Attorney, Speaker, Author, and Narrative Medicine Expert

As a first-generation Latina, Olga was one of the eight founding attorneys of the Bronx Defenders, a holistic public defender’s office. She is now faculty in the Narrative Medicine program at Columbia University, a program that seeks to improve the doctor-patient relationship.

Olga also works as a patient advocate. She’s the Northeast Regional Advocacy Chair for the Lupus Foundation of America, where she does one-on-one and group advocacy work. She’s a member of the Patient Engagement Collaborative, which works with the FDA and Clinical Trials Transformation Initiative to improve communication and education on issues of medical product regulation. She’s also a member of the medical advisory board of Hear Your Song. This nonprofit empowers children and teens with serious illnesses to make their voices heard through collaborative songwriting.

She’s the Chair of the Multicultural Media & Correspondents Association Board of Trustees, which seeks to increase diversity across all media platforms. Olga’s been published in the New York Times, the New York Daily News, Parents, Next Avenue, and various other publications about healthcare, disability rights, and BIPOC issues. Olga received her BA from Cornell University and her JD at Georgetown University Law Center. As a mami, she returned to Columbia University for an MS in Narrative Medicine.