Sophie Miller-DeSart, Oregon MRC State Coordinator
“The people involved in MRC are not your average volunteers. The sacrifice, passion, and dedication these health professionals have for community resilience and safety is unmatched.”
Sophie Miller-DeSart is the SERV-OR (ESAR-VHP) the Volunteer Manager and MRC State Coordinator for the Health Security, Preparedness and Response Program in the state of Oregon’s Public Health Division at the Oregon Health Authority (OHA). She has worked in various volunteer management and incident coordination capacities in the same program since 2016. She also fills the agency’s Public Health Duty Officer role and supports agency incident management as a Planning Section Chief.
“I understood the position as a program manager for the state’s healthcare volunteer registry, and I was familiar with the Medical Reserve Corps and OHA’s role in supporting local public health, though as I learned more about the role, I became very passionate about putting more energy into local unit development. It felt like a strength our state was under leveraging. I wanted to change that and build more of my presence as a support and advocate for our local partners with (and without) MRC units.”
Sophie is a resourceful visionary who is very responsive to the needs of units and unit leaders in her state. Examples of Sophie’s 2023 accomplishments include:
- Successfully submitting and being awarded an MRC STTRONG Grant
- Developing an MRC Toolkit and New Leader Orientation specifically for OR MRC leaders/units
- Developing a Volunteer Handbook
- Developing a Volunteer Training Plan via MRC-TRAIN; and embarking on an MRC Standardization Project
- Playing an instrumental role in the formation of new OR units and ensuring that new unit leaders onboard seamlessly
“The opportunities MRC membership can offer you are endless! Training, professional development, continuing education, professional recommendations, career path changes, and more. But more importantly, I believe that as a member of the MRC Network, you are joining a family. A very big family, where you might not know everyone, but when you come together, you see that our commonalities and our differences make something really beautiful.”
The MRC Recognition Awards recognize and highlight amazing contributions of MRC units, volunteers, leaders, and partners. In 2024, there were hundreds of nominations in 12 categories – covering both response and non-response contributions. Learn more about the awards and the winners at Meet Our MRC Network. Learn how to become a part of the MRC and make a difference in your community at Become an MRC Volunteer.
