Daesha has made a life and a living shifting how racism, power, and oppression impact the health of individuals and communities. For the better part of 20 years Daesha has facilitated meaningful conversations and transformation on complex systems change and community engagement. She has worked with non-profits, government agencies, and corporations around the world to center people on the margins of our systems to improve school nutrition, maternal and child health, gender equity, and access to basic healthcare services. Daesha is a frequent public speaker on ethical storytelling, decolonizing research & evaluation, and using human-centered design in systems change and community engagement strategies. Daesha identifies as a first generation South Asian cis-woman of color. She holds a PhD from Bloomberg School of Public Health at Johns Hopkins University as well as a BSFS from the Edmund A. Walshe School of Foreign Service at Georgetown University.

Daesha currently resides in Oregon.