Skip to main content
Hearts for the Homeless International logo H4H International Become a volunteer Donate

National chapter operations

Empowering student leaders across the United States.

We serve as the vital liaison and support system for our active national chapters — turning protocols into seamless, collaborative experiences.

Our mandate Chapter support
A volunteer taking a blood pressure reading at a chapter supported by national chapter operations
53 US chapters

Our mandate

Operational pillars.

The internal mechanisms that empower our national healthcare initiatives.

Leadership empowerment

Cultivating the next generation of student leaders with the autonomy, training, and confidence to spearhead initiatives on their own campuses.

Resource liaison

The critical bridge between the international division and local chapters, keeping medical resources and strategic guidance flowing.

Operational excellence

Streamlined administration and strict professional standards, including a mandatory 48-hour response protocol for all chapter correspondence.

Grassroots innovation

Empowering local chapters to adapt global strategies to their community's specific clinical needs for maximum frontline efficacy.

The team

National operations leadership.

Maeve Murphy, Executive Director of National Chapter Operations at Hearts for the Homeless Executive Director

Maeve Murphy

Maeve oversees the strategic direction of all US-based chapters, keeping them aligned with the international mission while fostering local innovation.

View profile

US regional ambassadors

Mihir Rao, Regional Ambassador for the Mid-Atlantic, Hearts for the Homeless
Regional ambassador Mihir Rao Northeast View profile
BJ
Regional ambassador Bailee Johnson Southwest View profile
Kloey Zhang, Regional Ambassador for the Eastern Seaboard, Hearts for the Homeless
Regional ambassador Kloey Zhang Eastern Seaboard
View profile
Richard Nguy, Regional Ambassador for the West Coast, Hearts for the Homeless
Regional ambassador Richard Nguy
 West coast View profile

National network

Our U.S. regions and campus liaisons.

Five regions, each led by an ambassador, with student liaisons who look after the campuses nearest them. Choose a region to narrow both the map and the roster below.

Chapter cities · 39 campuses

All regions North east Midwest Southwest South east West coast
AlaskaColoradoWyomingHawaiiMontanaUtahIdahoAlabamaArizonaFloridaGeorgiaIndianaKansasMaineMassachusettsMinnesotaNew JerseyNorth CarolinaNorth DakotaOklahomaPennsylvaniaSouth DakotaTexasConnecticutMissouriWest VirginiaIllinoisNew MexicoArkansasCaliforniaDelawareDistrict of ColumbiaIowaKentuckyMarylandMichiganMississippiNew HampshireNew YorkOhioOregonTennesseeVirginiaWashingtonWisconsinNebraskaSouth CarolinaNevadaVermontLouisianaRhode IslandBaltimore, MD — National chapter operations · Maeve MurphyWashington, D.C. & College Park — GW · UMBC · Johns Hopkins · UMCPBoston, MA — Boston University · NortheasternPhiladelphia, PA — UPenn · DrexelNew York, NY — Columbia · UConnChicago, IL — UICCedarville, OH — Cedarville · CincinnatiNashville, TN — VanderbiltWest Virginia — University of PittsburghDallas–Fort Worth, TX — UT Dallas · UNT · UT ArlingtonHouston, TX — University of Houston · Rice · Texas A&MNew Orleans, LA — TulaneLawrence, KS — Kansas · ArkansasChapel Hill, NC — Duke · UNCAthens, GA — UGABirmingham, AL — UABTallahassee, FL — FSUJacksonville, FL — UNFOrlando, FL — UCF · USF · UFMiami, FL — FIUSan Francisco, CA — SFSU · OregonIrvine, CA — UC IrvineSan Diego, CA — UC San DiegoDavis, CA — UC Davis
Chapter city Campuses

Hover or tap a marker for the campuses it covers. Alaska and Hawaii are shown inset — no chapters there yet.

North east

10 campuses · 5 cities
Regional ambassador Christopher Richter View profile
Mid-Atlantic Mihir Rao View profile
CO
Campus liaison Chukwuamaka “Amaka” Onyewadume Washington, D.C. GW · UMBC · Johns Hopkins View profile
KT
Campus liaison Kokob Tesfay College Park, Maryland UMCP View profile
Eastern Seaboard Kloey Zhang View profile
EM
Campus liaison Erica Matsui Boston, MA Boston University · Northeastern View profile
AD
Campus liaison Alex Deeb Philadelphia, PA UPenn · Drexel View profile
DA
Campus liaison David Agbato New York, NY Columbia · UConn View profile

