New Appointments to Board of Health and Social Justice Committee
Amherst Town Hall. Photo: Art Keene.
The following appointments were nominated by Town Manager Paul Bockelman and approved unanimously on the consent agenda by the Town Council at their meeting on April 27, 2026. Both appointments were unanimously recommended by the Town Services and Outreach Committee at its meeting on April 16, 2026.
For the Board of Health: Ileana Carrion of Brookside Court for a two-year appointment ending June 30, 2028.
For the Community Safety and Social Justice Committee: Brigid Owino of East Hadley Road for a two-year appointment ending June 30, 2026.
Background information on the Board of Health can be found here.
Background information on the Community Safety and Social Justice Committee can be found here.
Biographical Profiles
The Town Manager provided the following biographical profiles for the appointees.
Ileana Carrion has a life-long connection to the town and has broad professional expertise in public health. She is now eager to contribute to the overall mission of meeting the public health needs of the community. Carrion grew up and lived in Amherst her entire life, other than when pursuing her academic studies. She holds a Bachelors in Public Health from the University of Massachusetts Amherst and a Master’s in Public Management from Johns Hopkins University. Most recently, she has worked as a Program Coordinator for the Massachusetts Department of Public Health in Western Massachusetts where she worked with ten local boards of health. She has extensive experience in managing community outreach efforts and serves on the Office of Local and Regional Health’s Racial Equity Steering Committee. She currently serves on the Board of Directors of The Food Bank of Western Massachusetts and is enrolled in a PhD program for public health at the University of Massachusetts Amherst.
Brigid Owino is deeply committed to ensuring the town’s most vulnerable residents, including BIPOC families, immigrants, people with disabilities, and those navigating substance abuse recovery – have equitable access to services and support. She holds a Bachelors Degree from the University of Massachusetts Amherst and works as a full-spectrum doula with direct experience addressing language access barriers. She is especially interested in services for young people as they will shape the Amherst her daughters and their peers inherit. She has also served as the events manager for the Amherst Woman’s Club.