Ndely-Ogundipe brings inclusive design to Presidential Innovation Fellows

June 1, 2022

Emilia Ndely-Ogundipe

Emilia Ndely-Ogundipe, MHA ’15 (health policy and management), MBA, has been selected for the 2022 White House Presidential Innovation Fellows (PIF) program. In this role, she will work with the U.S. Department of Labor to develop impactful products and services that center users.

Ndely-Ogundipe began in February and will spend a year working as a full-time, paid fellow to senior government officials. The program also involves an cohort component that will enable her to collaborate with 50+ other PIFs, along the opportunity to work with public- and private-sector leaders,

“Impact based work has been a through line in my career and was one of the major reasons I was drawn to the HPM program,” she said. “Whether I am in health care or government, I am drawn to opportunities that allow me to serve others when they are often in their most vulnerable state. The PIF program was an opportunity for me to take these experiences and act as an advisor at the federal level.”

The PIF program brings together expertise in data science, design and systems thinking in a mission-driven setting where fellows work on solutions to issues of national importance. Recent projects have facilitated adoption of telehealth during the COVID-19 pandemic, increased diverse representation in precision medicine research and initiated development of frameworks to address artificial intelligence (AI) transparency.

Graduating in 2015 with a Master of Business Administration degree from UNC as well as a Master of Health Administration from the UNC Gillings School of Global Public Health’s Department of Health Policy and Management, Ndely-Ogundipe develops and optimizes products and services that center the needs of constituents and patients, with a focus on equity. Working with New Jersey’s Office of Innovation, she led development of two digital systems, one to help people in New Jersey find vaccines – the second of its kind in the nation – and another to provide coaching for job seekers. Prior to her work for the State of New Jersey, she sought to expand access to and coordinate care for patients as a consultant for Ernst and Young.

The PIF program is housed under the U.S. General Services Administration’s Technology Transformation Services, which is tasked with designing and delivering digital government with and for the American public.

Established by the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy in 2012, Presidential Innovation Fellows (PIF) unites industry’s brightest technologists with forward-thinking federal leaders to improve the way that government builds, designs and delivers services. Today, the program operates within Technology Transformation Services, an organization in the General Services Administration with a mission to design and deliver a digital government with and for the public. PIF has introduced some of the private sector’s top innovators, entrepreneurs, and executives to the federal government, improving public services for hundreds of millions of Americans as a result. Since its launch, the program has embedded 200+ fellows across 45+ federal agencies, with more than 50% of PIF alumni continuing in government after their fellowship.

Every year, PIF seeks diverse cohorts of mid- to senior-level experts in data and AI, engineering, product, design and experience, and digital strategy. PIF also seeks innovators who bring different lived experiences and perspectives to problems, so that we’re addressing them in equitable ways. Read about the most recent PIF cohort here.

Applications for the April 2023 cohort are open through June 24. Learn more and at apply.pif.gov.

Contact the UNC Gillings School of Global Public Health communications team at sphcomm@unc.edu.