Lisa Williams, MSSA

As associate dean, Williams provides a strategic vision for improving health and well-being outcomes, building upon current strengths and collaborating on opportunities for growth with evidence-based approaches.

Williams has an extensive record of promoting well-being and addressing the wellness needs of her colleagues. With a combined 15 years at the University of Kentucky, she has held multiple leadership positions and has been involved with numerous presentations and research projects in related areas.

Prior to her role as associate dean, she served as an adjunct assistant professor and consultant at the UK College of Health Sciences, where she also served as an instructor, advisor, and coach for the physician assistant program. Before this, she taught graduate-level courses and served as a consultant for six years at the UK College of Social Work.

Since 2017, Williams has run a successful coaching and consulting business, working closely with organizations to assess and improve employee engagement and organizational culture while providing coaching in emotional intelligence and leadership. Her clients have included Bluegrass Care Navigators, the University of Kentucky Women’s Forum, Dental Care Plus, LG&E and Kentucky Utilities, local public and private school systems, and numerous other organizations. She is co-founder and co-facilitator of the High Impact Leadership Project, a program designed to advance emotional intelligence and future competencies. Over the past four years, there have been more than 70 participants throughout Kentucky and Ohio.

In 2015, Williams provided oversight of the YMCA of Central Kentucky’s Beaumont and Jessamine County branches as executive director while creating and evaluating programs to promote physical, mental, and social health. Beforehand, she developed sustainability and growth strategies for the UK Institute for Workplace Innovation as acting co-director and assistant director of management and operations.

Williams' expertise in well-being and professional development is vital as the College of Medicine works toward promoting holistic health for all faculty, staff, and learners. Her appointment demonstrates the college’s commitment to this priority and ensures it maintains accountability and progress.

Rachel Wilson, PhD

Dr. Wilson is the director of organizational well-being at the University of Kentucky College of Medicine. She previously spent five years on UK HealthCare’s Enterprise Learning team. She serves as an organizational psychologist providing leadership and oversight for programs and initiatives across the College of Medicine and within UK HealthCare that foster a culture of well-being. Her focus is on developing, assessing, and overseeing culture change initiatives that support organizational well-being, and developing and implementing a coaching framework that supports the emotional intelligence growth of leaders who are responsible for maintaining an organizational culture of well-being in which everyone thrives. 

Wilson has worked in the field of organizational psychology for 15 years. She has focused her skill set on a variety of human capital areas, including well-being, organizational development, employee engagement, leadership development, recruitment/onboarding, employee selection and assessment, competency modeling, workforce planning, strategic planning, and process improvement. She has been at the University of Kentucky since 2017.

Prior to moving to Lexington, Wilson spent time as a strategic human capital consultant for various federal, state, and local government clients. She additionally worked as an HR business partner at a community hospital in Oregon. She is a certified professional coach and has a master's and PhD in industrial/organizational psychology from Portland State University. Her focus in graduate school was occupational health psychology and her past research focused on work-family conflict, health, and safety of workers. She is passionate about improving the workplace experience for employees; topics of interest include stress management, burnout, and work-life integration. Wilson is originally from the small coastal town of Bandon, Ore., and now lives in Lexington with her beloved Australian Shepard, Finley,  her daughter, Wren, and identical twin boys, Mac and Sam. 

Molly Taylor, PhD, ATC

Office for Organizational Well-Being

Positions Held:

• Postdoctoral Scholar

Molly Taylor, PhD, ATC

As the office’s inaugural postdoctoral scholar, Dr. Taylor is strategizing, coordinating, and launching research efforts to capture the innovative culture work being implemented by the Office for Organizational Well-Being. She manages the development of funding proposals, Institutional Review Board applications and compliance, data capture and analysis, literature review, and research dissemination. Taylor also provides support and knowledge for the development and implementation of emotional intelligence coaching and program offerings.

