Preconference and Breakout Bios – Communities Joined in Action

Adriana Abariotes, MPA, Executive Director, Twin Cities LSC

Andriana Abariotes, Executive Director, leads one of LISC’s most creative and robust local offices, focused on supporting more collaborative approaches across neighborhoods and sectors including health, education and arts/culture; growing diverse leadership; and strengthening regional community economic development capacity. TC LISC annually invests $8-10 million in local community-based economic development partners and strategies, which leverages nearly $150 million in local redevelopment each year. To date, LISC has invested over $550 million in grants, loans and equity in the Twin Cities region, helping create over 13,800 units of affordable housing and 1.7 million square feet of commercial and community facilities, leveraging another $2.2 billion of investment in Twin City neighborhoods.

Ms. Abariotes serves as an advisor on several boards and task forces seeking to integrate strategies locally including the St. Paul Promise Neighborhood Advisory Board, the Community Resource Board for the Backyard Initiative, and the boards of directors for the Family Housing Fund and Twin Cities Community Land Bank. With over 20 years of experience, she draws from previous work with a range of organizations serving geographic, regional and cultural communities. She holds a B.A. from Macalester College and Masters Degree in Public Affairs from the University of Minnesota. She lives in St. Paul with her husband and son.

Angie Alaniz, Associate Director, Center for Community Health Development

Angie Alaniz is the Associate Director of the Center for Community Health Development at the Texas A&M University School of Public Health. Over the last 13 years, Angie has led all the Center’s community engagement and partnership activities related to academic/community projects and facilitated the activities of the Center’s Community Advisory Board. Angie also provides daily oversight of Center administrative responsibilities related to personnel, finance, and grants management.

Elisbeth Altazan, BA, Extension Associate, LSU AgCenter

Elisabeth Altazan currently serves as the manager for the LSU AgCenter’s Healthy Communities intiative. Ms. Altazan holds a BA in Political Science and French from Louisiana State University. Ms. Altazan has dedicated her career to helping communities drive sustainable and equitable change using a PSE approach. Ms. Altazan’s expertise in community organizing has developed from several years of experience working with state and local non-profits including the United Way and the Arts Council of Greater Baton Rouge

Jody Anderson, RN, Registered Nurse and Certified Health Coach, Bellin Health and Succeed Health, LLC

Jody has been a Registered Nurse for over 23 years and has worked in a variety of healthcare settings from acute care to corporate wellness. She is also an integrative nutrition coach, trained through the Institute for Integrative Nutrition and University of Arizona Center for Integrative Medicine- Integrative Health and Lifestyles Program. Her passion and purpose for helping others has extended throughout the community with a focus on prevention and risk factor reduction.

Bill Barberg, President, Insightformation, Inc.

Bill Barberg is President of Insightformation, Inc., a consulting and technology firm specializing in Collective Impact, collaborative strategy implementation, and community health innovation. Bill has consulted with dozens of communities and organizations and frequently presents at national conferences. He authored a chapter in an upcoming book on implementing population health plans and is currently writing a book on Social Impact Bonds, 2.0.

Kevin Barnett, DrPH, Senior Investigator, Public Health Institute

Kevin has led research and fieldwork to advance hospital community benefit practices for over two decades, working with hospitals, government agencies, and community stakeholders across the country. Current work includes a partnership with The Governance Institute and Stakeholder Health with funding from the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation to build population health knowledge among hospital board members and senior leadership, a national study of hospital interventions to address food insecurity, and a partnership with the Carsey School of Public Policy to align care redesign strategies and community benefit programming with community development investments to address the social determinants of health. Kevin serves as a member of the Board of Directors for the Trinity Health System and the Board of Directors of Communities Joined in Action.

Andrew Beck, MD, MPH, Assistant Professor and Attending Pediatrician, Cincinnati Children’s Hospital Medical Center

Dr. Beck’s aims to improve child health outcomes by identifying and mitigating key social determinants of health. He pursues quantitative and quality improvement studies focusing on population-level health disparities and academic-community collaborations. He formed partnerships with community organizations focusing on reducing risks related to poverty. For example, he has focused on healthy housing and food insecurity. He works, clinically, as a primary care and hospitalist pediatrician.

Richard Bell, MCP, Senior Project Officer, Active Living by Design

As a Senior Project Officer for Active Living By Design (ALBD), Rich Bell provides guidance and support for clients, community partnerships and their leaders on all aspects of their work, including strategic planning and prioritization, community engagement and partnership development, capacity building, project implementation, assessment, evaluation and sustainability of efforts to increase active living and healthy eating in communities. Rich develops educational materials and tools, shares stories, links leaders with the various resources of ALBD’s national learning network, conducts training and provides coaching.

Kathleen Burgoyne, PhD, Senior Director, Foundation for Healthier Generations

Dr. Burgoyne has worked in the prevention field for over 30 years as a practitioner and researcher. Having worked in multiple systems she understands that each system has a necessary but not sufficient part in addressing the problems vulnerable people face. As a result, she focuses on establishing and maintaining strategic partnerships to promote the health, education, and self-sufficiency of families living in very low-income, multi-ethnic communities.

Kim Bush, MPA, Program Manager, University of Texas Health Science Center at Tyler/UT Health Northeast

Kim serves as Program Manager of the Community Health Worker Training and Patient Navigator Projects for the University of Texas Health Science Center at Tyler. She is a CHW Instructor; recently appointed to the Department of State Health Services CHW Advisory Board. She has a graduate degree in Public Administration and recently began work on a Doctorate of Public Health. Kim has over 20 years of experience in behavioral and community health as well as serving on multiple community committees.

Sarah Callender, LCSW, Director of Health and Wellness, Downtown Womens Center

Sarah Callender, LCSW is the Director of Health and Wellness programs at the Downtown Women’s Center in the Skid Row community of Los Angeles. In this role, she provides oversight of the Trauma Recovery Center, DWC women’s health center, drop-in day center services and health and mental health programming for 119 residents and nearly 3000 day center participants a year. A 2008 graduate of the Social Welfare Program at the UCLA Luskin School of Public Affairs, she has experience navigating complex systems as a former developer of housing policy and programs for the Los Angeles County Department of Mental Health and a clinician of the jail mental health and juvenile justice systems. Sarah has also worked with female survivors of domestic violence and children in the foster care system.

Juan Carmona, MS, Patient Navigator, Project Access of New Haven

Juan has been a Patient Navigator with Project Access-New Haven since July 2012. Throughout his time at Project Access, he has found ways to complement his background in Sociology with the mission of helping the underserved in New Haven. With a dedicated focus on social research and health outcomes, Juan is determined to see that patients at Project Access are able to navigate the complex healthcare system themselves once their time with the agency comes to an end.