Midwest

5 campuses · 4 cities
Regional ambassador Manasi Prakash Chicago, IL View profile
VB
Campus liaison Vishwa Bhatt Chicago, IL UIC View profile
LR
Campus liaison Lilyanna Ritenour Cedarville, OH Cedarville · Cincinnati View profile
SK
Campus liaison Swarada Kulkarni Nashville, TN Vanderbilt View profile
SS
Campus liaison Scott Suddarth West Virginia University of Pittsburgh View profile

Southwest

9 campuses · 4 cities
Regional ambassador Bailee Johnson UT Dallas · UNT View profile
RF
Campus liaison Richi Fernando, MPH New Orleans, LA Tulane View profile
GU
Campus liaison Grace Ugochukwu Dallas, TX UT Dallas · UNT View profile
FS
Campus liaison Fatima Shaikh Houston, TX University of Houston View profile
AF
Campus liaison Aiman Fatima Houston, TX Rice · Texas A&M View profile
DA
Campus liaison Danial Alkhoury Arlington, TX UT Arlington View profile
AG
Campus liaison Arushi Garg Lawrence, KS Kansas · Arkansas View profile

South east

10 campuses · 7 cities
Regional ambassador Michael Maizel Chapel Hill, NC View profile
AM
Campus liaison Ali Morrison Miami, FL FIU View profile
AC
Campus liaison Andrew Casanova Miami, FL UCF · USF · UF View profile
JA
Campus liaison Julian Alberto Jacksonville, FL UNF View profile
RK
Campus liaison Riza Khan Athens, GA UGA View profile
SR
Campus liaison Snekha Rajasekaran Birmingham, AL UAB View profile
Campus liaison Luke Hudson Tallahassee, FL FSU View profile
KD
Campus liaison Kamalika Das Chapel Hill, NC Duke · UNC View profile

West coast

5 campuses · 4 cities
Regional ambassador Richard Nguy San Francisco, CA View profile
BU
Campus liaison Bhanu Upadhyayula San Francisco, CA UC Irvine View profile
GM
Campus liaison Gerald Marquez San Francisco, CA UC San Diego View profile
KB
Campus liaison Kavin Balakrishnan Davis, CA UC Davis View profile
Liaison seat open for San Francisco State and Oregon — Richard Nguy is covering both campuses in the meantime.

Chapter support hub

Everything a chapter needs.

Start a chapter

Everything you need to know about bringing Hearts for the Homeless to your university.

Chapter handbook

The comprehensive operational manual for active chapter leaders, covering medical protocols.

Marketing toolkit

Brand assets and templates designed to help your chapter attract dedicated volunteers.

Chapter support

National chapter operations, in practice.

National chapter operations is the team a US chapter president actually deals with week to week. It sits between the international division and 53 campuses, so that a student running their first screening opportunity never has to invent a process from scratch.

What does this team actually do?

It keeps 53 US chapters supplied, trained and accountable: onboarding new chapter boards, distributing the clinical protocol and the marketing toolkit, holding the 48-hour response standard on chapter correspondence, and escalating anything a region cannot solve locally.

How are the US regions divided?

Into five: North east, Midwest, Southwest, South east and West coast. Each has a regional ambassador who knows the chapters in their area personally, backed by campus liaisons on the ground, so no chapter is more than one person away from help.

What is the difference between this team and expansion?

Expansion opens chapters. National chapter operations runs them once they are open. If your university has no chapter yet, start with expansion; if it already has one, this is the team you want.

My chapter has stalled — who do I tell?

Your regional ambassador or campus liaison, first. National chapter operations is set up to notice quiet chapters rather than wait for them to fail, and leadership transitions between cohorts are a normal part of what the team handles.

Does the team run screening opportunities itself?

No. Chapters do. National chapter operations makes sure they have the protocol, the supplies, the partner clinic relationships and the training to run one safely and consistently.

Where do the handbooks and toolkits live?

In the chapter support hub on this page: the operational handbook covering medical protocols, the marketing toolkit for recruiting volunteers, and the guide to starting a chapter from scratch.

External references

National Health Care for the Homeless Council → CDC: high blood pressure →

Ready to lead?

Start a chapter on your campus

Every chapter starts with one student who decides their community deserves better access to care.

Become a volunteer All departments
✕
Maeve Murphy, Executive Director of National Chapter Operations at Hearts for the Homeless
National executive director

Maeve Murphy

US chapter operations

Born and raised in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, Maeve received her B.S. in Applied Physiology and Kinesiology from the University of Florida. She is currently a fourth-year medical student at the University of Maryland School of Medicine, applying in Internal Medicine. She has been part of the H4H family since 2020, with a special interest in preventive medicine and education.

