Dr. Allison van der Velden, DMD served as Chief Executive Officer since August 2020. She has worked at the Community Health Center of Franklin County as a dentist since 2015, becoming the Oral Health Director in 2018. Dr. Van der Velden completed her Bachelor of Arts degree at Hampshire College, where she focused in Microbiology. She earned her Doctor of Dental Medicine degree from Midwestern University, in Glendale AZ in 2013, and earned a Masters of Public Administration from Suffolk University in 2021.

She is passionate about the Community Health Center Movement and holds a certificate in Community Health and Community Health Center Management from Suffolk University and also completed the Geiger Gibson Health Policy Fellowship Program at George Washington University. Her interest and commitment to improving lives in her community is a driving force outside the Community Health Center as well. Dr. Van der Velden sits on the Board of Director’s for the Amherst Survival Center, a local non-profit dedicated to addressing hunger and the stigmatization food insecurity, and she serves on the Finance Committee for the Town of Deerfield.

Dr. Van der Velden is a dedicated healthcare administrator who uses her perspective as a healthcare provider, her education in leadership and management, and her values of respect and excellence to lead the Community Health Center of Franklin County.