Cynthia Willard

During her tenure as a staff physician at the University of Utah Community Clinics, Cynthia Willard was surprised to notice that a significant number of her patients were refugees. Drawing on a commitment to social justice first sparked in rural Liberia, Cynthia decided to create an organization that would not only treat torture survivors, but also teach Utah’s health-care providers how to care for the large number of refugees that the U.S. Department of State sends to Salt Lake City each year. She founded the Utah Health and Human Rights Project (UHHP) to meet these needs, and through the organization Cynthia has played a major role in helping to restore the health, dignity and self-sufficiency of many of these refugees.