Carrie Carroll, MPA, Deputy Director, RWJF Culture of Health Prize, University of Wisconsin Population Health Institute

Carrie Carroll is the Deputy Director of the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation (RWJF) funded Culture of Health Prize program at the University of Wisconsin Population Health Institute. The RWJF Culture of Health Prize recognizes and celebrates communities that have placed a priority on health and are creating powerful partnerships and deep commitments to make change. Carrie holds an MPA from the University of Washington Evans School of Public Policy & Governance and a BA in Journalism from the University of Wisconsin – Madison.

Heather Champion, MEd, LPC, Business Development Director, Spindletop Center

Heather Champion, M.Ed., LPC, served as Director of Spindletop Center’s crisis services during the development and implementation of the crisis collaboration. The Center’s mobile crisis team continues to play a vital role in this system to ensure individuals in crisis receive the most appropriate care to meet their individual needs. Under Heather’s leadership, the full crisis services array has grown to include both inpatient and outpatient services responsive to the needs of the community.

Scott Cole, CEO / Co-Founder, Collectivity

Scott Cole is CEO and Co-Founder of Collectivity, a social venture cooperative. Scott has many years of experience in social ventures and social sector investing and finance. He has been the Board Co-Chair of Social Enterprise Alliance – Twin Cities since 2010. Scott has been in various executive roles with several technology companies, was a partner and consultant for Cady Investment Company and was the Director of a Charter High School for three years.

Shemekka Coleman, Activist, Community, Women and Children Rights

Shemekka Ebony is an activist for community’s, women’s, and children’s rights; she is the self proclaimed “voice to the voiceless.” She has lived experience serving as a Community Champion committed to creating healthy positive change in social ecosystems. Her experience as a radio personality and community engager affords her a platform to create a secure place for economic empowerment and health equity for both women and families. She serves her community as a high-demand speaker and provides services such as counseling, coaching, and leadership training in community engagement.

Shemekka Ebony has dedicated over 20 years of her life to specialize in advocacy for victims and their transformation. She is committed to providing awareness to several causes representing underserved populations such as victims of sexual assault, domestic violence, health and wellness inequity, and community hunger. She is the proud mother of two young gentlemen whom she raises to be social entrepreneurs. She and her children have worked on several community engagement projects such as Walk A Mile in Her Shoes and Bag-It-Backpack Feeding Program. She has accepted her call as a inspirational voice and shares the journey with her two sons Lomari and Coren, founders of Miles Missions.

You will find Shemekka Ebony today continuing to share hope and inspiration through her missions work with #IAmBrilliant Community Engagement Tour and Sunday Stacks Radio.

Angela Dawson, MS, MRC, LPC, Executive Director, Ohio Commission for Minority Health

Angela Cornelius Dawson, MS, MRC, LPC, currently serves as the Executive Director of the Ohio Commission on Minority Health. The Commission on Minority Health was created to address the disparity in health status between majority and minority populations. The Commission funds projects which are innovative, culturally sensitive and specific in their approach toward reduction of the incidence and severity of those diseases or conditions which are responsible for excess morbidity and mortality in minority populations. The Ohio Commission on Minority Health was the nation’s first state office of minority health in response to the disparity in health status between Ohio’s minority and non- minority populations. Today, the national minority health network includes the Office of Minority Health, U.S. Public Health Service and over 47 state offices of minority health. Prior to this selection, Ohio Governor Ted Strickland appointed Angela Cornelius Dawson as the director of the Ohio Department of Alcohol and Drug Addiction Services (ODADAS) March 2007. She served as the first African American director from March of 2007 – January 2011. As director, Dawson was responsible for a staff of approximately 100 employees and an annual budget of $ 193 million. ODADAS plans, initiates and coordinates an extensive system of services designed to prevent substance abuse and treat Ohio’s addicted populations. Prior to her appointment to ODADAS, Dawson served as the executive director of Project Linden, Inc., a private non-profit outpatient alcohol and other drug treatment and prevention services center in Franklin County for twenty years. Dawson received her bachelor’s degree in rehabilitation education, a master’s degree in counseling and guidance and second master’s degree in rehabilitation counseling from Wright State University. Angela, her husband John Wesley Dawson along with their son Jelani Dawson both worship and serve in the ministries at the First Church of God.

Rosy De Los Santos, BA, Office of Border Health Program Coordinator, Texas Department of State Health Services Office of Border Health

Rosy De Los Santos is the Program Coordinator for the TX Department of State Health Services Office of Border Services in Eagle Pass. She received a Bachelor’s of Science degree in Youth and Community Studies and a Bachelor’s of Arts degree in English from the University of Texas in Austin. She is a Certified Community Health Worker Instructor and serves as a member in the City of Eagle Pass’ Public Health board and City of Eagle Pass’ Mayor’s Fitness Council. Through her work with the Office of Border Services, Rosy leads communities in developing public health initiatives, including obesity prevention efforts focusing on education and changes to the built environment. Her work integrating grass root and community wide efforts are key in reducing health disparities of border populations in Health Service Region 8.

Sanket Dhruva, MD, Robert Wood Johnson Foundation Clinical Scholar, Yale University School of Medicine

Sanket Dhruva, MD is a board-certified cardiologist and Robert Wood Johnson Foundation Clinical Scholar at Yale School of Medicine. He completed his medical school and internal medicine training at UC San Francisco and his cardiology training at UC Davis in Sacramento, California. His research focuses on developing the evidence base for interventions – mainly new drugs and devices – used for treatment cardiovascular disease. He is passionate about optimizing care delivery by ensuring that all eligible people receive beneficial treatments in a timely manner to help them live healthier or better lives while simultaneously minimizing unnecessary or low-value care. He is interested in the opportunities to use technology to improve health care delivery and has worked with community partners in New Haven, Connecticut to implement an eConsult system which aims to do so.

Kori Eberle, Project Director, San Antonio Metro Health – Healthy Start

Kori Eberle is Project Director for San Antonio Metro Health’s Healthy Start program. She received a Master’s in Counseling & Human Development from Troy State University. With 25 years of experience in government, public health, healthcare, social services, private sector management and marketing, Kori has extensive background managing health programs in diverse areas including teen pregnancy prevention, domestic violence, optical, nutrition & tobacco prevention and control.

