Francesca Weaks, DrPh, MS, MCHES, serves as a Assistant Research Scientist for the Center for Community Engagement, Environmental Justice, and Health (CEEJH) and the Maryland Center for Health Equity(MCHE) at University of Maryland School of Public Health, College Park. For both centers she oversees grant development, financial and standard operating procedures. Additionally, she serves as a lead researcher with a concentration on community based participatory research, racism, and integration of AI/ML technology with public health research. She is also the founder and principal of The Genevieve Strategies Group LLC, an organization that produces public health accountability and social determinants of health policy strategies, research, and programming methods for state and local communities.

Dr. Weaks’ areas of research examines the intersection of racism, health, civil rights law, and policy in community health development. As a researcher by training and a policy advocate and practitioner by experience, she is focused on advocating for equitable community health policies by addressing systematic racism and health disparities.

Originally from NC, she graduated from North Carolina Agricultural and Technical State University with a Dual Bachelors of Science in Biology & Secondary Education with a minor in Chemistry. She holds a Dual Masters in Health Science with a concentration in Health Administration and Community Health from Towson University and holds her Doctorate in Public Health with a focus in Health Policy & Management from Morgan State University.