LEADERSHIP TEAM
VICTORIA ADEWUMI
CHW
Victoria is a public health practitioner and Community Health Worker with over 10 years of experience in municipal, non-profit, K-12, higher education and faith-based settings. In 2013, Victoria was part of the first class of trained CHWs in Southern New Hampshire, and in that time she has worked to establish health equity interventions for historically marginalized populations through coalition building, direct service, case management, policy development and advocacy. Victoria is currently a Doctor of Public Health candidate at Johns Hopkins University (where she also received her MPH) and holds a BA/MA from the University of New Hampshire. Victoria loves to travel, figure skate, and sing too loud at Church.
CHIDINMA IBE
CHW Ally
Chidinma has had the privilege of delving into the full spectrum designing, implementing, and evaluating CHW-led interventions for over 20 years, with a focus on optimizing their impact for members of structurally disadvantaged communities with cardiovascular diseases. She is an Assistant Professor of General Internal Medicine at the Johns Hopkins University School of Public Health and holds a joint appointment in the Department of Health, Behavior and Society at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health. She received her B.A. from the University of Pennsylvania and her Ph.D. from the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health. She loves dancing, trying new restaurants, long walks, Afrobeat music, and spending time with her family and friends.
PENNIE JEWELL
CHW
Pennie Jewell is a certified Community Health Worker with over 30 years of experience in providing advocacy, care coordination, direct care, health education, social support, capacity building and case management. She is the founder of Athens Home Care Solutions (AHCS), an organization providing non-medical home care services in her community where she is currently developing strategies to integrate a Community Health Worker program. Pennie enjoys spending time with her children and grandchildren, riding around in her Jeep, hiking, paddleboarding, playing pickleball and singing.
SUSAN MAYFIELD-JOHNSON
CHW Ally
Susan has over 25 years of experience working with models of community engagement, health disparities, community health workers (CHWs), women’s health, and mixed method research with emphasis in qualitative research design. Nationally she serves as a Founding Board member to the National Association of Community Health Workers (NACHW), a Master Trainer for the Women’s Health Leadership Institute, Office of Women’s Health, US Department of Health and Human Services, and as an International Outbound Fellow with the US State Department and Association of University Centers on Disabilities. She is an Associate Professor of Public Health at The University of Southern Mississippi. In her spare time, she enjoys cooking, shopping, and spending time with her two grandchildren.
KEARA RODELA
CHW
Keara is a Black, queer woman who is committed to redressing the social determinants of health affecting her communities, utilizing the Community Health Worker model, popular education philosophy, and a Black queer feminist lens. She is a CHW, CHW supervisor, CHW capacitation trainer, and an Applied Anthropology, PhD student at Oregon State University who likes to laugh, dance, travel, and spend time with her family and friends.
CELESTE SANCHEZ LLOYD
CHW
Celeste Sanchez Lloyd is dedicated to community and health advocacy for more than 20 years. She attributes her professional growth to her commitment and surrounding herself with organizations that employ a positive culture and precisely defined goals in the advancement of marginalized communities. She lives in Grand Rapids, MI with her spouse, three daughters, and fur son.
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NOELLE WIGGINS
CHW Ally
Noelle has over 35 years’ experience working on teams that use popular/people’s education, the Community Health Worker (CHW) model, and participatory research and evaluation to advance health and educational equity. She has worked alongside CHWs in various capacities, as a trainer, supervisor, researcher/evaluator and policy-maker. Noelle has a BA from Yale University, an MS from the Harvard School of Public Health, and a doctorate in Educational Leadership from Portland State University. Noelle enjoys hiking with her spouse and her dog, reading poetry, and singing and playing the guitar.
EMERITI
EDITH KIEFFER
CHW Ally
Professor Edith C. Kieffer, MPH, Ph.D., Professor Emerita, University of Michigan School of Social Work, conducts research addressing health and health care disparities. Using community-based participatory research (CBPR) approaches, she and collaborators have evaluated the effectiveness of Detroit-based community health worker (CHW) programs in improving the health of pregnant and postpartum women, and people with, and at risk for, type 2 diabetes. Kieffer is a founder of the CHW Common Indicators Project and the Michigan Community Health Worker Alliance.
KENNETH MAES
CHW Ally
Kenneth Maes was a member of the Common Indicators Project leadership team from 2015 to 2023. He began conducting research with CHWs in Ethiopia, focused on HIV/AIDS-related care in Addis Ababa, which he wrote up as a book entitled, The Lives of Community Health Workers. He’s a professor of anthropology and director of the Applied Anthropology Graduate Program at Oregon State University. In my spare time, Kenneth loves to be outdoors, especially surfing, splitboarding, and paddling on rivers.
GLORIA PALMISANO
CHW Ally
Gloria Palmisano, a recent retiree from an FQHC in Detroit, MI, holds a bachelor’s degree in nutrition and food science and a master’s degree in counseling and development. Gloria served as the Program Manager for Chronic Care Management where she managed numerous diabetes related research conducted using a community-based participatory research approach and CHW model to address racial and ethnic health disparities. Gloria is a founding member of the Michigan CHW Association. She enjoys traveling, music and films.
CHW COUNCIL
VALERIE MCALLISTER
CHW
Valerie McAllister has worked in the Public Health sector for 30 plus years. Valerie has been an advocate for social justice and health equity, both personally and professionally most of her life. From 1990-2000, she worked as a Community Health Worker (CHW). In this capacity she was able to gain first-hand knowledge of the importance of being a conduit to help support communities in being their healthiest selves. Valerie is a Senior Program Manager with the Institute for Public Health Innovation. In that roles she oversees CDC funding to increase CHW capacity in Virginia regions that support COVID19 response and resiliency. In her spare time, Valerie has taken on the new venture of tending her vegetable garden.
