Conference Tracks
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Community Nutrition and Physical Activity
Mini-Plenary: MP 2.4: The Successful Impact of Cross System Collaborations in the Retail Environment
An estimated 30 million Americans live in urban neighborhoods and rural towns where they cannot buy healthy food to feed their families. Neighborhoods that lack healthy food access typically also have a host of other socio-economic problems which are rooted in historical and institutional policies and practices that have led to great disparity. This session will highlight efforts not only to increase access and improve community health but also help to create jobs, support local food systems, and help improve communities in other ways.
Please Click the Speaker names below to see their submitted biosketch.
Jessica Estrada, Program Coordinator and Community Engagement Coordinator, Tenderloin Healthy Corner Store Coalition and HealthyRetailSF Program
Speaker submitted biosketch
Jessica Estrada is the Program Coordinator of the Tenderloin Healthy Corner Store Coalition (TLHCSC) and Community Engagement Coordinator of the HealthyRetailSF Program in San Francisco. HealthyRetailSF is a partnership between the Office of Economic Workforce Development and the SF Department of Public Health. Jessica graduated from the University of California, Davis and has worked for the Yolo County Health Department in tobacco prevention. Jessica has since then returned to her hometown of SF to work in the tough Tenderloin neighborhood, working with youth leaders to help form TLHCSC in 2012, as well as coordinate resident Food Justice Leaders and help implement the new city-wide HealthyRetailSF program. She has unique experience working with youth, adult residents, store owners, and in community organizing and public health advocacy.
Danielle Ronshausen, Health Information Specialist II, County of Sonoma, Department of Health Services
Speaker submitted biosketch
Danielle Ronshausen, MPH, is the Healthy Eating, Active Living (HEAL) Coordinator and the CX3 and Youth Engagement Coordinator for SNAP-Ed at the Sonoma County Department of Health Services. Her work includes coordinating the planning, implementation, and evaluation of the following projects: the Sonoma County Healthy Retail Project; the HEAL and CX3 ACTION Leadership Programs; and youth engagement projects related to reducing the availability and appeal of sugary drinks among youth. Danielle earned her Bachelor’s Degree in Women’s and Gender Studies from Sonoma State University, with a Minor in Women’s Health, and her Master’s of Public Health from Walden University.
Speaker submitted biosketch
Dwayne Wharton serves as the Director of External Affairs for The Food Trust, a non-profit organization with a mission to ensure that everyone has access to affordable, nutritious food. In this role he supports the organization's policy and advocacy efforts, local and national partnerships, and more. Dwayne has held leadership positions in several highly-regarded non-profit organizations, is a former Peace Corps volunteer, coaches youth soccer, serves on the board of Philanthropy Network of Greater Philadelphia, the Philadelphia Food Policy Advisory Council and Bryn Mawr College’s Non-Profit Executive Leadership Institute.
Moderator: Jackie Richardson, Health Program Manager, California Department of Public Health
Speaker submitted biosketch
Jackie Richardson is currently a Health Program Manager with the California Department of Public Health's Nutrition Education and Obesity Prevention Branch. She works with nutrition education programs that support improved access to healthy foods and beverages and physical activity though partnerships and programs that drive policy, systems and environmental changes.
Presentations/Handouts
Mini-Plenary: MP 3.2: Warning Labels on Sugary Drinks: Promoting Informed Choices
The session will discuss a safety warning policy on sugar sweetened beverages to inform consumers of the harmful health impact upon consumption of these products. The policy strategy has great potential to change social norms around SSBs to reduce the prevalence of youth and adult obesity and diabetes. Presenters will share their experience in developing SB 1000 and the lessons learned from the California campaign to provide a foundation for subsequent efforts in California and across the country.
Please Click the Speaker names below to see their submitted biosketch.
Harold Goldstein, Executive Director, California Center for Public Health Advocacy
Speaker submitted biosketch
Harold Goldstein, DrPH, is the Executive Director of the California Center for Public Health Advocacy, founded in 1999. CCPHA is a nationally recognized leader in advocating for public policies to address the social, economic, and community conditions that perpetuate the obesity and diabetes epidemics. CCPHA has lead groundbreaking statewide campaigns including the removal of soda and junk foods from schools and establishing the nation’s first state menu labeling law. Harold has a Bachelors degree in physiology from UC Berkeley and both Masters and Doctorate degrees in public health from UCLA.
Ian McLaughlin, Senior Staff Attorney and Program Director, ChangeLab Solutions
Speaker submitted biosketch
Ian McLaughlin is a senior staff attorney and program director with ChangeLab Solutions, and his work focuses on creating healthy retail environments, public financing, and municipal code enforcement. Ian sits on the Park, Recreation and Open Space Commission in Walnut Creek, California, and also serves as a municipal administrative hearing officer for the City of Petaluma, California. Prior to joining ChangeLab Solutions, Ian practiced municipal law with a private law firm. He has also served as legislative counsel to the Hawaii State Senate and the National Legislature of the Republic of Palau. Ian graduated from UC Berkeley School of Law.