Her professional career evolved from sports medicine rehabilitation to research and academia. Born and raised in rural Vermont, she received her BS in Athletic Training from the University of Vermont, worked in high school athletics and outpatient physical therapy for several years, and then swapped coasts and earned her MS in Human Physiology from the University of Oregon in 2017. She spent a year at Gonzaga University as an associate athletic trainer with women’s volleyball and rowing, worked in outpatient sports medicine and private client rehabilitation in San Francisco, then served as a pro-tempore instructor at the University of Oregon until early 2021. She received her PhD in Rehabilitation and Health Sciences from the University of Kentucky in 2024, where her doctoral research explored novel strategies to promote emotional intelligence and mitigate burnout in health care professional students. She’s now applying that research experience to a wider population and expanding her work into macro-level strategies for systemic culture change and well-being prioritization in the College of Medicine.

 If she’s not visiting the East or West coast, you’ll find Molly exploring hikes, food, and drinks in the greater Lexington area with her partner Ray and their sweet rescue pup Lu.

Sarah Herman 

Sarah Herman serves as the organizational development specialist in the Office of Organizational Well-being at the University of Kentucky College of Medicine. In this role, she supports and leads various initiatives to foster a culture of well-being, including department enhancement projects and developing coaching programs designed to combat burnout. Drawing from her social work background, Sarah takes a holistic, people-centered approach to organizational development, ensuring the healthcare community feels supported, valued, and empowered to thrive.

Sarah graduated from the University of California, Santa Barbara, before earning her Master of Social Work at the University of Kentucky. She is also currently working on a Master of Science in Strategic Human Resource Management. Prior to joining UK, she worked at a kinship care agency in Lexington. In 2021, Sarah founded a private practice management agency that supports mental health providers across the U.S. With over eight years of experience in group facilitation and more than six years in management and operations across industries such as mental healthcare, retail, and non-profits, she brings a wealth of expertise to her current role.

Passionate about the well-being of healthcare professionals, Sarah understands firsthand the toll burnout can take on both personal and professional lives. Having experienced burnout herself and witnessed its effects in various industries, she is dedicated to creating environments that promote well-being and personal fulfillment.

Originally from Los Angeles, Sarah moved to Lexington in 2022. While she misses the beach, she loves experiencing the four seasons in Kentucky. When not on a weekend getaway, Sarah is likely exploring new restaurants or coffee shops and planning visits from friends and family to show them all of Lexington's hidden gems.

Renee Gallagher, MEd

Renee Gallagher is the administrative operations coordinator for the Office for Organizational Well-Being. She contributes to the team by providing necessary support to align operational needs with university structures and processes. She manages and cultivates the Arts for Well-Being in Academic Medicine Program that includes offerings such as Colors and Connection, Introduction to Social Dance, and Courtyard Concerts. 

Prior to working at UK, Gallagher worked as a database project manager, onboarding software clients across the United States. In this role, she developed key reporting tools used to clean and manage effective data transfers across SAAS association management systems. In her role as a consultant, she utilized her MEd in Instructional Design to create and deliver training programs curated to the specific needs of her association management customers, learning and assessment customers, and other clients seeking her unique learning design skill set. 

Currently, Gallagher is pursuing her PhD in Instruction and Administration at the UK College of Education. She has completed the Launch Blue UAccel program and continues developing her social innovation, Sway2Go, in partnership with the UK Office of Technology and Commercialization. She is a U.S. National Professional Ballroom Dance Champion (retired), and former small business owner who operated dance schools in San Jose, Calif. and Richmond, Ky. She is thrilled to be working alongside her team here at the University of Kentucky College of Medicine. 

May 2024: Listening to Tait Shanafelt, MD. Inaugural Well-Being Lectureship in Karpf Auditorium, UKHC

Renee, Lisa, Rachel, Molly, and LeAnn

February 2024: Our office participates in team-building activities to create community and connection within our own unit

Rachel, Lisa, Renee, and LeAnn

January 2023: Our office began as the Office of Wellness and Well-Being.