Ms. Hughes is a distinguished expert in communication with a passion for health equity and community empowerment. As the communications specialist for the MVA, she works closely with Alliance partners, diverse communities and other stakeholders to advance health equity and opportunity regionally and across the country. She brings a wealth of experience to the role, having worked as a strategist and communication manager in New Delhi, India where she developed communication infrastructure and messaging for cluster development projects, education technology and hotel-adventure travel companies. In the United States, she has focused primarily on digital social engagement and digital marketing.

Ms. Hughes has held academic positions at Western Washington University and the University of Iowa, where she earned a Master of Arts in Rhetoric and Public Advocacy and pursued a Doctorate of Philosophy in Rhetorical Studies in the Department of Communication Studies. As a critical theorist, she pursued research at the intersections of rhetoric, identity and difference in public discourse. Ms. Hughes has won two teaching awards. She has extensive community engagement and organizing experience in the areas of tenants’ rights, criminal justice reform and domestic violence prevention, among other issues.