Kate Ebersole, BS, Principal, KEE Concepts Consulting

Kate Ebersole has been involved in community health improvement collaborative efforts for the past nine years in Western New York, using her specific training in applied improvement science to help develop a range of community level pilots and associated measurement systems. Kate has worked as a Facilitator/Improvement Trainer with the New York Academy of Medicine in the DASH-NY project and is currently the Facilitator for the Western New York Public Health Alliance, acts as a Coach and Mentor for the Creating Healthy Schools and Communities grant in Chautauqua County NY and is the Community Improvement Advisor for Cattaraugus County NY under the SCALE Initiative through the Institute of Healthcare Improvement and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation.

Peter Ellis, MD, MPH, Associate Professor, Yale School of Medicine

Dr. Ellis has an active clinical practice in New Haven, CT and is Assistant Professor of Internal Medicine at Yale University School of Medicine. In 2010, Dr. Ellis and several colleagues from the New Haven County Medical Association, Yale-Robert Wood Johnson Clinical Scholars Program, Hospital of St. Raphael, and Yale-New Haven Hospitals launched Project Access-New Haven (PANH). Dr. Ellis currently serves as Board President of PANH and on the Board of Directors of Communities Joined in Action.

Alisha Fehrenbacher, Executive Director, Pierce County ACH

Alisha is the Executive Director for Pierce County Accountable Community of Health, an organization that convenes and guides county-wide efforts to achieve the Triple Aim of better health, better care, and lower costs. Until recently, Alisha served as Vice President of Health Systems for Empire Health Foundation managing the health systems portfolio that focused on health improvement efforts for Eastern Washington. Dedicated to health care reform and experienced at community activation and collaboration, she was the founding CEO of a non-profit health collaborative and neutral convening organization serving a diverse tri-county regional community in Oregon. There, she started and ran a community-driven health plan, developed a robust community health workforce hub and served as a founding member of the regional health council ensuring a local voice and footprint on statewide health reform. In addition, she served as a system executive to help refine the framework for strategic thinking and decision-making for a regional health system, providing proactive execution of all strategic transformative and population health improvement initiatives and provided oversight of the health system’s community benefit and wellness departments. Holding Master’s degrees in Health Administration and Geriatric Health, she is a Fellow of the American College of Healthcare Executives, the nation’s leading professional society for healthcare leaders

Seth Fritsch, MPH, Strategic Initiatives Coordinator, Health Improvement Partnership of Maricpoa County

Seth Fritsch manages the backbone operations of the Health Improvement Partnership of Maricopa County (HIPMC), a collaborative of more than 120 public and private organizations working to improve the health of the community. As a native of Phoenix, Arizona, he appreciates his role bringing local leaders together to challenge the dominate health narrative.

Seth earned a Bachelor of Science degree in Business Administration from Northern Arizona University, is currently a Master of Public Health candidate at the University of Arizona, and recently participated in the American Express Leadership Academy. Following his 8 years of experience in the private sector as a Human Resource professional, Seth changed his career focus by joining the United States Peace Corps. As a Community Development volunteer in western Ukraine, he organized local community members, organizations, and governments to complete numerous health promotion projects and anti-human trafficking campaigns. His experiences abroad and in his home town continue to enhance the belief that all people deserve the opportunity to live happy and healthy lives.

Jennifer Hadayia, MPA, Health Equity Coordinator, Harris County Public Health

Jennifer M. Hadayia, MPA is the Senior Policy Planner for Harris County Public Health (HCPH), where she leads internal and external planning initiatives, including serving as the HCPH Health Equity Coordinator and Public Health Accreditation Coordinator.

Robert Harnach, BS, President, Care Coordination Systems, LLC

Robert D Harnach is a C-level leader with over twenty-five years of experience driving successful growth and company turnarounds through demand strategy, change management, profit-focused IT innovation and financial discipline. His broad-reaching vision and ability stem from a long history of creating business transformations in a wide range of industries, including finance, IT, hospitality, media, and currently, healthcare and population health. Currently, Mr. Harnach has been involved for the past 4 years with transforming population health in communities across the country through reducing social risks for the communities. Care Coordination Systems advises communities, hospitals, accountable care organizations, insurance companies and state agencies on how to improve population health and reduce healthcare costs while reducing social risk with the validated Pathways Community HUB model. His operations and business experience has been instrumental in refining the procedures and metrics required for a Pathways Community HUB to achieve financial sustainability and successful outcomes. Mr. Harnach is the also the architect of the Pathways HUB Connect system including the mobile application, dashboards, reporting engine and the Pathways RiskQ risk measurement system to provide organizations and care coordinators with actionable information by which identification, stratification and prioritization of services for at-risk members may be achieved. Mr. Harnach has served as the President of Care Coordination Systems, LLC since July 2012 to the present. Care Coordination Systems is a leading innovator in health and social risk reduction for the at-risk members in a community using the acknowledged and validated Pathways Community HUB model, co-founded by Drs. Sarah and Mark Redding over the last twenty years. Mr. Harnach has brought his business and financial acumen to develop and implement the business strategies to successfully commercialize the model through Care Coordination Systems. Mr. Harnach has developed the sales strategies, customer discovery and implemented the sales plan with a collaborative team approach.

Carrie Harnish, MSW, Clinical Director, Community Benefit, Trinity Health

Carrie Harnish is the Clinical Director, Community Benefit at Trinity Health where she is responsible for the Community Benefit programs across the system that touch people including the mission clinics, pharmaceutical assistance programs, behavioral health, community health workers, homeless programs, tobacco cessation, and dental clinics. She is a conduit between the system office and the programs and also facilitates partnership between the programs. She works to eliminate silos and share information.

Carrie is a social worker by training with a diverse background of experience from AmeriCorps in the beginning, to community based eldercare, dialysis social work, nursing facility transition, Executive Director of a small non-profit organization, to care management in a primary care office. Most recently Carrie has worked with Infinity Primary Care helping to build a cutting-edge care management program as part of the Michigan Primary Care Transformation Demonstration Project. In addition to a superb understanding of patient centered medical care and community programming, Carrie brings a wealth of knowledge around care for elderly populations including long term care, hospice, home care and clinical eldercare case management. She lives in Canton, MI with her husband, Chad and teenage boys, Zachary and Ian. She is a passionate cyclist and knitter.

Quinney Harris, MPH, Senior Program Manager, National WIC Association

Quinney Harris is the Program Manager for NWA’s Community Partnerships for Healthy Mothers and Children (CPHMC) project, a CDC-funded project that aims to improve access to healthy foods/beverages and increase community/clinical linkages in 32 target communities across the country. In this role, he coordinates and implements day-to-day activities for the project, including providing technical assistance to local WIC agencies and collaborative communication and coordination with project partners.