Maeve oversees the strategic direction of all U.S.-based chapters, keeping them aligned with H4H’s international mission while fostering local innovation and growth

✕
Mihir Rao, Regional Ambassador for the Mid-Atlantic
Regional ambassador

Mihir Rao

Mid-Atlantic · US chapter operations

Biography coming soon.

✕
BJ
Regional ambassador

Bailee Johnson

Southwest · US chapter operations

Biography coming soon.

✕
Kloey Zhang, Regional Ambassador for the Eastern Seaboard
Regional ambassador

Kloey Zhang

Eastern Seaboard · US chapter operations

Biography coming soon.

✕
CO
Campus liaison

Chukwuamaka “Amaka” Onyewadume

North east · US chapter operations

Campus liaison for GW, UMBC and Johns Hopkins, based in Washington, D.C..

Part of the Mid-Atlantic group in the North east region, working with regional ambassador Mihir Rao.

Biography coming soon.

✕
KT
Campus liaison

Kokob Tesfay

North east · US chapter operations

Campus liaison for the University of Maryland, College Park, based in College Park, Maryland.

Part of the Mid-Atlantic group in the North east region, working with regional ambassador Mihir Rao.

Biography coming soon.

✕
EM
Campus liaison

Erica Matsui

North east · US chapter operations

Campus liaison for Boston University and Northeastern, based in Boston, MA.

Part of the Eastern Seaboard group in the North east region, working with regional ambassador Kloey Zhang.

Biography coming soon.

✕
AD
Campus liaison

Alex Deeb

North east · US chapter operations

Campus liaison for UPenn and Drexel, based in Philadelphia, PA.

Part of the Eastern Seaboard group in the North east region, working with regional ambassador Kloey Zhang.

Biography coming soon.

✕
DA
Campus liaison

David Agbato

North east · US chapter operations

Campus liaison for Columbia and UConn, based in New York, NY.

Part of the Eastern Seaboard group in the North east region, working with regional ambassador Kloey Zhang.

Biography coming soon.

✕
VB
Campus liaison

Vishwa Bhatt

Midwest · US chapter operations

Campus liaison for UIC, based in Chicago, IL.

Part of the Midwest region, working with regional ambassador Manasi Prakash.

Biography coming soon.

✕
LR
Campus liaison

Lilyanna Ritenour

Midwest · US chapter operations

Campus liaison for Cedarville and Cincinnati, based in Cedarville, OH.

Part of the Midwest region, working with regional ambassador Manasi Prakash.

Biography coming soon.

✕
SK
Campus liaison

Swarada Kulkarni

Midwest · US chapter operations

Campus liaison for Vanderbilt, based in Nashville, TN.

Part of the Midwest region, working with regional ambassador Manasi Prakash.

Biography coming soon.

✕
SS
Campus liaison

Scott Suddarth

Midwest · US chapter operations

Campus liaison for the University of Pittsburgh, based in West Virginia.

Part of the Midwest region, working with regional ambassador Manasi Prakash.

Biography coming soon.

✕
RF
Campus liaison

Richi Fernando, MPH

Southwest · US chapter operations

Campus liaison for Tulane, based in New Orleans, LA.

Part of the Southwest region, working with regional ambassador Bailee Johnson.

Richi is a Lead Clinical Research Coordinator in Nephrology at Ochsner Health, where he manages clinical trials for sponsors including Novartis, Vertex and Alexion. He also serves as a Combat Medic in the Louisiana Army National Guard.

He earned his BS in Biological Sciences from LSU and his MPH from Chamberlain University, and is pursuing a career as a physician assistant, with a particular interest in orthopaedics and in expanding access to care for people experiencing homelessness.

✕
GU
Campus liaison

Grace Ugochukwu

Southwest · US chapter operations

Campus liaison for UT Dallas and UNT, based in Dallas, TX.

Part of the Southwest region, working with regional ambassador Bailee Johnson.

Biography coming soon.

✕
FS
Campus liaison

Fatima Shaikh

Southwest · US chapter operations

Campus liaison for the University of Houston, based in Houston, TX.

Part of the Southwest region, working with regional ambassador Bailee Johnson.

Biography coming soon.

✕
AF
Campus liaison

Aiman Fatima

Southwest · US chapter operations

Campus liaison for Rice and Texas A&M, based in Houston, TX.

