and obtained a certificate of achievement in Community-Engaged Learning. In this program, she worked on a research project about the role of social stigma in keeping church-going African American millennials in Rochester from utilizing mental healthcare services. She also initiated an ongoing discussion among 9 church leaders of predominantly Black and African American churches in the Rochester area on issues of mental health that their congregation face, as well as church roles in fighting mental health stigma. As a result of the discussion, all 9 church leaders preached at least one sermon on mental health with references from the bible. Lastly, she organized two mental health fairs in two of the community churches.