Denise Holston-West, MS, LDN, RD Instructor, LSU AgCenter

Denise Holston is an Instructor in the School of Nutrition and Food Science and Department at the Louisiana State University Agricultural Center (LSU AgCenter, Louisiana Cooperative Extension Service). Holston-West earned a B.S. in Dietetics and an M.S. in Human Nutrition and Food from Louisiana State University. She completed her dietetic internship at Louisiana State University and is a Registered Dietitian and Licensed Dietetic Nutritionist. She is currently a doctoral candidate in the School of Nutrition and Food Sciences.

At the LSU AgCenter, Holston-West serves as the principal investigator of Healthy Access, Behaviors and Communities (Healthy ABCs), a project funded by the Centers for Disease Control. The Healthy ABCs project is a community-based approach to obesity prevention that employs policy, system and environmental changes to make “the healthy choice, the easy choice” among residents in four rural communities.

Holston-West has been with the LSU AgCenter since 2004.

Lanie Honeycutt, MHA, MATCH Program Manager, McDowell County Health Coalition

Lanie Honeycutt is a next generation rural leader who has spent her life living, working, and playing in Western North Carolina. She is driven by a strong commitment to improving health in rural communities through innovative projects that utilize collective impact to address and overcome socioeconomic barriers. She envisions communities where everyone has access to affordable healthcare, where an abundance of fresh foods are available to all, and where people have opportunities to thrive.

Paul Howard, MPA, Senior Director of Knowledge Sharing, Community Solutions

Mr. Howard is the Director of Community Initiatives, 100 Million Healthier Lives at the Institute for Healthcare Improvement (IHI). In this role he oversees the planning and implementation of the SCALE Communities portfolio of 100 Million Healthier Lives. Prior to IHI, he served as Senior Director of Knowledge Sharing at Community Solutions, leading their domestic and international consulting. Paul brings 20 years of experience working in community health and holds a Masters in Public Administration from City University of New York, Baruch School of Public Affairs.

Lex Hurley, BS, Graduate Student Assistant, Texas Tech University Health Science Center

Lex Hurley is a graduate student assistant, and is part of the Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences pursuing a Master’s in Public Health from Texas Tech University Health Science Center in Abilene, with an interest in biostatistics and epidemiology. Lex became involved with the C3 project through working with Dr. Julie St. John

Lauren Kelley, MSW, MPA, Director, Research & Evaluation, Project Access-New Haven

Lauren Kelley, MSW, MPA is the Director of Research and Evaluation for Project Access-New Haven (PA-NH). She has been involved with PA-NH since its inception and has held her current position since 2011. Lauren has over 15 years of experience in program evaluation and clinical healthcare research in the public and private sectors. She holds master’s degrees in social work and public administration from Virginia Commonwealth University and a bachelor’s degree from Haverford College.

Laura King Hahn, Senior Program Manager, ANCHOR Partnership Program, American Heart Association

Laura King Hahn is the Senior Program Manager of the ANCHOR Partnership Program, funded by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The ANCHOR Partnership Program is part of the American Heart Association.

Ray Kirsch, BA, Adult Protective Services Specialist V, Texas Department of Family and Protective Services

I am a 5th generation South Texan. Attended the University of Texas at San Antonio and received a BA in Criminal Justice. Have been working at the Department of Family and Protective Services under Adult Protective Services for 15 years. For the past 4 years I have been imbedded within the WellMed Medical Group through a Grant between APS and WellMed to implement an Elder Abuse Suspicion Index (EASI) tool, to better identify abuse, neglect and exploitation of the elderly and disabled of Texas. I also serve as a liaison between the two entities and help to educate and facilitate communication so we can better serve our APS clients that are WellMed patients. I am currently still imbedded within the WellMed system under a new Grant which will be focused on recidivistic self-neglect patients and how APS and the WellMed team can work together to help prevent these issues from continuing to occur.

Craig Kovacevich, MA, Associate Vice President Waiver Operations & Community Health Plans, The University of Texas Medical Branch at Galveston

Craig S. Kovacevich, MA, is the Associate Vice President, Waiver Operations & Community Health Plans for The University of Texas Medical Branch at Galveston. He is the Executive Director for UTMB HealthCare Systems and is responsible for directing daily operations of the 1115 Medicaid Waiver effort, including regional learning collaboratives, local planning/project implementation, and other transformational initiatives within the 16 counties designated as part of Regional Health Partnership 2.

Katrina Lambrecht, JD, MBA, Vice President & Administrator for the Angleton Danbury Campus and Vice President, Institutional Strategic Initiatives, The University of Texas Medical Branch at Galveston

Katrina Lambrecht, JD, MBA, serves a dual role as Vice President & Administrator for the Angleton Danbury Campus and Vice President, Institutional Strategic Initiatives at the University of Texas Medical Branch (UTMB Health).

In her role as vice president and administrator for the Angleton Danbury campus, Katrina is the chief executive for the campus, responsible for operations and strategic growth for the market. The Angleton Danbury campus is one of three hospital campuses for UTMB Health.

In her role as vice president of institutional strategic initiatives, Katrina oversees the organization’s involvement in the 1115 Medicaid Waiver and the UTMB Multi-share plan. Under the Medicaid 1115 Waiver, UTMB serves as the anchor for a 16-county region in southeast Texas and also manages more than 30 delivery system innovation projects aimed at increasing access to care.

Katrina earned both her JD and her MBA from the University of Wisconsin in Madison, Wisconsin.

Stacey Lane, MA, Manager, Care Coordination, Yale New Haven Health

Stacey Lane holds a Masters in Integrative Health and Healing, is certified in chronic care and health coaching, and is a certified holistic educator. She participated in designing, and implementation of the employee livingwellCARES Program at Yale New Haven Health Systems. Responsibilities are promoting disease management and prevention for employees and educating healthcare professionals to engage in their client’s care to promote self-care through behavior changes and lifestyle modifications.

