CITYHEALTH - Key Persons
Job Titles:
- Government Affairs Director
Akeem is the Government Affairs Director for CityHealth. Prior to joining CityHealth, Akeem served as the Director of the Committee on Education for the Council of the District of Columbia. In this role, Akeem set the legislative, budget, and performance oversight agenda for all education agencies in the District of Columbia. Prior to this, his work focused on school turnaround efforts. A 2008 Greater New Orleans Teach For America Corps Member, Akeem taught in New Orleans schools before working for TFA-New Orleans as a Manager Corps and Partner Relations. He holds a Master of Public Administration from the University of Pennsylvania and a Bachelor of Arts in Political Science and English from Mercer University.
Catherine is the Co-Executive Director of CityHealth. Prior to joining the CityHealth team, Catherine served as the Managing Director for Urban Health and Policy at the de Beaumont Foundation. In that role, Catherine developed, managed, and led all work related to policy interventions that sought to improve the health and wellness of urban residents. She also managed the Foundation's grant portfolio and served as Program Team Lead. Before joining the de Beaumont Foundation, Catherine worked at the Pew Charitable Trusts, where she led campaigns to improve children's dental health across the country. Catherine began her career as an early childhood educator, working directly with children and families.
Job Titles:
- Advisor
- CEO and Executive Director / National League of Cities
CityHealth is inviting local leaders to discuss how they approach public health in their governance. This blog comes to us from Oklahoma City Mayor David Holt, who also serves as second vice president of the U.S. Conference of Mayors.
Mayor David Holt was elected as Oklahoma City's 38 th mayor in 2018. He also serves as dean of the Oklahoma City University School of Law.
David brings 30 years of health policy experience to help advance, advise, and adapt CityHealth's package of policies. David is a professor in the Department of Health Law, Policy and Management at the Boston University School of Public Health. He previously directed the Center on Alcohol Marketing and Youth (CAMY) at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, and co-directed the Maryland Collaborative to Reduce College Drinking and Related Problems, a statewide effort involving 15 institutions of higher education committed to reducing alcohol-related problems on campus and in the surrounding communities. He has served as an advisor to the World Bank and the World Health Organization (WHO), and has written more than 130 peer-reviewed articles, co-authored three books, and contributed chapters to six books.
Job Titles:
- Director of Cultiva La Salud / Public Health Institute
Kate is a Program Associate with CityHealth where she assists with policy research, communications, and operations. Kate has an MPH from Boston University School of Public Health with a concentration in Health Policy & Law. At BU she worked as a Teaching Assistant for a health policymaking class, served on the Health Policy & Law Student Organization, and interned at Health Law Advocates. At HLA, she ran a study assessing the impact of remote schooling during COVID-19, the results of which were used to advocate for increased state funding and acquire technology for students. Before grad school, Kate worked for the state of Vermont in child protection and adolescent mental health. She has a BA in Sociology from Clark University.
Katrina is the Co-Executive Director of CityHealth. Before joining CityHealth, Katrina served as both Legislative Director and Deputy Chief of Staff for At-Large D.C. Councilmember David Grosso. In that role, she drafted more than 50 pieces of original legislation and was responsible for leveraging community and business relationships to drive the Councilmember's legislative agenda and policy priorities. In 2020, she received the Community Champion Award from the District of Columbia's Behavioral Health Association for her advocacy on behalf of D.C. residents facing mental illness and/or addiction. Prior to her work in local and state government, Katrina served as a Compliance Manager with the National Community Reinvestment Coalition (NCRC), where she worked to eradicate discriminatory practices in housing and banking. Katrina holds a bachelor's degree in administration of justice from George Mason University and a law degree from UIC's John Marshall Law School.
Lauren is a Program Assistant with both CityHealth and the Big Cities Health Coalition. Prior to her current role, Lauren worked as the Policy and Engagement Assistant at Health Care for the Homeless in Baltimore City. There she worked primarily on food insecurity and its impact on health outcomes as well as advocated for increased access to health care and affordable housing in Baltimore. While completing her undergraduate degree, Lauren conducted research on food insecurity rates among children birth to five and the impact of COVID-19 on food accessibility and security in North Carolina. Lauren has her BA in Public Policy and Political Science from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.
Job Titles:
- Professor and Dean Emerita, Health Management and Policy / Dornsife School of Public Health
Mayor Holt speaks at the U.S. Conference of Mayors meeting in Columbus, Ohio, in June. (Photo by Allison Shelley/USCM)
Job Titles:
- Immediate past President / American Medical Association
Job Titles:
- Housing Lead / AARP Public Policy Institute
Job Titles:
- Senior Vice President for Civic and Community Initiatives / Greater Kansas City Chamber of Commerce
Job Titles:
- Advisor
- Director of GMF Cities / German Marshall Fund
Job Titles:
- Communications Director
- Director of Communications
- Media Contact
Tom is the Director of Communications for CityHealth, where he works to grow the reach, influence, and impact of our work helping cities improve the health outcomes of millions of Americans. Before joining CityHealth, Tom worked in both the private and NGO sectors in a variety of communications, brand and digital roles. His past experience includes leading communications teams at the National League of Cities (NLC) and at CTIA, the wireless industry's trade group. In 2018, Tom earned recognition as a top communications leader in Washington, D.C., when he was awarded first place in PR Daily's Media Relations Awards for a successful campaign to block the White House from cutting critical funding for veterans.
Job Titles:
- Chief Executive / Well Being Trust