Our People

Kimberly Hobson is the inaugural CEO of the South Side Healthy Community Organization, now Thrive South Side, a position she has held since 2022. In this role, Hobson leads the charge to transform health on Chicago's South Side, managing operations, an annual budget of $20-25 million, and a team of 100 professionals. 

Under Kimberly’s leadership, Thrive South Side has implemented an innovative, Illinois-state funded model of healthcare that addresses critical gaps in access and care coordination. The organization's comprehensive approach integrates Community Health Workers, Nurse Care Coordination, provider collaboration, social determinants of health interventions, and a connected care technology platform to deliver measurable impact across 15 South Side zip codes. 

Kimberly’s commitment to advancing community health extends beyond her executive role. She currently serves on the advisory board of Echo Chicago and the community advisory board of Roseland Medical District, where she contributes expertise in healthcare delivery and community-based systems transformation. Her previous board service includes the Illinois Hospice and Palliative Care Organization and Vice Chair of the JourneyCare Board.

Kimberly holds a Master of Business Administration from Purdue University and completed executive education at the Chicago Management Institute at the University of Chicago Booth School of Business. She earned her Bachelor of Arts in Communication from the University of Illinois at Chicago.

Dr. Sofia Adawy Akintunde is a family medicine physician who has dedicated her life and career to advancing health equity in historically disinvested communities. 

As a first-generation Egyptian American, Dr. Adawy Akintunde grew up in the Greater Chicagoland area. She earned her Bachelor of Arts in Psychology from the University of Chicago and her Doctor of Medicine from the University of Illinois at Chicago College of Medicine, where she also completed her Family Medicine residency. 

Her career began at Mile Square Health Center, a Federally Qualified Health Center, where she held both clinical and academic leadership roles.

At age 31, Dr. Adawy Akintunde was diagnosed with breast cancer. This experience profoundly shaped her understanding of healing and deepened her commitment to caring for patients and communities beyond traditional clinical models.

In 2018, her work led her to the Inner-City Muslim Action Network (IMAN), a nonprofit organization on Chicago’s South Side focused on health, wellness, and social change. As Senior Health Center Director, she served in an executive leadership role, leading

clinical strategy and operations, including the organization’s transition to Federally Qualified Health Center status and its clinical response to the COVID-19 pandemic.

In 2023, she was appointed Chief Health Officer for Chicago Public Schools, where she held a dual role with the Chicago Department of Public Health. In this capacity, she led district-wide efforts to eliminate health-related barriers to learning and advance child health equity, overseeing health services, nursing, health promotion, and benefits access for more than 330,000 students.

Currently, Dr. Adawy Akintunde serves as the Chief Medical Officer of Thrive South Side, where she leads population health strategy, quality improvement, and cross-sector partnerships to improve outcomes across a network of healthcare providers and community-based organizations.

She serves on the Board of Directors for Healthy Communities Foundation and Chicago House and is a member of the Chicago Children’s Museum Community Council. She is a Fellow of the American Academy of Family Physicians.

She speaks Arabic and Spanish in addition to English and lives in the Chicagoland area with her husband and children. Her interests include food, fashion, music, niche areas of history, collecting works from living artists, and being near the ocean.

Stephanie M. Barnett, SHRM-SCP, serves as the Vice President of People and Operations at Thrive South Side. Joining the organization in 2023, she oversees human resources, technology, data analytics, and operational infrastructure. Bringing more than 20 years of progressive leadership across healthcare, higher education, and financial technology, Stephanie specializes in scaling complex workforce ecosystems, standardizing cross-departmental operations, and cultivating high-accountability workplace cultures. A graduate of Loyola University Chicago, she is passionate about driving healthcare innovation and championing family support systems.

Hannah El-Amin is a population health leader with over 20 years experience advancing integrated healthcare and community-based wellness initiatives. She currently serves as Vice President of Population Health at Thrive South Side, where she leads strategies to improve health outcomes for Medicaid populations through coordinated care models, value-based partnerships, and community-driven interventions.

A lifelong resident of the South Side of Chicago, Hannah joined Thrive South Side out of a commitment to the community that raised her and where she is now raising her own family. Her work is driven by a belief that equitable, community-centered healthcare systems are essential to improving long-term health outcomes.

Hannah’s expertise includes population health strategy and large-scale initiatives addressing chronic disease, behavioral health, and social determinants of health. She has led multidisciplinary teams and collaborated with hospitals, Federally Qualified Health Centers (FQHCs), and managed care organizations and community partners to strengthen patient engagement and care coordination.

Previously, Hannah worked as a clinical dietitian and diabetes educator, providing medical nutrition therapy and developing wellness programs to support long-term disease prevention and management. 

She is a Registered and Licensed Dietitian with a B.S. in Human Nutrition and Dietetics from the University of Illinois at Chicago, with graduate studies in Public Health at Loyola University Chicago.