Our Board Of Directors
Dr. Desire Kindarara
is the Founder, President, and CEO of the Africa Institute of Diabetes Self-Management (AIDSM), a nonprofit 501(c)(3) tax-exempt organization. Working for the last 12 years with individuals living with and affected by pre-diabetes and diabetes in African Diaspora communities in the Greater Sacramento Area, has taught Dr. Kindarara, a clinician and research scientist to be empathetic, to listen to their needs, and to support them in managing their condition. Dr. Kindarara has turned that compassion into a movement of meeting people with pre-diabetes and diabetes “where they are” which is crucial in promoting culturally tailored interventions and products leading to improved engagement, improved self-management, and ultimately, improved health outcomes and a reduction of diabetes and health disparities in African Diaspora communities.
Dr. Kindarara is a Clinical Professor in the College of Health and Human Services, School of Nursing, California State University, Sacramento (CSUS), Sacramento, CA, USA, and a guest/visiting faculty in SPH 295 Course: Introduction to International Health at the UC Davis School of Medicine, Department of Public Health Sciences. He served as Master of Public Health (MPH) Practicum Site Preceptor for UC Davis MPH students (2013 to 2014). He also served as Director of the African Immigrant & Refugee Health Care Program at the Veteran, Immigrant, and Refugee Trauma Institute of Sacramento (VIRTIS) from 2012 to 2015.
In his caring and unpaid role as Director at VIRTIS, Dr. Kindarara organized Health and Wellness Day sessions in our local African immigrant & refugee communities of Sacramento; organized Diabetes education sessions in our local faith-based communities: churches (University Presbyterian Church, Church of Pentecost USA Inc., House of Glory Church in Rancho Cordova, Bethel Evangelical Church (Ethiopian church) in Sacramento, Redeemed Christian Church of God in Sacramento,Victory Christian International Ministries Church in Sacramento,…) and Salam Mosque of Sacramento; worked on two epidemiological health surveys of underserved immigrant populations; conducted research to reduce health disparities among African immigrant & refugee communities of Sacramento; and coordinated the African section of a two Health Fairs offered jointly by McGeorge School of Law and UC Davis providing free medical consultation to over 120 indigent participants.
His research interest is in diabetes in African Diaspora communities, in which he has published in peer-reviewed journals.
Dr. Kindarara is also a results-driven hospital leader with over 8 years of experience leading people, change and building coalitions at the local hospitals such as VA Northern California Health Care System, Sacramento, Dignity health Mercy San Juan Medical Center, and Kaiser Permanente. In 2020-2021, he successfully spearheaded the expansion of the transitional services of the Transitional (Telemetry) Care unit from 16 to 30 beds despite the emergence of Covid‐19 presenting unique challenges to safely caring for veterans. He also successfully spearheaded the creation of the COVID‐19 negative pressure zone which included 11 beds on the 3rd Floor at the Sacramento VA Medical Center following the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s guidelines for facilities without access to enough negative pressure rooms. He successfully led the implementation of the Express Admit Unit (EAU) at the Sacramento VA Medical Center that would house (and care for) patients until a bed becomes available on the appropriate unit. He developed policy, procedures and practice standards for the most used intravenous (IV) medications (about 80 IV medications), and 2 Standard Operating Procedures (SOP’s) for medications to control Atrial fibrillation or atrial flutter: Amiodarone Continuous Infusion & Cardizem (Diltiazem) Continuous Infusion. In 2019, he developed and implemented the Aspiration Precaution Bundle (APB) Tool as a new approach to decreasing the rate of aspiration pneumonia among patients diagnosed with a neurological disorder, respiratory failure, altered mental status, and dysphagia.
Secretary
Katumu Kimbo-Janusch, MSN, RN, PHN
Katumu is the secretary of the Africa Institute of Diabetes Self-Management (AIDSM). She holds a degree in Nursing from the Betty Irene Moore School of Nursing at University of California, Davis (UC Davis). She completed her undergraduate degree at the California State University, Sacramento (CSUS), where she obtained her bachelor of science degree in Community Health Science. In addition, she completed a quality improvement project during her Post-Baccalaureate Registered Nurse Residency program at the Sacramento VA Medical Center on Laughter Yoga Therapy in the Acute Care setting. She is a founding member of the Capitol City Black Nurses Association. For three years, she was the Vice Chair of the Transitional Care Unit’s Based Council (UBC). In her role as Vice Chair of the UBC, Katumu worked on enhancing quality patient care, continuous improvement projects with emphasis on effective communication, mobility and skin health. In addition, she assisted in staff education to reduce the incidence of falls, Hospital Acquired Pneumonia Infections, Central Line Associated Bloodstream Infection, Catheter-Associated Urinary Tract Infections, and early mobilization of patients.
Because of her compassionate non-pharmacologic and patient-centered approaches to managing agitation by providing orientation and cognitive stimulation to patients, Katumu was named Acute Care for Elders (ACE) champion by the Medical Director of the Acute Care for Elders Program – VA Northern California Health Care System in 2021.
She is also a Clinical Nurse Educator for the Betty Irene Moore School of Nursing at the University of California, Davis (UCD).
Treasurer
Ella Koroma, BSN, RN
Ella is the Treasurer of the Africa Institute of Diabtes Self-Management (AIDSM). She holds a degree a Bachelor of Science in Nursing from Chamberlain University – Sacramento. As one of the medical professionals who are at the center of Veterans Affairs (VA) care, Ella stepped in to provide the patient-centered, high-quality health care our Veterans deserve. Currently, Ella works with Care Unit team at UC Davis Medical Center, Sacramento that embodies collaboration, teamwork and attentiveness to the needs of each patient in order to provide a high level of quality care.
Ella also served for 7 years as a church secretary at the Church of Pentecost Sacramento where she managed day-to-day operations of the church; handled basic financial tasks such as issuing checks for church expenses and processing payroll; prepared financial statements for budgeting and reporting purposes and processing payroll taxes correctly and on time; and tracked contributions, tithes, and other financial transactions so that the church’s financial health can be demonstrably accounted for.