Brenda A. Leath, MHSA, PMP, Executive Director, “Pathways Community HUB Certification Program, The Rockville Institute

Brenda A. Leath is a seasoned health professional with more than 25 years of experience in the health services industry. Throughout her career she has maintained a focus on addressing the needs of diverse populations including racial and ethnic minorities, underserved children and families, as well as people with special needs. Much of her work has involved the engagement of diverse stakeholders in support of developing and implementing policy, research, and evidence-based practices. Ms. Leath is the Director of the Westat Center on Health Disparities and Health Equity Research. Ms. Leath is a National Institute on Minority Health and Health Disparities (NIMHD) Scholar with a diverse research portfolio focusing on minority health, health disparities, health equity, quality improvement, knowledge transfer, patient centered care, and cultural competency. Relevant examples of her work include; her role as Project Director (PD) for the Office of Minority Health State and Territorial Health Disparities Survey and Reports Development Project; Principal Investigator (PI)/PD for the OMH Patient Centered Care Collaboration to Improve Minority Health Initiative. Concurrently, she serves as the Executive Director of the Pathways Community HUB Certification Program at the Rockville Institute, Westat’s non-profit affiliate. Among her other accomplishments include her appointment to the non-partisan United States President’s Committee for People with Intellectual Disabilities, her selection as chair of the Family Services and Supports Subcommittee, her leadership as chair of the National Task Force on Pediatric Obesity and Chronic Disease, her appointment to the National Quality Forum’s Standing Committee on Care Coordination, and her role as president emeritus of the National Consortium for African American Children. Ms. Leath has received numerous honors and awards, including gubernatorial citations and honorable recognitions for work on national initiatives in health policy and research.

Ninon Lewis, MS, Executive Director, Triple Aim for Populations Focus Area, Institute for Healthcare Improvement

Niñon Lewis, MS, Executive Director, the Institute for Healthcare Improvement (IHI). Ms. Lewis currently leads IHI’s Triple Aim for Populations Focus Area, which encompasses innovation, content, and programming in the areas of the Triple Aim, population health, population management, primary care, and community-wide improvement efforts. Over her time at IHI, her work has focused on leading large-scale initiatives on population health and the Triple Aim, including the IHI Triple Aim Improvement Community, IHI’s Community Based Improvement Initiative, and the Scotland Early Years Collaborative. In addition, she has lead IHI’s New Business Development team, developing large-scale programs and initiatives for the organization. Prior to joining IHI in 2008, Ms. Lewis developed and implemented national direct-to-patient education programs for the health care and food industries, and was the Program Manager of a national initiative launched by the Office of the US Surgeon General in partnership with the American Academy of Pediatrics to identify community-driven solutions to the nation’s childhood obesity crisis. She has a background in program design and development, coalition building, community health and development, and health communication. She is a member of the American Public Health Association and the National Communication Association.

Michelle Lombardo, DC, President, The OrganWise Guys, Inc.

Dr. Michelle Lombardo is President of The OrganWise Guys Inc. and Project Manager of Thriving Communities, Thriving Children (TC2); a project designed to improve the health status of young children in Jackson, Biloxi and the Mississippi Delta as well as New Orleans, LA. Dr. Lombardo is the author of The OrganWise Guys series, which includes books, activity books, speaker’s kits, DVDs, vignettes and a CD-ROM. She earned her Doctor of Chiropractic from Life University.

Maria Lourdes Reyes, MD, MPH, Director of US and Border Programs, PCI

Dr. Maria Lourdes F. Reyes, MD, MPH is the Director of the United States and Border Programs for PCI. She is the Project Director for the HRSA funded Healthy Start Level 3 project and is the Principal Investigator for the CDC REACH project. Dr. Reyes is a physician with a Masters in Public Health with concentration in Health Services Administration. Dr. Reyes has held many local, statewide and national leadership positions, has several scientific publications and has received many honors.

Ken Majkowski, Pharm. D, Chief Pharmacy Officer, FamilyWize Community Service Partnership

Ken Majkowski, Pharm.D, the Chief Pharmacy Officer of FamilyWize Community Service Partnership, has over 40 years of healthcare experience. Ken received his Bachelors in Pharmacy from Purdue University and his Doctor of Pharmacy from the University of Minnesota. He has experience in E-Health, Managed Care, Transplant Services, Pharmacy Mail Services, Medical Devices and Drug Delivery Systems, Home Infusion Therapy and Hospital and Retail Pharmacy.

Ken is also Managing Partner of KEM Consulting. Ken served as Director of Product Management and Director of Account Management and Vice President of Business Development and Vice President of Clinical Affairs and Product Strategy, Vice President of Strategy and Innovation, Vice President Business Management and Vice President of Product Support and Vice President of Partnership Development at Surescripts/RxHub.

Prior to joining RxHub, Ken was Director of Trade Relations and Director of Data Services for HealthNexis, the exchange funded by McKesson, Cardinal Health Systems, AmeriSourceBergen, and Fisher Scientific. Prior to HealthNexis, he was Vice President for Supplier Relations at Embion, an e-procurement service. Ken was also the Vice President for Medical Affairs at United Resource Networks, the Transplant Center of Excellence Division of United Health Group. He served as Director of Transplant Pharmacy Services at Chronimed, a nationwide specialty pharmacy and Director of Clinical Development at Pharmacia Deltec, a medical device company. Ken has 14 years of clinical pharmacy experience in retail, hospital and home care pharmacy.

Grace Mandel, MPH, Project Manager, Baltimore City Health Department

Grace Mandel is the Project Manager for the Baltimore Fall Reduction Initiative Engaging Neighborhoods and Data (BFRIEND) at the Baltimore City Health Department. She is passionate about ways to transform the health of older adults, by tapping into existing data and resources. Ms. Mandel gained hands-on experience working with diverse populations as an EMT in Boston and in Washington DC. Through working in high stress emergency situations, she has an appreciation for the variety of challenges faced in emergent and non-emergency health care.

In addition to work in the data sector, Ms. Mandel is experienced in the field of disaster management for special populations. Ms. Mandel has led a Task Force team for FEMACorps, with a focus on community outreach projects. Through this work, she has experience promoting preparedness communications to diverse populations, and in working with a variety of community organizations. Further, Ms. Mandel currently serves as a member of the Best Practices Working Group for the National Institute of Environmental Health to develop ethically informed IRB protocols for disaster related research. Ms. Mandel continues to assist with research related to health department preparedness for infectious disease emergencies and willingness to respond in disaster settings.

Ms. Mandel has a Masters of Public Health from Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Health. Her studies combined her interests in developing resilience within communities of older adults. She is a member Delta Omega Public Health Honors Society and volunteers with Questbridge Scholars to help low income and under-represented youth prepare for college.

Andrew Martin, MS, Field Agent, 100 Million Healthier Lives

Drew Martin is a field agent for 100 Million Healthier Lives (convened by IHI). As an original SCALE community Improvement Advisor, Drew has used the tools of Improvement Science with other agencies throughout the Chicago area, with a goal of producing communities of sustainable solutions. Drew is an advisor to My Block My Hood My City, Heath Impact Collaborative of Cook County, The Answer Inc., Proviso Partners for Health, and SeedIm Ventures. Drew has a masters degree in Public Service Management from DePaul University, Executive Certification in Non-Profit Management from Notre Dame University, and currently attending Dartmouth College for a masters in Healthcare Delivery Science.

