Charleta Tavares
PrimaryOne Health Center

Charleta B. Tavares assumed the Chief Executive Officer of Columbus Neighborhood Health Center (CNHC), Inc. position in February 2015. The mission of the organization is to provide access to services that improve the health status of families including people experiencing financial, social or cultural barriers to healthcare.

Charleta is a local, state and nationally recognized, health, human services, cultural competence and health equity advocate and policymaker. Tavares previously served as the Executive Director of the Multi-ethnic Advocates for Cultural Competence (MACC), a statewide non-profit membership organization whose mission is to enhance the quality of care in Ohio’s health care system and to incorporate culturally competent models of practice into the systems and organizations that provide services to Ohio’s diverse populations.

During her tenure, the organization conducted the first ever statewide cultural competence mental health needs assessment for thirteen racial, ethnic and cultural communities (2006, 2008 and 2010); and she initiated and worked with eleven departments and agencies in Ohio to adopt the first in the country statewide cultural competence definition. In addition, she created the Somali Rapid Response System Service Coordination Team to help agencies with interpretation and cultural understanding and assist Somali individuals/families learn to navigate the various local systems of care and service. The organization developed a bi-lingual guide on “How to Navigate Social Services in Ohio” for both the Somali and Latino communities.

Tavares previously served as a member of the boards of: Community Research Partners (former chair and founding member); Access Health Columbus; Columbus Compact; the National Black Caucus of Local Elected Officials (President); and National League of Cities’ (NLC) Advisory Council (past chair). She also served as a member of the Board of the NLC, chair of the NLC Human Development Committee and as a Commissioner of the Ohio Commission on Minority Health. She served as a member of the Ohio House of Representatives (1993-98) and Columbus City Council (1999-2010). She presently serves as a member of the Ohio Senate (2011-present) where she serves as the Assistant Minority Leader.

Tavares is providing leadership in several collaborative efforts throughout the state and region to address health and other human service disparities among racial, ethnic and cultural communities. The collaborations include the Ohio Statewide Health Disparities Collaborative, Region V Health Equity Council, SAMHSA Community and Faith Initiative, Franklin County Community Conversations on Mental Health to name a few. In addition, she served as founding member and chair Emerita of the Ohio Suicide Prevention Foundation. She currently chairs the National WAND Education Fund board.