Xavier Morales, Executive Director, Latino Coalition for a Healthy California
Speaker submitted biosketch
Xavier, executive director for the Latino Coalition for a Healthy California, is a longtime advocate for health equity and environmental justice. He and his colleagues at LCHC work to increase stakeholder awareness and community consciousness of how social and environmental factors determine health. In addition to his work on shifting consumption away from unhealthy SSB's, he also works to enable opportunities for youth development, workforce development, college access, prisoner reentry supports, early childhood development, and affordable housing. Dr. Morales, originally from Sanger, California, studied environmental sciences at the University of California, Berkeley and city and regional planning at Cornell University.
Moderator: Patricia Crawford, Senior Director of Research, Nutrition Policy Institute, UC Division of Agriculture and Natural Resources
Speaker submitted biosketch
Pat Crawford, DrPH, RD, is the Senior Director of Research and Cooperative Extension Specialist at the Nutrition Policy Institute (NPI) at the University of California, Division of Agriculture and Natural Resources. Prior to her position at NPI, she co-founded and directed the Center for Weight and Health at the University of California at Berkeley for 15 years. She is also an Adjunct Professor in the School of Public Health at UC Berkeley. Dr. Crawford studies ways in which nutrition programs and policies can improve children's dietary intake and reduce obesity. Dr. Crawford served on the California Legislative Task Force on Diabetes and Obesity and is an expert advisor for the Let’s Get Healthy California Task Force. She chaired the Institute of Medicine’s Workshop on Food Insecurity and Obesity and served on the IOM’s Committee on WIC Research, the Committee on Accelerating Progress on Obesity Prevention, and the IOM’s Standing Committee on Childhood Obesity Prevention.
WS 1.7: Latino Community Engagement and Obesity Prevention: The Promotores Model
This session will highlight the successes and challenges of long-term, community-based participatory research targeting rural and urban Mexican-origin children to address childhood obesity. Learn how collaborations with promatoras (Community Health workers) in California and Texas are working to build trust, deliver culturally-appropriate messages and programs, and engage Mexican Origin families in community nutrition and physical activity interventions to prevent childhood obesity. Effective strategies and lessons learned to address Latino childhood obesity at the local, state, and national levels will be shared.
Please Click the Speaker names below to see their submitted biosketch.
Gail Frank, Professor, California State University, Long Beach
Speaker submitted biosketch
Gail C. Frank, DrPH, MPH, RD, CHES, is a Professor of Nutrition at California State University Long Beach and Co-Principal Investigator for the Sanos y Fuertes: Healthy & Strong Childhood Obesity Project. Her research focuses on nutrition, health education and epidemiological research. Earlier she led the Bogalusa Heart Study (1972-1986), Studies of Children and Nutrition in San Diego (1989-1996), and The Women’s Health Initiative Clinical Center at University of California Irvine (1995-2005). She directs an accredited dietetic internship, graduating over 300 young professionals with a 98% pass rate on the national RD exam.
Rosa Manzo, Postdoctoral Researcher, University of California at Davis
Speaker submitted biosketch
Rosa D. Manzo is a Postdoctoral Scholar for the Center for Transnational Health. She received her Ph.D. in Education with an emphasis on School Organization and Educational Policy from the School of Education at the University of California, Davis. Her research interests include rural education, Latino/a Health Disparities, Latino/as in Education and Policy, Health and Education Intersections, and Community-Based Participatory Action Research. For the past four years, she has been working closely with parents and community members participating in a Childhood Obesity Prevention study to establish a community-school partnership in a farmworker community in the Central Valley.
Speaker submitted biosketch
Joseph R. Sharkey, Ph.D., M.P.H., R.D. is a Professor in the Texas A&M School of Public Health in College Station, Texas; Director of two CDC-funded network collaborating centers; and Founding Director of the Program for Research and Outreach-Engagement on Nutrition and Health in Underserved Communities. He received his Masters of Public Health and Doctoral degrees from the Department of Nutrition at UNC-Chapel Hill School of Public Health. Dr. Sharkey is currently Principal Investigator on several interdisciplinary research and outreach programs that examine complex, place-based factors that may either enable or constrain underserved families from achieving and maintaining good nutritional health.
