Scholarship Winners

Second-year MHA Student Maria “Mika” Vela-Gude was awarded the Greater Charlotte Healthcare Executives Group MHA Scholarship. Mika grew up in San Antonio, Texas, and earned her BA in Psychology and Honors Studies at Texas State University, where she also worked as a research assistant in a neurobehavioral lab. After college, she worked as a post baccalaureate researcher at the University of Texas Health Science Center in a neurobehavioral research, managing various aspects of a longitudinal research study such as recruitment, participant tracking, data entry, validation, and interpretation. Currently, Mika works as a graduate assistant for the Department of Public Health Sciences and has completed two internships: one at the Charlotte Community Health Clinic and one at the Texas Heart Institute at Baylor St. Luke’s in Houston, Texas. In both roles, she was able to utilize her bilingual fluency to work with patients of various backgrounds.

Second-year MHA Student Jubran Abdallah was awarded the Dr. Robert Barber Memorial Scholarship. Jubran, born in Palestine and raised in Jordan, has spent the past eight years in Charlotte. He received his Bachelor of Science in Biology from UNC Charlotte. His experience working at the American Red Cross’ National Testing Lab led Jubran to pursue a Master of Healthcare Administration. Jubran feels that an MHA from UNC Charlotte will help him become the influential figure he aspires to be: an administrator and leader in a hospital or healthcare integrated system.

The Greater Charlotte Healthcare Executives Group MHA scholarship recognizes an ACHE student member (e.g., an active CHESO member) with demonstrated community outreach and volunteering experience and a willingness to engage with GCHEG during the award year. Mika volunteered at Charlotte Community Health Clinic, donating roughly 16-20 hours of her time a week. Additionally, she served as a committee member for a Sustained Dialogue hosted by the Levine Museum of the New South, which invites professional millennials to be part of a panel that takes part in an open dialogue about diversity in the city and ways of achieving more growth and acceptance in that area. Mika also volunteered with Urban Ministries in recruiting organizations to volunteer their time to help move the chronically homeless into permanent housing.

The Dr. Robert Barber Memorial Scholarship was established to honor the life and memory of Dr. Robert Barber. Dr. Barber was an executive at Carolinas HealthCare System who was known for his leadership, innovation, and integrity. He helped many students develop and grow professionally as an adjunct faculty member supporting the UNC Charlotte MHA program, among others. Scholarship recipients must demonstrate leadership and service to the profession and the community. Currently, Jubran is part of the Matthews Free Medical Clinic team, where he has spent over four years volunteering. Jubran says this experience inspired him to be more focused on efforts that deliver quality, affordable healthcare to the Charlotte and Matthews communities.