Kidest joined DMA in July 2024 as an Associate. She supports qualitative and quantitative data gathering and analytics, project management, and report-writing for various DMA projects.

Before starting at DMA, Kidest conducted family support resource mapping for Children’s Trust, a Massachusetts state agency, and contributed to research on data driven solutions for Maine’s behavioral health crisis system. She also worked as a research assistant for the Adolescent Substance Use and Addiction Program (ASAP) at Boston Children’s Hospital, focused on substance use screeners for youth. She is particularly interested in community partnerships and increasing access to adolescent mental health care services, especially in marginalized communities. Kidest has a Master’s of Public Health from Boston University and BAs from Brown University in Biology and Africana Studies.