NATIONAL COLLABORATIVE - Key Persons

Job Titles:

• Co - Founder
• Deputy Director
• Deputy Director and Co - Founder of the National Collaborative for Health Equity

Carla Gullatt is Deputy Director and co-founder of the National Collaborative for Health Equity. In this role, she oversees the National Collaborative's budget, staff, and operations, and assists in the development and implementation of the organization's strategic plan. Ms. Gullatt is a 20-year veteran of non-profit development and project management. Her experience includes project design and implementation, organizational development, fundraising, events management, and budget development. Prior to joining the National Collaborative for Health Equity, Ms. Gullatt served as the Director of Operations and Outreach for the Joint Center for Political & Economic Studies, Health Policy Institute for more than eleven years. In this role Ms. Gullatt managed the day to day activities of the organization, internal and external relations and administrative operations, and assisted in strategic planning, program design and implementation, and other necessary functions. Ms. Gullatt received her Bachelor's Degree from California State University at Sacramento in 1986.

Job Titles:

• Program Associate
• Program Associate at the National Collaborative for Health Equity

Christina Johnson is a Program Associate at the National Collaborative for Health Equity. In this role, she supports the implementation of NCHE's programs and activities. Her previous work experience includes providing administrative support at the American Medical Association, as well as serving with AmeriCorps NCCC. Christina received her Bachelor of Arts degree in Human Geography from King's College London, with a focus on sustainability, global inequity, public health, and the societal impacts of climate change and environmental degradation.

Job Titles:

• Digital Marketing Agency

Job Titles:

• Executive Director
• Social Change Agent

Dr. Gail Christopher is an award-winning social change agent with expertise in the social determinants of health and well-being and related public policies. She is known for her pioneering work to infuse holistic health and diversity concepts into public sector programs and policy discourse. Dr. Christopher recently retired from her role as Senior Advisor and Vice President at the W.K. Kellogg Foundation (WKKF), where she was the driving force behind the America Healing initiative and the Truth, Racial Healing and Transformation effort. She also served as Kellogg's Vice President for Program Strategy. From 2007-2017, she led several other areas of foundation programming. These include, Food, Health and Well-Being, Leadership, Public Policy, Community Engagement and place-based funding in New Orleans and New Mexico. In 2015, she received the Terrance Keenan Award from Grant makers in Health. She chaired the Board of the Trust for America's Health from 2012-2022. In 2019, she became a Senior Scholar with George Mason University's Center for the Advancement of Well-Being. Dr. Christopher also became the Executive Director of the National Collaborative for Health Equity (NCHE) in November 2019. NCHE is a national nonprofit based in Washington, DC. Since 2020, she has served as Director of the Transforming Public Health Data Commission, sponsored by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. She is the visionary for and architect of the WKKF-led Truth Racial Healing and Transformation (TRHT) effort for America. TRHT is an adaptation of the globally recognized Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC) model. TRHT evolved from the decade-long WKKF America Healing, racial equity and racial healing initiative. In August of 2017, Dr. Christopher left her leadership position with WKKF to launch the Maryland-based Ntianu Center for Healing and Nature; and to devote more time to writing and speaking on issues of health, racial healing and human capacity for caring. Her distinguished career and contributions to public service were honored in 1996 when she was elected as a fellow of the National Academy of Public Administration. In 2007, she received the Leadership Award from the Health Brain Trust of the Congressional Black Caucus for her work in reducing racial and ethnic health disparities; in 2009, she was named a Society for Public Health Education (SOPHE) Honorary Fellow - the highest recognition given to a non-SOPHE member, who has made significant contributions to health education and public health; in 2011, she was awarded the "Change Agent Award" by the Schott Foundation for Public Education; in 2012, she was the recipient of the Association of Maternal & Child Health Programs (AMCHP) John C. MacQueen Lecture Award for her innovation and leadership in the field of maternal and child health; in 2022, she was a recipient of Casey Family Programs' Casey Excellence for Children Awards (CECA) for Leadership; in 2023, the American Journal of Health Promotion honored Dr. Christopher as one of the 10 Most Influential Women Scholars in Health Promotion. A prolific writer and presenter, Dr. Christopher is the author, co-author, and has contributed chapters to 14 books, hundreds of articles, presentations and publications, and contributed a monthly column in the Federal Times and was a regular contributor to the Huffington Post. Her national print and broadcast media credits are numerous, and include The Washington Post, Los Angeles Times, Dallas Times, National Journal, Essence, "Good Morning America," "The Oprah Winfrey Show," National Public Radio and a documentary on CBS and a Peabody award winning documentary on PBS. Prior to joining WKKF, she was vice president of the Joint Center for Political and Economic Studies' Office of Health, Women and Families in Washington, D.C. There, she led the Joint Center Health Policy Institute, a multi-year initiative created to engage underserved, racial and ethnic minorities in health policy discussions. Previously, she served as executive director of the Institute for Government Innovation at Harvard's John F. Kennedy School of Government in Cambridge, Massachusetts and was a guest scholar in the governance studies department at The Brookings Institution in Washington, D.C. She has held additional executive leadership positions at the National Academy of Public Administration, Howard University School of Divinity, Americans All National Education Program and Family Resource Coalition of America. Dr. Christopher has also launched, led and managed three public commissions. Under her sponsorship, the landmark Dellums Commission research into conditions faced by young men of color produced policy recommendations to reduce racial and ethnic health disparities. She holds a doctor of naprapathy degree from the Chicago National College of Naprapathy in Illinois and completed advanced study in the interdisciplinary Ph.D. program in holistic health and clinical nutrition at the Union for Experimenting Colleges and Universities at Union Graduate School of Cincinnati, Ohio.

