Our President & founder

Dr. Ndidiamaka Amutah-Onukagha

is the President and Founder of Amaka Consulting and Evaluation Services, LLC (ACES), a certified minority and woman-owned public health research and evaluation firm. Providing leadership for a team of 40+ consultants, she provides strategic oversight and leadership for her organization. In this capacity, ACES has had the pleasure of having a number of Federal, State, non-profit and local agencies as clients. As an evaluator and project manager, Dr. Amutah-Onukagha has conducted research and evaluation work for organizations such as, but not limited to, the American Public Health Association, the Boston Public Health Commission, the March of Dimes, the Partnership for Maternal and Child Health of Northern New Jersey, NASTAD, Susan G. Komen, Sisters of Charity Foundation, Power to Decide, the National Institute for Children’s Health Quality, Planned Parenthood League of Massachusetts, and Rutgers The State University of NJ.

Dr. Amutah-Onukagha received her Ph.D. in Public Health with a focus on Maternal and Child Health at the University of Maryland, College Park School of Public Health in 2010. She received her Masters in Public Health from The George Washington University School of Public Health and Health Services in Maternal and Child Health in 2005. Dr. Amutah-Onukagha also received a BS in Public Health and BA in Africana Studies from Rutgers, The State University of NJ.

Hailing from Trenton, NJ and born to Nigerian immigrants, Dr. Amutah-Onukagha has a long-standing commitment to public health that spans over 15 years of Public Health experience. Her current research interests include maternal morbidity and mortality, reproductive health equity, and HIV/AIDS in Black women. Dr. Amutah-Onukagha is a lifelong member of the American Public Health Association and is a longstanding co-chair of the Perinatal and Women’s Health Committee in the Maternal and Child Health section. Additionally, Dr. Amutah-Onukagha is a member of Delta Omega, Omega chapter public health honor society, and is a former President of The Society of African American Public Health Issues (SAAPHI).She also serves on the editorial board for the Journal of Women’s Health Issues.

In 2022 she received the John MacQueen lecture award from the Association of Maternal and Child Health Programs (AMCHP). Dr. Ndidiamaka Amutah-Onukagha was an honoree of the 2020 Top 40 under 40 Minority Leaders in Healthcare, as presented by the National Minority Quality Forum (NMQF). She is a founding member of Birth Equity Justice MA (BEJMA), a board member for the Neighborhood Birth Center in Boston, and a board member for Dr. Shalons’ Maternal Action Project (DSMAP). In 2019, she was honored with the American Public Health Association’s Maternal and Child Health Section’s Young Professional of the Year Award.

Additionally, Dr. Amutah-Onukagha is  the Julia A. Okoro Professor of Black Maternal Health at Tufts University in the School of Medicine. Her contributions have included leading projects on maternal mortality and morbidity, health equity, HIV/AIDS, adolescent health, and maternal and child health. Her expertise include conducting needs assessments, survey development, interview administration, focus group facilitation, and program implementation and evaluation.

A well-published author, Dr. Amutah-Onukagha’s research has been presented in over 75 manuscripts, 6 book chapters, a best-selling book on Amazon, and a textbook on culturally responsive evaluation. Her research has also been featured across a series of platforms, including, The Lancet, TedX, USA Today, the Boston Globe,  and most recently on MSNBC.