Moderator: Lucia Kaiser, Nutrition Specialist, University of California at Davis
Speaker submitted biosketch
Dr. Lucia Kaiser is a Cooperative Extension Nutrition Specialist in the Department of Nutrition at UC Davis. She has a doctorate in Nutrition from UC Davis and is a registered dietitian. She provides training, research updates, nutrition education resources, and evaluation tools that can help those working in the community support Americans in adopting healthy lifestyles and improving the food environment. Dr. Lucia Kaiser’s research interests include examining the impact of acculturation and food insecurity on nutrition in Mexican-origin populations; development and evaluation of nutrition education programs; and prevention of obesity and diabetes.
Presentations/Handouts
WS 2.4: Supporting and Promoting Breastfeeding: Obesity Prevention Begins at Birth
This presentation will provide an overview of the types of partnerships formed at the national, state, and local level that are necessary to have a collective impact on creating environments and systems that are conducive for providing breastfeeding support at the community level. In addition, providing participants examples of how to implement lactation accommodation policies for cities will be shared.
Please Click the Speaker names below to see their submitted biosketch.
Speaker submitted biosketch
Michael Parmer is a Management Analyst I in the City Manager's Office for the City of Rancho Cucamonga. He has implemented a variety of policies to enhance community health and currently coordinates the Healthy RC Initiative.
Gia Rutledge, Behavioral Scientist, Division of Nutrition, Physical Activity and Obesity, Center for Disease Control and Prevention
Speaker submitted biosketch
Gia Rutledge has served as a Behavioral Scientist within the National Center for Chronic Disease Prevention and Health Promotion, Division of Nutrition, Physical Activity, and Obesity, Program Development and Evaluation Branch since 2009. She received her master of public health in community health practice form the University of Arizona and her bachelors of science in biology from the University of California at San Diego. She currently serves on the Evaluation team providing guidance and technical assistance to states funded by DNPAO on evaluation; she also provides evaluation expertise on special projects, contracts and workgroups across the division and CDC.
Shana Wright Bruno, Senior Program Manager, Lactation Supportive Environments, UC San Diego, Center for Community Health
Speaker submitted biosketch
Shana Wright Bruno is the Senior Program Manager for the Lactation Supportive Environments initiative at UC San Diego Center for Community Health. She works with worksites, school districts and community health centers on policy, systems and environmental change strategies. Previously, Shana also worked on the Communities Putting Prevention to Work grant, HealthyWorks, supporting worksites and school districts in creating lactation accommodation policies. Shana received her Master of Public Health from San Diego State University and is also a Community Health Education Specialists.
Moderator: Deirdre Kleske, Healthy Works Program Specialist, County of San Diego
Speaker submitted biosketch
Deirdre Kleske has nearly a decade of experience supporting regional and statewide programs designed to advance evidence-based obesity prevention strategies and promising practices. She has worked on high-profile grants that have resulted in public policy strides at both the state and local levels. Currently Ms. Kleske manages the Healthy Works: Sodium Reduction Initiative for the County of San Diego Health and Human Services Agency to reduce sodium in meals served at County facilities. She also provides technical assistance to school districts and other stakeholders on the subject of local school wellness policy, serves on the Leadership Council of the San Diego County Childhood Obesity Intiative (COI) and co-chairs the COI's Schools and After-School Domain Workgroup.
Presentations/Handouts
WS 4.2: Reaching Diverse Communities Utilizing Culturally Tailored Strategies to Impact Change
This session will provide an overview of three successful obesity prevention efforts targeting diverse populations: Native Americans, African-Americans, and Youth. These initiatives focus on policy, systems and organizational practice change, blended with educational and promotional strategies using a sustainable collaborative model to create opportunities for healthy eating and physical activity at different levels of the community. Specific lessons learned will be shared, and considerations for replication of effective strategies will be highlighted.
Please Click the Speaker names below to see their submitted biosketch.
Teslyn Henry-King, Program Specialist I, County of San Bernardino Department of Public Health, Nutrition Program
Speaker submitted biosketch
Teslyn Henry-King has worked in the public sector as a nutrition educator and program planner since 2000 with a focus on hard to reach communities and communities of color. She has worked to revolutionize the quality of life of individuals, families and communities through a multi-disciplinary approach, impacting the bio-psychosocial-spiritual characteristics of individuals while promoting optimal health and wellbeing. She holds a BS in Nutrition and Dietetics from Oakwood University, an MPH in Nutrition from Loma Linda University, is a Registered Dietician and is currently pursuing an administration degree at CSUSB. She is employed as a Program Specialist for the County of San Bernardino.
