Dr. Heidi Pottinger is originally from the U.S.Mexico border town of Nogales, Arizona. Over her career, she has focused extensively on advocacy, education, nonprofit, research, and service efforts. She holds BS Plant Biology) and MA Biomedical Health Ethics, focus on Nonprofit Management) degrees, as well as MPH Family Child Health Global Track) and DrPH Maternal Child Health) degrees. From 2014 2021, she helped to lead a multi-site, NICHD-sponsored clinical trial to improve function in very young children with spastic cerebral palsy, as well as other interventions to support families with children who have special health or medical needs. Dr. Pottinger is the Founder Executive Director of the nonprofit Child Health Resilience Mastery CHARM in Southern Arizona. CHARM provides strengths- and evidence-based approaches for strengthening child and family resiliency in health-promoting ways. Programs include CamDruzy and Tapestry, for children grieving the loss of a parent/caregiver or close family member due to death or separation. CHARM is also the not-for-profit AZ Ambassador for the Jesse Lewis Choose Love Movement, a no-cost infant, toddler, and Pre-K-12th grade social and emotional learning program that Dr. Pottinger has also implemented at the university level.Past leadershiroles include research, advocacy, and policy efforts as national director of clinical research for the Muscular Dystrophy Association. She previously co-led and was an executive board member of LUCHA Learning, Understanding, Cultivating Health Advocacy) a University of Arizona nonprofit organization providing service opportunities to cultivate awareness and advocacy for health and human rights issues.From 2014-20 she served as Chair and later Co-Chair of the Research Evaluation Committee for Integrative Touch for Kids ITK) and since 2014 has served as an executive member of the Arizona Sonora Border Projects for Inclusion ARSOBO) board of directors. In 2017, she was recognized as a 40 Under 40" by the Tucson Hispanic Chamber of Commerce, as well as nationally by the American Public Health Association for her work. In 2018, Dr. Pottinger was named a Tucson Public Voices Fellow of the OpEd Project, publishing her work in The Health Care Blog, The Hill, The Washington Post, Latino Rebels and more. She has also been featured in stories for BBC World, CBS Radio, NBC US News, PBS, and local news. In 2020, on behalf of CHARM, she received the Spirit Organizational award from the Frances McClelland Institute for Children, Youth, Families. She is a happy and proud mother to two young children and lives in Tucson, Arizona.