As the Assistant Director of Strategic Operations at Global One Health initiative (GOHi) for The Ohio State University, Amy Mihalakas works with Ohio State faculty and staff to advance the GOHi strategy by supporting grant implementation, operations and stakeholder engagement and securing new funding. Mihalakas works to grow GOHi's collaboration and coordination across the university and with GOHi's Eastern Africa office in Ethiopia.
Mihalakas received her BA in International Studies from Capital University in Columbus, Ohio, and completed her MPhil from the University of Cape Town in South Africa, which focused on addressing the HIV/AIDS epidemic.
Before joining Ohio State, Mihalakas was the director of Ryan White and Federally Qualified Health Center programs for Trillium Health in Rochester, New York, where she worked on policy compliance, utilized program income to meet patient needs and increased patient involvement in programs.
Mihalakas served as a senior country lead and senior program advisor at the U.S. Department of State Office of the Global AIDS Coordinator in Washington, D.C. She supported interagency teams from the U.S. President's Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR) in Africa, Central Asia, and Southeast Asia, collaborated with interagency leaders to write the COP guidance and helped transform PEPFAR investments in Uganda to better respond to country priorities.
Mihalakas started her career in global health with Global Communities and the Elizabeth Glaser Pediatric AIDS Foundation, where she developed her grant writing, program design and partner negotiation skills, provided technical assistance to health projects in Africa and Latin America and participated in a disaster response effort in Indonesia.