About Karla G. Lavin Williams, DrPH

Dr. Karla Lavin Williams has served as Program Director for the Bachelor of Science in Healthcare Administration (BSHA) Program since the program's establishment in 2010. In this role, she has been the driving force behind programmatic strategic initiatives, innovations, and administrative operations that have enhanced the student experience through tangible outcomes. As an Associate Professor, she teaches courses across the curriculum focused on leadership, emotional intelligence, coaching, communication, sustainability, organizational behavior, and experiential learning through practicum and internship opportunities. Her scholarly contributions span disaster management, emergency response, student and faculty development, emotional intelligence, leadership, and coaching, with national and international publications and presentations.

As a lifelong scholar, Dr. Lavin Williams has intentionally and consistently applied the knowledge she gains through her personal and professional development to student and faculty offerings. Such contributions include the following:

⇒Pioneering online education and whole-person, mission-focused learning. She spearheaded and operationalized a novel, dynamic online curriculum centered in mission-focused learning and whole-person health, professionalism, sustainable leadership, emotional intelligence, experiential learning, and AI literacy.

⇒Leading accreditation and certification efforts. She led the BSHA Program's successful certification by the Association of University Programs in Health Administration (AUPHA), a significant achievement that enriched the rigor of the program and established new pathways for students to gain additional healthcare administration skills and job opportunities through practicum and internship experiences grounded in experiential learning. She continues to direct all advisory board, assessment, and regional accreditation efforts, and maintains the program's AUPHA certification on an ongoing basis.

⇒Advancing emotional and social intelligence development. She developed and teaches a novel Emotional Intelligence and Leadership for Healthcare Administrators course and has integrated emotional and social intelligence competencies throughout the BSHA curriculum. Within the course, she partners with students through one-on-one coaching sessions to support them as they apply what they've learned to personal and professional endeavors and action plans.

⇒Building community and mentorship pathways. She founded and serves as faculty advisor for the first LLU Upsilon Phi Delta Honor Society chapter for the BSHA Program, a professional honor society recognizing excellence among undergraduate students in healthcare administration and created a novel alumni mentorship program connecting current BSHA students with UPD alumni to improve career readiness and expand mentorship opportunities.

⇒Contributing to faculty development. As a founding member of the LLU School of Allied Health Professions Faculty Development/One Nichol Hall Team since 2017, and a member of the Program Director Committee and LLU Academic Excellence Committee, she helps develop online resources for faculty, facilitates monthly faculty development virtual sessions, and presents annually on the topic of Mission Focused Learning.

Prior to her LLU faculty appointment, Dr. Lavin Williams spent a decade in healthcare administration, health education, and organizational leadership, serving as Co-Founder and Chief Operations Officer of CARE, a nonprofit research and health education organization, and as Project Manager for the CURE and DISCOVERIES projects, two federally funded, advanced emergency and disaster preparedness and response initiatives at Loma Linda University Medical Center. In both roles, she contributed to mass casualty and public health research and to advancements benefiting local, state, and federal agencies.

Dr. Lavin Williams holds a Doctor of Public Health degree with an emphasis in Health Education and Promotion and a Nutrition Cognate, a Master of Public Health degree with an emphasis in Healthcare Administration, and foundational training in Kinesiology. As a certified Health and Wellness Coach and Professional Executive Coach, her expertise is grounded in advanced professional training through Harvard Medical School, the Harvard Macy Institute, the Institute of Coaching, Wellcoaches Corporation, and the College of Executive Coaching. She is certified to administer multiple emotional intelligence assessment instruments and integrates assessment-based insight into individual coaching engagements with faculty, students, and healthcare leaders.

Her professional contributions extend beyond LLU through faculty mentor and facilitator roles at the Harvard Macy Institute, where she leads workshops on emotional intelligence and leadership for health professions educators worldwide and supports scholars as a global coach in their ongoing professional development. She also serves as a professional fellow and co-leader of the Leadership in Coaching Group at the Institute of Coaching, McLean Hospital, Harvard Medical School Affiliate, and holds professional membership in AUPHA, the International Association for Health Professions Education (AMEE), and Wellcoaches School of Coaching.

Dr. Lavin Williams believes every person and every organization has the capacity for extraordinary growth. Her deepest joy is found in partnering with people — walking alongside them through the moments when something shifts, when a person discovers their own agency, or an organization releases a long-held limitation, each moving toward its fullest potential. That belief has shaped every path she's taken. Across more than 25 years, she has moved fluidly between healthcare administration, disaster and emergency preparedness and response, higher education, leadership development, and coaching, each a different expression of her relational leadership and her commitment to whole-person health and well-being as the ground where growth takes root.