Contact Information

• spitts@unca.edu

The WNC Health Policy Initiative functions as a convener of and conduit for information, resources, and coalition-building between policy makers, regional public health, and healthcare leadership. Its mission is to inform strategies for improving the health and well-being of all people of WNC through scholarship, collaboration, policy development, and advocacy.

In their role as Project Manager, Soni facilitates and coordinates WNC HPI events and activities, and provides administrative and operational support for both the WNC HPI and other programs within the NCCHW.

Soni is an alumn of UNC Asheville with a degree in Health and Wellness Promotion and a minor in mathematics/statistical analysis. While at UNC Asheville, Soni helped found and successfully establish the Food Equity Initiative, a program designed to address food insecurity within the campus community. Prior to coming to UNC Asheville, Soni spent 10+ years working in communications, marketing, content and product development, and training/coaching in the fields of personal and professional development. 

Education

• BA – Health and Wellness Promotion; B.S. –Math/Statistics, UNC Asheville - 2019

Research 

• "Creating Healthy, Sustainable, and Deeply Affordable Communities: A Sustainability Action Plan for the Micro Home Village.” (BeLoved Asheville/BeLoved Village Project)
  • McCullough Fellowship, McCullough Institute, UNC Asheville, 2019 
• “Beyond the Food Pantry: A Model for Effective Reduction of Food Insecurity Within PostSecondary Campus Communities.” 
• “Biometric assessment of a workplace wellness fitness program.”  
  • Student Researcher, UNC Asheville Living Lab Project in partnership with Mission Health