Dakotah Jim, Research Program Officer, Notah Begay III Foundation
Speaker submitted biosketch
Dakotah Jim is a member of the Navajo Nation. She is a Research Program Officer at the Notah Begay III Foundation with the Native Strong: Healthy Kids, Healthy Futures initiative. Throughout her career, Dakotah has worked as an advocate for Native American health and wellness in various work settings from Indian Health Service, University institutions, urban/rural tribal areas, and non-profit organizations. Prior to joining NB3F, Dakotah served as the New Mexico Native Communities Wellness Network Coordinator for the Healthy Native Communities Partnership (HNCP), a Native non-profit organization based out of Shiprock, NM. Dakotah obtained her Bachelor’s Degree in Exercise Science from Northern Arizona University and obtained her Master’s Degree in Health Education-Community Health from the University of New Mexico.
Colleen Schenck, Program Administrator, Mendocino County Health and Humans Services Agency
Speaker submitted biosketch
Colleen Schenck is a Program Administrator for Mendocino County’s Health and Human Services Agency, Public Health, Prevention and Planning Unit. She was the county’s Program Coordinator and Strategic Lead for reducing consumption of sugar sweetened beverages with an emphasis on youth advocacy for the CA4Health Grant. Schenck’s prevention work focused on providing Alcohol, Tobacco and Other Drug and Violence Prevention support to a local Mendocino County school district and community coalition. Funded by a Drug Free Communities grant from SAMHSA, the scope of work provided training and experience in system, policy and environmental change through the strategic prevention framework
Moderator: Lynn Silver, Senior Advisor for Chronic Disease and Obesity, Public Health Institute
Speaker submitted biosketch
Lynn Silver, MD, MPH, Senior Advisor at the Public Health Institute, works to prevent chronic disease and obesity. She participated in the successful Berkeley soda tax campaign, now researching its impact, and oversees California Project LEAN, which works to improve nutrition and wellness. Previously Health Officer of Sonoma County and Assistant Health Commissioner of NYC, she led NYCs first calorie labeling law, daycare regulations, public food procurement standards, and Fit City initiative. Childhood obesity and neighborhood disparities declined there.
Presentations/Handouts
WS: 3.1: “Shape”ing a Public-Private Strategy for Childhood Obesity Prevention
Georgia Shape is the Governor’s childhood obesity initiative comprised of governmental, philanthropic, academic and business communities. This coordinated effort mobilizes communication efforts and strategic public-private partnerships to achieve collective impact. Policy/intervention efforts are supported in schools, communities, child-care centers, government agencies, businesses, academic institutions and healthcare settings. Panelists will discuss challenges and practical solutions for working in large multi-sector coalitions.
Please Click the Speaker names below to see their submitted biosketch.
Trisha Hardy, Director, Child Wellness, Children's Healthcare of Atlanta
Speaker submitted biosketch
As Director of Child Wellness at Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta, Trisha Hardy is responsible for leading programs, solutions and partnerships related Children Healthcare of Atlanta’s childhood obesity efforts in the community. Hardy leads a dynamic team of dietitians, exercise physiologists, health educators, evaluation specialists and health educators. Her team successfully creates and implements public awareness campaigns and numerous programs reaching more than 300,000 families through healthcare providers, community events, camps, schools, and early childcare centers. In addition, Hardy currently oversees employee health and wellness activities for the hospital system.
Debra Kibbe, Senior Research Associate, Georgia Health Policy Center
Speaker submitted biosketch
Debra Kibbe is a Senior Research Associate in the Georgia Health Policy Center at Georgia State University focusing on obesity, physical activity (PA), nutrition and health-related policy and program research. Prior to GSU, Debra served as PA and Nutrition Director for a Washington DC-based non-profit for 13 years where she coordinated school, community and health care intervention projects aimed at pediatric obesity prevention. Debra is faculty for the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetic’s program on child overweight.
Emily Anne Vall, Obesity Project Manager (SHAPE), Georgia Department of Public Health
Speaker submitted biosketch
Emily Anne Vall, PhD, has 13 years of experience as a trainer and educator working with an array of populations including; graduate and undergraduate pre-service physical education and health teachers, public school teachers and administrators, medical practitioners, corporate employees, and public school (K-12) children. Her areas of expertise include Behavior Change Theory and Childhood Obesity. She currently manages the Governor’s Georgia Shape initiative under Commissioner Fitzgerald at the Georgia Department of Public Health.
Moderator: Kelly Cornett, Physical Activity Coordinator, Georgia Department of Public Health
Speaker submitted biosketch
Kelly Cornett is the Physical Activity Coordinator for the Georgia Department of Public Health currently leading the “Power Up for 30” initiative for Georgia Shape. A native of Minnesota, she completed her Bachelor’s degree is Kinesiology from the Honors College at Michigan State University followed by a Master’s degree in Exercise Physiology from James Madison University. She supports a multidisciplinary approach for advocacy and outreach efforts through research translation and educational campaigns. As a published researcher, she has contributed to school-based physical activity interventions and coordinated health promotion efforts while managing community partnerships. She strives to translate evidence-based research into public health practice.
Presentations/Handouts
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