Area of Responsibility VII: Leadership and Management

Gigi Holder currently serves as the program director for the Child Access to Mental Health and Psychiatry (CHAMP) program operated out of the Department of Psychiatry and Human Behavior at the University of Mississippi Medical Center (UMMC) in Jackson. In this role, Gigi operates the day-to-day activities which vastly involve providing resources and referrals, and education to primary care providers across the state when they call the consultation phone line to speak to a mental health specialist regarding the care of their pediatric patients. The mission of CHAMP is to address the lack of mental health resources across Mississippi by allowing for same-day, peer to peer consultation between a medical provider and a social worker, child psychologist, or child psychiatrist so that behavioral and emotional concerns can be addressed without the need for unnecessary referral delay for services.

Prior to this position, Gigi completed a 2-year postgraduate fellowship with the Mississippi Thrive! Child Health and Development Project which was a comprised of a multidisciplinary team conducting developmental assessments for children up to age 6 at the Center for Advancement of Youth (CAY) at UMMC. As a clinician, she continues to provide therapy services to families with children aged 2 to 7 regarding behavioral concerns as well as exposure to trauma events for young children and adolescents. 

Gigi earned her bachelor’s degree in Health Education from the University of Arkansas in her hometown of Fayetteville, AR, and later received a Master's of Public Health and a Master's of Social Work from the Dual Degree Program in New Mexico State University in Las Cruces. Through all of this, her involvement with SOPHE has remained steadfast from maintaining her CHES credentialing to serving in leadership roles in both the House of Delegates and on the Board of Trustees for National SOPHE.