Karen, Mineyard, PhD, Chief Executive Officer, Georgia Health Policy Center

Karen Minyard, Ph.D., has been director of the Georgia Health Policy Center (GHPC) since 2001 and is also a research professor with the Department of Public Management and Policy. Minyard connects the research, policy, and programmatic work of the center across issue areas including population health, health philanthropy, public and private health coverage, and the uninsured.

Minyard has experience with the state Medicaid program, both with the design of program reforms and external evaluation. Her research interests include financing and evaluation of health-related social policy programs; strategic alignment of public and private health policy through collective impact; the role of local health initiatives in access and health improvement; the role of targeted technical assistance in improving the sustainability, efficiency, and programmatic effectiveness of nonprofit health collaboratives; and health and health care financing.

In addition to overseeing the center’s overall strategic vision, Minyard plays a leadership role in several center projects that weave together the key learnings, skillsets, and areas of expertise of the GHPC, including evaluation, technical assistance, policy and economic analysis, backbone and organizational support, health and health care financing, health system transformation, Health in All Policies, and rural health. She is currently co-principal investigator and spearheading evaluation efforts for the GHPC’s national coordinating center, Bridging for Health: Improving Community Health Through Innovations in Financing, sponsored by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. She also serves on the executive trio of the Atlanta Regional Collaborative for Health Improvement, along with the Atlanta Regional Commission and the United Way of Greater Atlanta.

Esther Munene-Masaba, PhD, Quality and Performance Improvement Advisor, Ethnic Community-based Organization for Refugees

Esther Munene-Masaba, PhD, is a Quality and Performance Improvement Advisor at Ethnic Community-based Organization for Refugees (ECOR). An essential part of her work is to design and implement improvement projects in the organization and develop innovative interventions that allow community members to identify and effectively address health issues in their own communities. Her interests include health disparities research, program design and evaluation, coalition building, and population health management.

Katharine Nimmons, MSc, MPH, Director, National CHW Training Center, Center for Community Health Development

Katharine Nimmons is a Texas certified Promotora/Community Health Worker Instructor and the director of the National Community Health Worker Training Center, part of the Texas A&M University School of Public Health’s Center for Community Health Development. The training center provides state-certified trainings for CHWs on a range of topics, including cancer prevention and chronic disease self-management, in-person and online, in English and in Spanish.

Robbi Kay Norman, Principal, Uncommon Solutions

Rabbi Kay Norman has spent over 14 years working in public policy. She has assisted in the vision and design of a new approach to Integrate public health prevention programs, brought sustainable policy approaches from theory to implementation, and created opportunities for private and public partnerships for supporting prevention in Washington State. She has developed and delivered training curriculum in numerous content areas, with a focus on primary prevention and policy solutions.

Chris Parker, MBBS, MPH, Georgia Health Policy Center

Chris Parker is a director at the Georgia Health Policy Center. He holds a leadership role in many of the center’s projects related to public health and program evaluation. His areas of expertise include strategic planning and evaluation, with a particular interest in projects that link population health and health care.

Parker is a skilled facilitator who has guided a significant number of multisectoral, state, and local organizational strategic and evaluation plans. He is the co-principal investigator for Bridging for Health: Improving Community Health through Innovations in Financing, sponsored by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. He also leads the center’s growing health care workforce portfolio with a focus on Georgia’s primary care assets to address gaps in light of the Affordable Care Act, as well as the center’s work on community health needs assessments.

As a trained family physician, who has worked with underserved populations and faith-based organizations, Parker brings his clinical and community linked experiences to addressing current and long-standing public health issues.

Denisha Porter, MPH, RS, HHS, Director of Health Promotion and Worksite Wellness, Cincinnati Health Department

Denisha Porter is the Creating Healthy Communities Director at the Cincinnati Health Department. She coordinates health initiatives in schools, worksites, community settings. She earned her Bachelor of Arts degree in Microbiology from Miami University and Master of Public Health degree with a focus on Health Promotion and Education from Wright State University. She is a Registered Sanitarian, and a Healthy Homes Specialist.

Linda Post, MD, Chief Medical Officer, United Health Care Community Plan of Ohio

Linda Post, MD is the Chief Medical Officer for United Healthcare Community Plan of Ohio, a Medicaid Managed Care company. She is responsible for medical management and clinical quality improvement, supporting utilization and case management. She is an active participant in the Ohio Collaborative to Prevent Infant Mortality and a strong supporter of community-based outreach programs. She was involved in the implementation of face-to-face care management at United, a practice that subsequently became the Medicaid standard for Ohio and a best practice within United Healthcare as a whole. Dr. Post is a Diplomate of the American Board of Family Medicine and a Fellow of the American Academy of Family Physicians. She is a member of the Board of Trustees of the Ohio Academy of Family Physicians Foundation and former Chair. She also serves as Chair for the Ohio Association of Health Plans Medical Director Committee, and President of the Central Ohio Academy of Family Physicians. Dr. Post earned her medical degree at the Medical College of Ohio in Toledo (now University of Toledo School of Health Sciences). She completed her Family Practice residency at MetroHealth Medical Center in Cleveland, Ohio and worked in the Kenneth Clement Center, a community health center affiliated with MetroHealth, under a National Health Service Corp scholarship. She completed a Robert Wood Johnson Foundation Fellowship in Academic Medicine, earning a Master of Science degree from Case Western Reserve University, and subsequently served as the Residency Director and Acting Department Director for the MetroHealth Family Practice Residency program. Dr. Post is a native Clevelander and has been involved in health care advocacy since high school.

Betty Ragalie, MS, PT, Project Director, Milwaukee Health Care Partnership

Betty Ragalie MS, PT joined the Milwaukee Health Care Partnership in 2009 as Project Director. In that role, she provides leadership for the Partnership’s Emergency Department Care Coordination (EDCC) initiative and the Specialty Access for Uninsured Program (SAUP). Ms. Ragalie is a graduate of University of Illinois, with a bachelor’s degree in physical therapy, and holds a master’s degree in Health Care Administration from University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee.

