Sarah Suarez leads NeighborhoodHELP, a multidisciplinary initiative serving hundreds of households throughout Miami-Dade County through integrated clinical care, social services, and medical student education. She provides strategic leadership for the program, working closely with faculty, staff, students, and community partners to advance community-based learning, strengthen service delivery, and support long-term growth and innovation.
With more than a decade of experience spanning government, higher education, and nonprofit organizations, Suarez has led complex evaluation and transformation initiatives focused on improving community outcomes.
Before joining FIU, she served as chief transformation officer for Miami-Dade County, where she worked across departments to enhance public service delivery and led evaluation and strategy efforts for the county’s Peace & Prosperity Plan, a $90 million initiative aimed at reducing community violence and strengthening neighborhood stability.
Research Interests
- Nonmedical drivers of health
- Place-based interventions
- Public Health Workforce
- Capacity-building
- Program evaluation & impact assessment
See research publications and more on FIU Discovery.
Education
- Ph.D., Public Health, Florida International University, Miami, FL
- MPH, Social & Behavioral Science, University of Florida, Gainesville, FL