Past Administrative Fellows

Nariko Nakachi – Second Year Administrative Fellow, 2022-2024

Nariko earned a Bachelor of Science in Public Health from Texas A&M University. Throughout her undergraduate career, she interned and volunteered in positions that focused on building community and making connections between organization. This included being a community leader for first-generation low-income college students and completing a partnership internship with the US Census Bureau. Nariko also gained experience in community health research as an Undergraduate Research Scholar.

Nariko went on to obtain her Master of Health Administration from Columbia University’s Mailman School of Public Health. At Columbia, Nariko was on the executive board for the Black and Latinx Student Caucus and a volunteer project lead for the Columbia Student Service Corps. While completing her summer administrative internship at the Ann & Robert H. Lurie Children’s Hospital of Chicago, Nariko was able to manage the electrophysiology department’s standardization of patient notes using PDSA cycles and provider, administration, and parent input. She also led the creation of scheduled work for the medical imaging scheduling team using staff input and volume trends from data including calls, emails, EPIC, and faxes.

As a former CHIP and WIC recipient, Nariko is passionate about improving access to services for low-income children. At Stanford Medicine Children’s Health, Nariko hopes to learn more about how the organization provides care to children in the Bay Area and beyond.

In her free time, Nariko enjoys spending time with her family, being outside, and reading a good book.

Adreun Malone – Second Year Administrative Fellow, 2021-2023

Adreun Malone earned his bachelor’s degree in Healthcare Management from the University of South Alabama. Adreun’s passion for pediatric healthcare was realized while assisting his sister during numerous hospital scoliosis procedures and inpatient stays. With this passion, Adreun continues to pursue a graduate degree in Health Administration from the University of Alabama at Birmingham.

While completing his graduate degree, Adreun enhanced his knowledge by working at UAB Medicine as a Patient Experience and Engagement associate. During that time, Adreun developed and implemented a COVID-19 family communication program to enhance family engagement with care teams and conducted various analyses to monitor patient experience throughout UAB Medicines’ clinics. This exposure provided him the opportunity to join Connecticut Children’s as an Administrative Intern, where he focused on improving childcare resources for frontline staff and developing strategies of expansion for physical therapy.

Adreun’s desire is to ensure all children and their families have the same experience of excellent care and quality for themselves or their loved ones. As he embarks on his fellowship at Stanford Medicine Children’s Health, he plans to continue to explore his passion for creating high-quality care while also building community initiatives to enhance public health.

Jordan Graham – Second Year Administrative Fellow, 2019-2021

Current role: Business Manager, Patient Care Services

Jordan earned her bachelor’s degree in Psychology with a minor in Anthropology from the University of Washington. She always knew she wanted to be in healthcare, after her brother battled Stage IV cancer at a young age, but that passion was reaffirmed during her undergraduate years, when she became a volunteer and student assistant at Seattle Children’s Hospital. She went on to work at Seattle Children’s Hospital for 3 years as front line staff and as a Pediatric Mental Health Specialist before deciding to pursue her Master of Healthcare Administration from the University of Washington after learning how the degree could empower her to make systematic changes in how health care was delivered, and affect the quality and experience for patients and families.

During her graduate career, she was able to continue her work at Seattle Children’s Hospital, but as a consultant for the Improvement and Innovation Team for the Psychiatry and Behavioral Medicine, where she helped prepare the department for regional expansion, standardized provider deployment allowances, and transformed the patient triage and scheduling process. Jordan also had the opportunity to be a summer intern at Evergreen Health Medical Center, a community-based adult public hospital in Kirkland, WA, where she was also to help develop the strategic plan for telemedicine initiatives for the organization. Upon her return to Seattle Children’s, her desire to help enhance the holistic well-being of pediatric populations was reignited, and a deep commitment to the field was solidified.

Dylan Chodos, MBA, RN, CCRN - First Year Administrative Fellow, 2020-2022

Dylan Chodos, MBA, RN, CCRN, joins the Stanford Medicine Children’s Health family, bringing with him more than a decade of clinical experience in the emergency pre-hospital and inpatient critical care settings, including various nursing-focused leadership roles.

Prior to joining Stanford Medicine Children’s Health, Dylan served as a Charge Nurse in the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit at the Children’s Hospital of Colorado, a 90-bed Level IV NICU. During his tenure in Colorado, Dylan also helped lead the transition of new nurses into the workforce as the Director of Recent Graduates for the Colorado Nurses Association. His strong leadership record also includes managing the clinical launching of a two-million dollar inpatient experience tablet-based engagement and education platform across an entire healthcare system as well as sitting on the board for the Children’s Hospital of Colorado’s Center for Innovation.