Mark Redding, MD, FAAP, Director of Population Health, Akron Children’s Hospital

Mark Redding MD, FAAP has primary care experience in rural and urban settings. Areas of interest include community care coordination focused on the reduction of health, social and behavioral health risk factors. Community service regions include Alaska, Baltimore and Ohio where Community Health Workers (CHWs) were trained and supported. CHWs reach out to at risk clients, provide comprehensive assessments of their risk factors and serve with a care team to assure identified risk factors are addressed. Mark has worked with his wife Dr. Sarah Redding since the late 1980s focusing on health disparities reduction initiatives. The Pathways Community HUB model has developed from this work and is centered on the comprehensive identification and reduction of risk factors within targeted at risk populations. Risk factor identification and reduction for individuals and populations can be tracked over time using Pathways as the measurement and pay for performance billing tool. The Community HUB Pathways Model represents part of this work published through the AHRQ Care Coordination Learning Network. There are now multiple communities and states involved in this work with a National Pathways Community HUB Certification in place at the Rockville Institute in Maryland.

Carrie Rheingans, MPH, MSW, Washtenaw Health Initiative Senior Program Manager, Center for Healthcare Research & Transformation

Carrie Rheingans is the Senior Program Manager of the Washtenaw Health Initiative (WHI), which is based at the Center for Healthcare Research & Transformation (CHRT, pronounced ‘chart’) in Ann Arbor, Michigan. In this role, Carrie coordinates the work of more than 200 social and clinical service providers, and manages 15 community-based projects to increase outreach and enrollment into health insurance, and improve access to mental health, substance use, dental, and primary care for low-income residents. As part of her work with the WHI, Carrie helped facilitate the first-ever joint hospital Community Health Needs Assessment and Implementation Plan for three nonprofit hospitals, and she helps implement Michigan’s State Innovation Model in one of the five test regions in the state. Carrie is also an adjunct lecturer in the University of Michigan School of Social Work, teaching courses on health care policy, community organizing, management of human services, and social policy and evaluation.

Carrie is a June 2016 graduate from the Leadership Detroit program at the Detroit Regional Chamber of Commerce, which trains mid-career professionals to be regional leaders. Before her current roles at the WHI and adjunct lecturing, Carrie was a co-founder, the Director of Civic Engagement, and most recently, the Executive Director of Casa Latina, Washtenaw County’s first Latino community center, which existed from 2011 – 2015. Carrie has experience working with the Washtenaw County Public Health Department and Unified, which is the AIDS service organization for eleven counties across southeast Michigan. She was an AmeriCorps member with Team Detroit for the national AmeriCorps program on HIV and AIDS in 2008-2009. In addition to these local activities, Carrie has worked with HIV and AIDS organizations in Peru and China, a microfinance organization in Bangladesh, a developmental biology lab in Germany, and conducted youth violence research in South Africa. She worked with the national Campaign to End AIDS as a leader and peer trainer with their Youth Action Institute from 2008-2012.

Carrie holds master’s degrees in public health and community social work from the University of Michigan, and received her bachelor of science there as well. She was born and raised in Michigan, and has spent the last seventeen years based in Washtenaw County.

Arturo Rodriguez, Director, Health Department, City of Brownsville

Arturo Rodriguez oversees all aspects of Public Health for the city. He is also the Co-President of Brownsville-Matamoros Bi-national Health Council which works to address border issues such as infectious disease, obesity, diabetes, family and community health, and overall improvement of health related issues and quality of life along the border. Under his direction, the department achieved 2009 Texas Environmental Health Association award of excellence for commitment to the community

Alfreda Rooks, Director, Community Health Services, Michigan Medicine

Alfreda Rooks is the Director of Community Health Services for Michigan Medicine at the University of Michigan, where she works to advance the important mission to identify creative solutions to address the various health and social needs of the community.

In this role, she leads efforts to improve health outcomes and equity of care through a range of programs and services that address the social determinants of health. These factors include access to: safe housing, transportation, income, education and healthy foods which provide a profound impact on the health-related inequities of various populations.

Alfreda has strong expertise in program development, design, evaluation, and implementation, and a long history of deep-rooted community engagement. The programs within Community Health Services include: Accommodations Program, Adolescent Health Initiative, Ann Arbor Meals on Wheels, Comprehensive Gender Services Program, Housing Bureau for Seniors, Interpreter Services, Volunteer Services, Program for Multicultural Health, Regional Alliance for Healthy Schools, and a liaison relationship to the Friends of University of Michigan Health System.

Her experience includes an extensive background in training, guiding and mentoring teams and building collaborations at all levels. In addition, she has trained on topics such as leadership development, change management, process improvement, and culturally appropriate communication skills, and engaging the community.

Jan Ruma, MEd, CRFE, Vice President, Hospital Council of Northwest Ohio

Jan Ruma, Med, CFRE is vice president of the Hospital Council of Northwest Ohio, responsible for collaborative community health improvement. In her position she serves as the Director of the Northwest Ohio Pathways HUB, the project director of a CDC chronic disease prevention grant, and she is the Executive Director of Toledo/Lucas County CareNet, an innovative local, state and national award winning access to healthcare program. Jan started the Lucas County Initiative to Improve Birth Outcomes in 2005 using the Pathways Community Hub model with consulting services from Drs. Mark and Sarah Redding. The Northwest Ohio Pathways HUB became operational in late 2007 and the low birth weight rate among at-risk women enrolled in the HUB has improved and the model is now being utilized for to reduce the burden of chronic disease. The HUB has transitioned from only grant funding to Medicaid managed care contracts for outcomes. Jan was part of the founding core team of the AHRQ Care Coordination Learning Network and served as chairman of the Learning Network Annual Meetings. A Certified Fund Raising Executive (CFRE), Jan holds a certificate in Nonprofit Executive Leadership from the Center on Philanthropy at Indiana University; A master’s degree in training and development and a bachelor’s degree in business administration, both from Bowling Green State University. Jan is currently on the Board of Directors of the Health Policy Institute of Ohio. Jan’s work focuses on community collaboration and facilitating outcome oriented community partnerships to reduce health disparities.

Mark Severns, MBA, Administrator, Crisis Stabilization Unit, Spindletop Center

Mark Severns, MBA, served as a consultant to the Spindletop Center during the bed reduction crisis, charged with creating a system that would provide some solutions to the impending loss of beds. In addition, he helped author the grant that provided funding for the new crisis stabilization unit and became employed as its administrator. The Spindletop Center’s CSU was licensed and began serving consumers in Southeast Texas in June of 2016.

Umair Shah, MD, MPH, Executive Director, Harris County Public Health

Dr. Umair A. Shah is the Executive Director of Harris County Public Health and the Local Health Authority for Harris County, Texas – the third most populous county in the nation. Locally and nationally, Dr. Shah has been a leader in championing “upstream solutions” and health equity as public health practice priorities. Dr. Shah received his MD from the University of Toledo Health Science Center and his MPH from the University of Texas Health Science Center.

