Meet Dr Nelly Burdette

Most people experience government through systems that are difficult to navigate such as healthcare, housing, and services meant to support them.

Dr. Nelly Burdette has spent her life inside those systems, helping people find their way through them.

Born in Ukraine and raised in Texas as a first-generation immigrant, Nelly grew up curious about the stories behind struggle. As a child, she often spoke with people experiencing challenges, wanting to understand how life had taken difficult turns and what could help.

That curiosity became a career.

As a clinical health psychologist and healthcare leader, Nelly has spent more than two decades listening to people at some of the most vulnerable moments of their lives: patients navigating illness, families struggling with housing instability, and communities trying to access care that should be easier to receive.

Her work helped transform healthcare in Rhode Island by integrating mental and physical health care so patients can receive both in one visit without additional barriers.

But Nelly’s understanding of the healthcare system is not only professional. As a cancer survivor, she experienced firsthand how overwhelming and complicated navigating care can be, even for someone who works within the system.

For most of her life, Nelly stood apart from politics because it often seemed disconnected from the real challenges people face every day. But after years of working on the front lines of healthcare and community systems, she realized that real progress requires leadership willing to bring those experiences into public service.

Rhode Island’s strong sense of community was one of the reasons Nelly chose to build her life here. The state’s unique small businesses from local bookstores, cafés, shops, to neighborhood gathering places help create the character that makes Rhode Island special.

As a small business owner at different points in her career, Nelly also understands firsthand how difficult it can be to sustain and grow a business in Rhode Island. Today, many small businesses are struggling not just to thrive, but to survive.

Nelly is not a career politician. She is a problem solver who believes the government should function as the engine that helps communities move forward.

Her campaign focuses on the issues she hears about most from the people she serves every day:

• Access to affordable primary care

• Housing people can actually afford

• Supporting healthy aging from public education to retirement

• Ensuring small businesses can survive and thrive in the communities they serve

Her campaign is grounded in one simple idea:

Change should come from people who understand the systems that need to change.