Dylan holds a Bachelor of Science in Neuroscience from the University of California, a Bachelor of Science in Nursing from the Denver College of Nursing, and a Master of Business Administration from the Leeds School of Business at the University of Colorado, Boulder.

Melissa Mink - Administrative Fellow, 2018-2020

Current Role: Strategy and Implementation Manager – Bass Center/Hospital Based Specialties

Melissa earned a Bachelor of Arts in Communications with a minor in Business Administration from the University of Southern California. After her undergraduate studies, she spent two years working at Kaiser Permanente in Oakland, California as a Marketing Manager, managing high-visibility marketing campaigns aimed at retaining high-risk member segments. To broaden and deepen her knowledge of health care, Melissa enrolled in the University of Michigan’s Master of Health Services Administration program.

As a graduate student, Melissa led a process improvement project at the C.S. Mott Children’s Hospital aimed at reducing inappropriate usage of the patient transport elevator in the Emergency Department. There, the exposure to so many dedicated and inspiring health care professionals led to her desire to learn more about pediatric medicine. Melissa’s interest and passion grew during her internship at Intermountain Healthcare, where she learned about and interacted with leaders at Primary Children’s Hospital and formed a strong connection with the former CEO, a Michigan professor. As a result of these cumulative experiences, Melissa was inspired to play a role in helping to ensure children receive the highest quality health care and positively impacting the ways in which pediatric medicine is delivered.

As a Bay Area native, Melissa is thrilled to return to Northern California and honored to be completing her Administrative Fellowship at Stanford Medicine Children’s Health. She is excited to hone her skills in process improvement, operations and strategic planning while fully immersing herself in and learning more about pediatric health care at this prestigious organization.

Outside of work, Melissa enjoys spending time with her family and friends, hiking, and making excursions to the beaches and mountains.

Meghan "Meggie" Howell - Administrative Fellow, 2017-2019

Current role: Access Business Manager

Meghan “Meggie” Howell earned her bachelor’s degree in Healthcare Policy & Management from the University of Southern California. Through her classes, internships at healthcare organizations, and volunteer experiences with kids in the South Los Angeles community, Meggie discovered her passion for pediatric healthcare management. To prepare herself to make the greatest positive impact in children’s health, she then pursued her Master of Healthcare Administration at the University of Minnesota.

As a graduate student, Meggie sought opportunities to expand her knowledge of pediatric healthcare delivery. She was most inspired by her Administrative Residency, during which she helped open and operationalize an oncology clinic at Kilimanjaro Christian Medical Center in Moshi, Tanzania. This work solidified her dedication to ensuring all pediatric patients have access to quality, affordable, and personalized healthcare.

Meggie’s desire to deepen her understanding of the Packard Quality Management System and to gain experience in strategy and business development drew her to a fellowship at Stanford Medicine Children’s Health. Throughout the experience, she fostered new passions for patient access and digital health. She especially appreciated the opportunity to work with and learn from the many mentors in the Fellowship structure, and the “Fellow Family” of current and recently graduated Fellows. After completing her Fellowship, Meggie was thrilled to take on a new challenge as the Access Business Manager, helping make Stanford Medicine Children’s Health more navigable and accessible for patients, families, and referring providers.

Outside of work, Meggie loves exploring fun events in the Bay Area, losing on a weekly basis with her trivia team, and planning her next international adventure.

Meher Kachwala – Administrative Fellow, 2016-2018

Current role: Program Manager, Digital Health

Meher Kachwala earned her bachelor’s degree from the University of Maryland, College Park where she majored in Business with a pre-health focus and minored in Technology Entrepreneurship. Throughout her college career, Meher partook in internships and volunteer efforts that peaked her interest in healthcare and specifically healthcare disparities as they affected the underprivileged pediatric population. In pursuit of increasing her understanding of the dynamic healthcare landscape, Meher moved to New York where she attended Columbia University and completed her Masters in Healthcare Administration.

In this process, she completed her Administrative Residency at New York Presbyterian Hospital, an experience that increased her understanding and interest in hospital operations and specifically process improvement. Her work at Bronx-Lebanon Hospital Center furthered her exposure to operations whilst peaking her interest in other areas of hospital management including strategy and finance.