Matthew Son, President, Son Information Systems

Matthew Son is the President and founder of Son Information Systems. Matthew started developing software when he was 10 years old and in his 20 years as an IT professional has successfully designed and developed hundreds of software applications for organizations ranging from the Fortune 100 to the smallest non-profits. While Matthew has systems in use across the country, Matthew takes special pride as the principal architect of fhases – an enterprise class safety net data management system.

Julie St. John, DrPH, MPH, MA, Associate Chair, Department of Public Health, Abilene Campus, Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center

Julie St. John began with TTUHSC in September 2014 and is the Associate Chair, Abilene, Department of Public Health, Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center and the Online MPH Program Director. She has her doctorate in Public Health from the University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston School of Public Health. Her research interests include: health status and quality of life improvement among diverse populations through community health development and partnership approaches; scope of practice and training of Community Health Workers; the relationship between morals/values and health status; and equipping future public health professionals through teaching, service, research, and practice. Her scope of work includes: teaching; research; grant-writing; health status assessments; strategic and operational planning; continuums of care; program evaluation; community partnerships facilitation; Community Health Worker training; and program development. Dr. St. John has served as the principal and co-investigator on numerous projects in rural and underserved areas that utilized community based participatory research approaches. Recently, Dr. St. John received a fellowship with the National Rural Health Association (NRHA) “Rural Health Fellows Program” (February 2016-February 2017). She also teaches graduate courses in the MPH program including: Introduction to Social and Behavioral Health; Global Health; and guest lectures in epidemiology. She is also an adjunct professor at Hardin Simmons University where she teaches undergraduate public health courses.

Anna Stelter, MSSW, MPH, Health Policy Analyst, Texas Health Institute

Anna Stelter serves as a Health Policy Analyst at the Texas Health Institute. She graduated in May 2016 with a MSSW from UT-Austin and a Master of Public Health from the UTHSC School of Public Health. Anna joined Texas Health Institute as a graduate health policy intern in 2014. Anna’s social work and public health interests inform her work on health disparities and social determinants of health at THI, where she contributes to projects analyzing the impact of national health care reform.

Soma Stout, MD, MS, Executive External Lead for Health Improvement, Institute for Healthcare Improvement

Soma S. Stout, MD, MS is deeply committed to improving the health and wellbeing of underserved people and communities. She serves as Executive External Lead for Health Improvement for IHI, where she is helping to convene leaders across sectors to come together to improve the health of the population in the community context. She directs the Innovation Fellows Program at the Harvard Medical School Center for Primary Care and is Lead Transformation Adviser at the Cambridge Health Alliance (CHA). Previously, she served as Vice President for Patient Centered Medical Home Development at CHA, where she led a whole system transformation that garnered numerous national awards for achieving breakthrough results in the Triple Aim while improving joy and meaning of work for the workforce through the empowerment of frontline teams, patients, leaders and communities. In 2012, she was awarded the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation Young Leader Award for her contributions to improving the health of the nation.

Claire Thompson, Associate Professor, Community Development Educator, University of Wisconsin Cooperative Extension Kewaunee County

Claire Thompson is the community development educator for UW Cooperative Extension in Kewaunee County. She brings twenty years of research, group process facilitation, planning, and teaching skills to nonprofit organizations, business entrepreneurs, and local government officials. Her primary educational areas are in nonprofit and organizational development, community food systems and economic and business development. She also has experience creating programs to enhance community collaborations, coalition building, and cooperatives development

Carmela Valentino, MPH, Manager, Clinical Integration Population Health, Yale New Haven Health

Carmela Valentino is the Manager of Clinical Integration and Population Health at Yale New Haven Health Care Systems who is responsible for facilitating, reporting, supporting and evaluating the quality of clinical care delivery within clinical integration across the YNHHS. She works with physician leaders across multiple organizations including Yale Medical School, Community Medical Group and North East Medical Group to develop a local clinically integrated network whose focus is providing value based care in the ambulatory setting and across the continuum of care. Carmela has a Master’s in Public Health, is a Certified Public Health Education Specialist and is certified in Public Health Quality. Carmela has been in Quality and Performance Improvement for over 16 years. She was an adjunct faculty member at Southern Connecticut State University in the Department of Public Health for six years.

Judith Warren, MPA, CEO, Health Care Action Now (HCAN)

Judith Warren, MPA, serves as the CEO of Health Care Action Now (HCAN), which operates the SW Ohio Pathways Community HUB. In this position she leads this regional community-based care coordination organization that works with primary care, behavioral health, and social service providers to achieve better health outcomes and cost savings for consumers, providers and payors. Populations served include uninsured adults, Medicaid and Medicare consumers. She is a former Senior Program Officer for the Health Foundation of Greater Cincinnati (now InterAct for Health), and from 1993-98 she served as president and CEO of West End Health Center (FQHC) in Cincinnati. Judith holds a MPH Degree from the University of Michigan and a Bachelor’s Degree Cum Laude from Fisk University. She has also completed advanced studies in Organizational and Leadership Change at Walden University.

Misty Wilder, Program Manager, UNT Health Science Center Healthy Start Program

Misty Wilder is the Program Manager of the UNT Health Science Center Healthy Start program. She has over 9 years’ experience in the community setting working with faith leaders, community-based services and organizations to improve the health and well-being of women and families. She has in-depth knowledge of community resources available to families. Misty currently sits on many community boards such as the African American Health Expo, Tarrant County Cancer Disparities Coalition, Infant Health Network, Cancer Care Services, Celebrate Shi, and Tarrant County Disproportionality and Disparities Advisory Committee

Risa Wilkerson, Executive Director, Active Living By Design

Active Living By Design’s Executive Director, Risa Wilkerson, provides overarching leadership and strategic vision to fulfill the organization’s mission: Creating community-led change by working with local, state, and national partners to build a culture of active living and healthy eating. With a heart for social justice, she is an encourager, collaborator and simplicity seeker with wide-ranging experience in coalition building, public health program implementation, and nonprofit management.

Carol Zernial, MA, Executive Director, WellMed Charitable Foundation

Carol Zernial has a Master’s Degree in Social Gerontology, has worked in the field of aging for over 20 years, and was named the Outstanding Professional in Aging in Texas in 2008 for her contributions to the field involving translation, implementation, and dissemination of evidence-based programs. She currently serves as the Executive Director of the WellMed Charitable Foundation and Chair of the Board for the National Council on the Aging.