Charlene Burgeson Joins PHA as LMAS Executive Director

THE PARTNERSHIP FOR A HEALTHIER AMERICA ANNOUNCES NEW EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR FOR LET’S MOVE! ACTIVE SCHOOLS

WASHINGTON, D.C. (February 18, 2015) — Today, the Partnership for a Healthier America (PHA), which works with the private sector and PHA Honorary Chair First Lady Michelle Obama to make healthier choices easier for busy parents and families, announced that Charlene Burgeson has joined PHA as executive director of Let’s Move! Active Schools.

Powered by an unprecedented national collaboration of leading health and education organizations, Let’s Move! Active Schools is the solution for ensuring 60 minutes of physical activity each day is the new norm for children in K-12 schools. Studies show that active kids do better: Physical activity not only helps kids stay healthy and strong, but it can also lead to higher test scores, improved attendance, better behavior in class and lower rates of childhood obesity. By empowering school leaders to develop active learning environments, Let’s Move! Active Schools is enabling children to reach their fullest potential both in the classroom and in life.

Before joining PHA, Burgeson served as senior director for education and health at Save the Children. Previous to that, she served for eight years as executive director of the National Association for Sport and Physical Education (NASPE), an association of the American Alliance for Health, Physical Education, Recreation and Dance (AAHPERD), now SHAPE America. At NASPE, Burgeson was responsible for developing “Let’s Move in School” to support First Lady Michelle Obama’s Let’s Move! initiative and securing almost $15 million in federal grants to combat the inactivity and obesity crises.

“Charlene has built her career around promoting better health for young people through physical activity and sport,” said PHA CEO Lawrence A. Soler. “Her passion for the work and expertise in this area will be invaluable assets as we continue to grow Let’s Move! Active Schools.”

Burgeson also served in the Division of Adolescent School Health and Division of Nutrition and Physical Activity at the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). She has a master’s degree in physical education (sport administration) from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and a bachelor’s degree in health and physical education from Slippery Rock University of Pennsylvania. For more information on Let’s Move! Active Schools, please visit www.letsmoveschools.org.

About PHA: The Partnership for a Healthier America (PHA) is devoted to working with the private sector to ensure the health of our nation’s youth by solving the childhood obesity crisis. In 2010, PHA was created in conjunction with – but independent from – First Lady Michelle Obama’s Let’s Move! effort. PHA is a nonpartisan nonprofit organization that is led by some of the nation’s most respected health and childhood obesity experts. PHA brings together public, private and nonprofit leaders to broker meaningful commitments and develop strategies to end childhood obesity. Most important, PHA ensures that commitments made are commitments kept by working with unbiased, third parties to monitor and publicly report on the progress our partners are making. For more information about PHA, please visit www.aHealthierAmerica.org and follow PHA on Twitter @PHAnews.