Paula Kreissler, Executive Director

As Executive Director Healthy Savannah, Paula has worked in the policy, systems, environmental change (PSE) arena for over fifteen years. Paula was the Project Lead on a Healthy Savannah grant to reduce childhood obesity in the Savannah/Chatham County community.  Currently, Paula is the Project Director of the YMCA of Coastal Georgia’s five-year CDC Racial and Ethnic Approaches to Community Health Grant to reduce health disparities in Chatham County which was renewed for another five years (2023-2028). She works daily with leaders and grassroots community members across all sectors to help make the healthy choice the easy choice for all members of our community PSE. Through collaboration with community partners, Healthy Savannah has been able to educate elected officials, leading to increased focus on access to healthy food; the adoption of a Smoke-Free Air Ordinance; Complete Streets Policy; amended school design guidelines supporting walking and biking to/from school, infrastructure known as Tide to Town, a 30+ mile system designed for pedestrians and bicyclists; Community Garden’s Ordinance, and the new zoning ordinance (NewZO). All of these have roots in lifting up our underserved population in Savannah/Chatham County.  Paula has an MBA in Sustainable Business with a concentration in Government Policy and Administration, is a CPA, is a LEED Green Associate, and is a 2016 graduate of Leadership Southeast Georgia. Paula has received many leadership awards, the latest (2023) being a state level award honoring Women Who Lead in Health and Wellness. The first 25 years of her career were spent primarily in operations management at FedEx.