Part of the Southwest region, working with regional ambassador Bailee Johnson.

Biography coming soon.

✕
DA
Campus liaison

Danial Alkhoury

Southwest · US chapter operations

Campus liaison for UT Arlington, based in Arlington, TX.

Part of the Southwest region, working with regional ambassador Bailee Johnson.

Biography coming soon.

✕
AG
Campus liaison

Arushi Garg

Southwest · US chapter operations

Campus liaison for Kansas and Arkansas, based in Lawrence, KS.

Part of the Southwest region, working with regional ambassador Bailee Johnson.

Biography coming soon.

✕
AM
Campus liaison

Ali Morrison

South east · US chapter operations

Campus liaison for FIU, based in Miami, FL.

Part of the South east region, working with regional ambassador Michael Maizel.

Biography coming soon.

✕
AC
Campus liaison

Andrew Casanova

South east · US chapter operations

Campus liaison for UCF, USF and UF, based in Miami, FL.

Part of the South east region, working with regional ambassador Michael Maizel.

Biography coming soon.

✕
JA
Campus liaison

Julian Alberto

South east · US chapter operations

Campus liaison for UNF, based in Jacksonville, FL.

Part of the South east region, working with regional ambassador Michael Maizel.

Biography coming soon.

✕
RK
Campus liaison

Riza Khan

South east · US chapter operations

Campus liaison for UGA, based in Athens, GA.

Part of the South east region, working with regional ambassador Michael Maizel.

Biography coming soon.

✕
SR
Campus liaison

Snekha Rajasekaran

South east · US chapter operations

Campus liaison for UAB, based in Birmingham, AL.

Part of the South east region, working with regional ambassador Michael Maizel.

Biography coming soon.

✕
LH
Campus liaison

Luke Hudson

South east · US chapter operations

Campus liaison for FSU, based in Tallahassee, FL.

Part of the South east region, working with regional ambassador Michael Maizel.

Luke is a medical student at the Florida State University College of Medicine, with a strong interest in integrating service and medicine. He previously served as Vice President of Hearts for the Homeless at FSU and now serves as the organisation’s International Liaison for FSU.

Through H4H he has enjoyed working with fellow students to expand access to healthcare and serve vulnerable populations. He hopes to become a physician who provides compassionate, high-quality care while continuing to serve communities in need. Outside medicine he enjoys camping, reading and spending time outdoors.

✕
KD
Campus liaison

Kamalika Das

South east · US chapter operations

Campus liaison for Duke and UNC, based in Chapel Hill, NC.

Part of the South east region, working with regional ambassador Michael Maizel.

Biography coming soon.

✕
BU
Campus liaison

Bhanu Upadhyayula

West coast · US chapter operations

Campus liaison for UC Irvine, based in San Francisco, CA.

Part of the West coast region, working with regional ambassador Richard Nguy.

Biography coming soon.

✕
GM
Campus liaison

Gerald Marquez

West coast · US chapter operations

Campus liaison for UC San Diego, based in San Francisco, CA.

Part of the West coast region, working with regional ambassador Richard Nguy.

Biography coming soon.

✕
KB
Campus liaison

Kavin Balakrishnan

West coast · US chapter operations

Campus liaison for UC Davis, based in Davis, CA.

Part of the West coast region, working with regional ambassador Richard Nguy.

Biography coming soon.

✕
MP
Regional ambassador

Manasi Prakash

Midwest · US chapter operations

Regional ambassador for the Midwest region, based in Chicago, IL.

Leads a team of 4 campus liaisons covering 5 campuses.

Biography coming soon.

✕
MM
Regional ambassador

Michael Maizel

South east · US chapter operations

Regional ambassador for the South east region, based in Chapel Hill, NC.

Leads a team of 7 campus liaisons covering 10 campuses.

Biography coming soon.

✕
Richard Nguy, Regional Ambassador for the West Coast, Hearts for the Homeless
Regional ambassador

Richard Nguy

West coast · US chapter operations

Regional ambassador for the West coast region, based in San Francisco, CA.

Leads a team of 5 campus liaisons covering 7 campuses.

Richard is a graduate of San Francisco State University, where he earned his B.A. in General Biology with a minor in Health Education. He founded the SFSU chapter of Hearts for the Homeless International in 2021 and served as its president for three years, before becoming a West Coast Liaison and then the West Coast Ambassador.

His background includes working as an EMT, teaching human anatomy and leading community-based hypertension research. Richard is an aspiring physician with a passion for expanding healthcare access to underserved communities and supporting the next generation of student volunteers.