Meher’s desire to continue building her experience and exposure to hospital operations along the continuum of care combined with her passion for enhancing pediatric medicine led her to Stanford Medicine Children’s Hospital. Here she hopes to make a difference in the patient’s life while finding her niche in the intersection of medicine and management. Post fellowship, she joined the Digital Health Team as the Program Manager. In this role, she hopes to bring greater access and convenience to patients by allowing them to receive care from the comfort of their own home.

Outside of this, Meher’s interests include painting, traveling and enjoying the California weather with her brand new puppy.

Caitlin Crooks – Administrative Fellow, 2015-2017

Current role: Business Manager, Perioperative Services

Caitlin Crooks earned her bachelor’s degree from the University California, Berkeley, majoring in Environmental Economics and Policy and minoring in City and Regional Planning. While studying several of the underlying causes of poor health in the United States, Caitlin wished to better understand the delivery of healthcare within the hospital setting, and therefore moved to Washington, D.C. to pursue a master’s degree in Health Systems Administration at Georgetown University.

Over the course of her 2 years in D.C., Caitlin took on several internships at MedStar Georgetown University Hospital and lead hospital projects through the Institute of Healthcare Improvement. During the final semester of her graduate program, Caitlin completed her administrative residency at Children’s National Medical Center in the Supply Chain department, carrying out process improvement initiatives under the Lean Six Sigma methodology. This exposure to a pediatric environment coupled with her strong interest in lean culture (and much better weather) ultimately drew Caitlin to Stanford Medicine Children’s Health.

Once at Stanford Medicine Children’s Health, Caitlin’s fellowship rotations and project work primarily focused on increasing ambulatory clinic access, developing new business models for improving patient care, and creating standard work for hospital and clinic operations. At the conclusion of the program, Caitlin was drawn to the fast-paced Operating Room environment and ever since, has supported the department in both the Senior Project Manager and Business Manager roles–in which she has helped increase operational efficiency, optimize resources, and create a better experience for patients, families and staff alike.

Outside of work, Caitlin enjoys taking boutique fitness classes (Barry’s!), trying out new recipes in her instant pot, and spending quality time with her Jack Russell Terrier pup.

Mansi Shah – Administrative Fellow, 2014-2016

Before starting her administrative fellowship here at Stanford Medicine Children’s Health, Mansi Shah earned her Doctor in Dental Surgery from India in 2008. She moved to California right after and worked in a multi-specialty dental surgery clinic, on the administration and management front. She started in the central processing unit in 2009 and climbed up the ladder to Director of Operations in her 3 years there. It was during this time that she discovered her deep interest in healthcare administration and moved to Ithaca, NY to pursue a master’s degree in Health Systems Administration at Cornell University. Over the course of her 2 years in NY, Mansi took on an internship at the Greater New York Hospital Association and worked at North Shore – LIJ in New York City in their quality department. At school, she was an active member of the Sloan Student Association on campus. She also played an instrumental role in planning intersession trips as well as worked at the ACHE congress as a student associate.

During her years in the dental arena, Mansi had a specific interest in pedodontia. She has also been doing volunteer work with several organizations in India with underprivileged and intellectually challenged children. She pursued the administrative program at Stanford Medicine Children’s Health to combine this passion for pediatrics with her keen interest in learning about healthcare operations across the continuum of care.

Jia Christianson – Administrative Fellow, 2010-2011

Jia was the administrative fellow from 2010 to 2011, with areas of focus in Strategy, Business Development, Physician Organization Development, Communications, Marketing, and Community Partnerships. After the fellowship, she became a member of the Packard 2.0 Expansion team, working to develop operational plans to drive cross-functional change, communication and mitigation programs related to construction, transition and activation planning of the new expansion. She now serves as the Director of Strategic Space Planning, and helps lead the development of the master facility plan, bed plans and other space needs for the enterprise.

Prior to joining Stanford Medicine Children’s Health, Jia received her MBA from Yale University, School of Management with an emphasis in non-profit management. She also has a Bachelor of Science in Operations Research and Industrial Engineering from Cornell University, College of Engineering. Jia’s diverse professional experience includes working as a Programs Officer at Love146, an international non-profit that addresses child trafficking. There, she oversaw aftercare and prevention programs in Southeast Asia, directed a $1M program budget, developed a comprehensive child protection policy and assisted in capacity building. Prior to this, Jia spent three years as a consultant in the Healthcare and Life Sciences practice at Deloitte Consulting in New York City. At Deloitte, she worked with companies such Fortune 500 companies to address business issues and develop growth strategies. She also served as the 2009 Strategy Development Intern at Special Olympics and was a Bill & Melinda Gates Millennium Scholar.