Olga Valdman,MD
Executive Director
Dr. Valdman is the Founder and Executive Director of Worcester RISE for Health and an Assistant Professor of Family Medicine and Community Health at the University of Massachusetts Chan Medical School (UMass).
Dedicated to serving vulnerable populations both locally and globally, Dr. Valdman's work with Worcester’s refugee community began during medical school when she co-founded the African Community Education (ACE) program alongside Kaska Yawo. ACE, a non-profit supporting African refugee and immigrant youth and families in achieving educational success and socio-economic stability through access to academic support, leadership development, cultural expression, and community outreach, has grown from a volunteer-driven initiative into one of Worcester’s leading organizations serving refugee and immigrant communities.
After completing her residency at Greater Lawrence Family Health Center, Dr. Valdman returned to Worcester, drawn by her deep connection with ACE and the city’s refugee and immigrant populations. She joined the Family Health Center of Worcester (FHCW), where she spent a decade strengthening refugee health programs. Under her leadership, FHCW established a dedicated team—including nurses, medical assistants, and patient navigators—focused on newly arrived refugees and immigrants while prioritizing hiring staff who reflected the community they served. Dr. Valdman also developed a Global Health Fellowship, training Family Medicine physicians in refugee and asylum care. These fellows became sought-after experts in the field. In December 2022, Dr. Valdman left FHCW to launch Worcester RISE for Health, believing that effective refugee and immigrant care must be community-based and distinct from the mainstream healthcare system.
For over a decade, Dr. Valdman has cultivated strong partnerships with refugee resettlement agencies and refugee and immigrant-serving community organizations in Worcester. She currently leads the Worcester Refugee Health Collaborative, a coalition that convenes monthly and includes the city’s three resettlement agencies and two community health centers.
At UMass, Dr. Valdman serves as Director of Global Health Programs in the Family Medicine department. She has built and sustained international partnerships in the Dominican Republic, Nicaragua, Liberia, Kenya, and Ghana. With a $1.5 million USAID grant, her team collaborated with colleagues in Liberia to establish the country’s first Family Medicine Residency training program. She also recently helped launch a Spanish language training program for Family Medicine residents, ensuring graduates achieve fluency and gain a deep understanding of Worcester’s Latinx communities.
Dr. Valdman serves as the advisor to the student Refugee Health Interest Group at UMass Chan and where she hopes to see medical students take a more active role in supporting Worcester refugee and immigrant communities. Nationally, Dr. Valdman is a member of the Society for Refugee Health Providers, presented at multiple conferences on topics of refugee health, global health, and border health, and is a recipient of numerous awards and recognitions including, but not limited to, the Pisacano Leadership Award by the American Board of Family Medicine, Mass League Community Health Center Special Project award, Faculty Excellence Award, and Rotary International Humanitarian Award.
Dr. Valdman speaks English, Spanish, and Russian.