DANIELLE METZ
CHW
Danielle is an activist, abolitionist and a voice for those who are marginalized by the legal system. She’s a fierce advocate for reducing health risks and disparities among this vulnerable population. Danielle is the Director of Clemency for the National Council for Incarcerated and Formerly Incarcerated women and Girls. She’s a member of CHW Center for Research and Evaluation Researchers Council Team. Her greatest role is being a grandmother to her two granddaughters Victory and Mercy.
ASHLEY RODRIGUEZ
CHW
Ashley Rodriguez is an experienced healthcare leader with over 15 years’ experience in community & public health. She is an experientially certified Community Health Worker (CHW) and CHW Instructor in Texas, with extensive experience in providing continuing education to CHWs. She is currently employed as the Social Innovations Program Manager at McKesson, under their Global Impact Organization. She currently leads the Arlington Latino Resource Coalition, serves on the Texas DSHS CHW Advisory Committee, is the immediate APHA CHW Section immediate past chair, and helped found the Texas Association of Promotores and Community Health Workers (TAPCHW). Ashley mentors Latin youth in North Texas and supports public health efforts in various communities.
ABBY TITTER
CHW
Abby Titter is a CHW and Program Supervisor for the Great Rivers HUB program at Family & Children’s Center in La Crosse, WI where she has worked for over 5 years. Abby also sits on the CHW Council for the CHW Center for Research & Evaluation (formerly the Common Indicator (CI) Project) and on the CHW Council for the Washington State Evaluation Partnership (WSEP). In her spare time, you can find her hiking, foraging, gardening, soaking in the sun at the beach, and connecting to nature any way she can. Or she may be spending time with her friends doing yoga, traveling, dancing, or lounging in the pool.
RESEARCHERS COUNCIL
TOMMY ENGLISH
CHW Ally
Tommy is a public health professional dedicated to using data to work towards health equity and general community well-being. In 2018, he began working to support a coalition of CHWs, employers, and other allies in conducting aligned evaluation of CHW programs in the St. Louis region. Tommy currently serves as the Assistant Director of Evaluation and Quality at the St. Louis Integrated Health Network – a regional healthcare intermediary that works across sectors to advance health equity. Tommy enjoys spending time with his spouse, daughter, and dogs in St. Louis’ parks, in addition to gardening and watching soccer whenever he can.
ROGERIO PINTO
CHW Ally
Rogério Meireles Pinto was born in Brazil where he conducted the majority of his research concerning Community Health Workers (CHW), referred to as Community Health Agents by the Brazil Unified Health System, Family Health Program. He is a University of Michigan Diversity Social Transformation Professor, Berit Ingersoll-Dayton Collegiate Professor of Social Work, Associate Dean for Research and Innovation, and also Professor of Theater and Drama. He studies the process and effect of critical consciousness on health outcomes and wellbeing. He has been guided by community-based participatory research principles and has used myriad methods in my research, including art-based procedures, data collection and analysis, and dissemination. In his spare time he loves to watch thrillers and murder mysteries.
POOJA SRIPAD
CHW Ally
Pooja Sripad, PhD, MPH is a social scientist with more than 10 years of experience conducting participatory qualitative and mixed methods research at the intersection of women’s health and human rights in under-resourced and inequitable health systems contexts globally, with a focus on trust dynamics and socio-political relationships. Her experiences in the U.S. and abroad have centered on community health and CHWs, including serving as a lead investigator on studies within the Frontline Health Project that led to the development of a measurement guide that integrates CHW and client views in assessing community health systems. She is currently a Senior Technical Advisor on Monitoring, Evaluation, Research and Learning at Jhpiego. In her spare time, she enjoys dancing.
ASHLEY WENNERSTROM
CHW Ally
It is an honor to be part of the Researcher’s Council of the Community Health Worker Center for Research and Evaluation! Over the last 15+ years, I have had the pleasure of working alongside community health workers on community partnered participatory research, workforce development, and advancing policy to support community health workers. In my professional life, I am an associate professor at LSU Health- New Orleans, where I also direct the Louisiana Community Health Worker Institute and the Center for Healthcare Value and Equity. In my spare time, I love seeing live music, traveling, learning to play the guitar, taking walks with my rescue pup, and spending time with the people I love.
OUR FUNDERS
We are grateful to a variety of organizations that support our work.
FORMAL PARTNERS
We are a part of a constellation of national organizations that share common principles and work together to advance the CHW workforce. These organizations include (but are not limited to):
The National Association of Community Health Workers
CHW Section of APHA
National C3 Council
Envision Equity
The National Association of Community Health Workers (NACHW) was founded in April 2019 after several years of planning and organizing by CHWs and allies across the United States. NACHW is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit membership-driven organization with a mission to unify CHWs across geography, ethnicity, sector, and experience to support communities to achieve health, equity and social justice.
The CHW Section of APHA advocates for and promotes the voice and role of community health workers within public health, the community, and in healthcare settings, as well as contributing to the development of the CHW role (including Promotores de Salud, Community Health Representatives, Community Health Advisors, and other related titles) through policy development opportunities. It also provides a forum to share resources, activities, and strategies nationally.
The National Council on CHW Core Consensus Standards' (formerly the C3 Project's) primary aims are to expand cohesion in the field and to contribute to the visibility and greater understanding of the full potential of Community Health Workers (CHWs) to improve health, community development, and access to systems of care.
Envision is a collaboration of Community Health Workers (CHWs) and Community Health Worker allies who work together with financial and administrative support from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) to elevate the role of CHWs. Developed for CHWs by CHWs, the project encompasses the whole CHW movement. Envision trains and supports CHWs, concentrating on capacity building and the sustainability of a strong, capable CHW workforce.