Faculty Profile

Biography

Dr. Magon (Meg) Saunders previously served as a Senior Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Consultant, Special Projects Advisor, and Public Health Advisor in the federal public health system, where she provided technical assistance and support to the leadership team, funded recipients, partners, and staff to address diabetes prevention and management and diversity, equity, inclusion, and accessibility (DEIA), and to advance workplace equity.

Dr. Saunders has worked in public health for over 40 years, serving in various leadership capacities in the United States, the Cayman Islands, and Jamaica. Dr. Saunders also owns and operates a private nutrition consulting company in Atlanta, GA, and leads her team’s efforts to provide medical nutrition therapy, self-management training, conferences, and other consultation services to disparate populations across 18 states. Dr. Saunders is also the Founder and Executive Director of Forgive For Health Ministries, Inc., where she has worked to integrate forgiveness into clinical and community services.

Before joining the federal public health system in 2007, she was the Program Director for the Georgia Diabetes Prevention & Control and Drive for Sight Programs at the Georgia Department of Public Health (GDPH). While at the GDPH, Dr. Saunders assessed Georgia’s capacity to address diabetes and used the assessment findings to develop Georgia’s first diabetes strategic plan. A tireless community volunteer, Dr. Saunders works at the national, state, and local levels to empower community members, build social capital, address the social determinants of health, and advance health equity. Dr. Saunders is a Former Chair of the American Diabetes Association’s (ADA) National African American Initiatives and the Diabetes Council of the National Association of Chronic Disease Directors (NACDD). She was also a founding member of NACDD’s Health Equity Workgroup.

Dr. Saunders has received numerous awards for her work in diabetes, nutrition, and public health, including the 2024 A.T. Still Alumni Community Service Award, the 2019 Hubert Humphrey Service to America Award,  the 2018 Centers for Disease Control and Prevention/ ATSDR Director’s Award for Excellence in Public Health Impact (The National Diabetes Prevention Program Team), and the 2006 Georgia Governor’s Community Services Award. She is the proud author of several books and courses on forgiveness and health.

Dr. Saunders is a doting grandmother of three and a world traveler working hard to visit every continent.  She loves gardening, writing, running, hiking, and cooking. She is passionate about being a voice for the voiceless and most vulnerable, and she is a strong health equity and community advocate.

Magon believes public health makes sense when you “look into the faces of the people behind the data.” She also strongly believes in paying it forward and mentors and supports several upcoming public health students and Fellows each year. Dr. Saunders is an original MHSA faculty member, is proud of the MHSA program’s evolution, and is grateful to still have the opportunity to learn from and with each cohort of MHSA or MPH students each year.