Job Titles:

• Member of the National Advisory Committee
• President and CEO of Grantmakers in Health ( GIH )

Faith Mitchell, Ph.D., is President and CEO of Grantmakers In Health (GIH), a Washington DC-based national organization that advises, informs, and supports the work of health foundations and corporate giving programs. Dr. Mitchell's career bridges research, practice, and social and health policy. Prior to GIH, she held leadership positions at the National Academies (National Research Council and Institute of Medicine), U.S. Department of State, William and Flora Hewlett Foundation, and San Francisco Foundation. Dr. Mitchell has a doctorate in medical anthropology from the University of California, Berkeley. She has written or edited numerous policy-related publications. She is also the author of Hoodoo Medicine, a groundbreaking study of Black folk medicine, and The Book of Secrets, Part 1, a semi-factual supernatural thriller.

Job Titles:

• Program Director
• Program Director at the National Collaborative for Health Equity

Ina I. Robinson is a Program Director at the National Collaborative for Health Equity. In this role, she works across key strategy areas focused on racial healing by dismantling the belief in racial hierarchy and its harmful consequences, using data and evidence to spur action toward achieving health equity & policy change, and shaping health equity through transformative leadership programs. Prior to joining the National Collaborative for Health Equity, Ina was the Senior Manager for Programs and Health Equity at the Safe States Alliance (Safe States), a national nonprofit professional association focused on strengthening the practice of injury and violence prevention (IVP). While there, she led numerous programs and evaluation efforts, provided training and technical assistance to practitioners, and spearheaded cross-cutting initiatives to address IVP topic areas through an equitable lens. Prior to joining Safe States, Ina was a Health Scientist at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention supporting state and local public health programming. A published author and experienced leader, Ina has worked as a public health practitioner for more than 15 years. Ina's background is in behavioral science research methods, public health program development and management, data analysis, program evaluation methods, implementing equity approaches across public health topic areas, and applying a social justice lens to public health-related initiatives. She is passionate about developing future health equity leaders, activating change through intentional collaborations, and promoting a transformative approach to improve our social structures and policies. A native of Niagara Falls, NY, Ina earned her Bachelor of Arts in Sociology from Hampton University. She earned her Master of Public Health degree with a concentration in Behavioral and Community Health Sciences from the University of Pittsburgh. Ina is currently pursuing her Doctor of Public Health (DrPH) degree in Health Policy and Management at the University of Georgia.

Job Titles:

• Member of the National Advisory Committee
• Chief Medical Officer, Cook County Health & Hospital System
• President of the American Public Health Association

Dr. Murray has spent her career serving the medically underserved. She has worked in a variety of settings including practicing Occupational Medicine at a Workers Clinic in Canada, Residency Director for Occupational Medicine at Meharry Medical College, and Bureau Chief for the Chicago Department of Health under Mayor Harold Washington. Dr. Murray served as Medical Director of the federally funded health center, Winfield Moody, serving Cabrini Green Public Housing Project in Chicago. Dr. Murray has been an active member of a wide range of local and national organizations including serving as a member of the Board of Scientific Counselors for the Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry (ATSDR), and the Board of Scientific Counselors for the National Institute of Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) and the Board of Directors of Trinity Health (a large Catholic Health system). She serves on the National Advisory Committee on Occupational Safety & Health (NACOSH). In 1997, Dr. Murray returned to the Cook County Health System where she served as Chief Medical Officer -Primary Care for the twenty-three primary care and community health centers comprising the Ambulatory & Community Health Network of the Cook County Bureau of Health Services. The Cook County Bureau of Health is one of the nation's largest public system of medical care and operates three hospitals, the public health department for suburban Cook County, health services a County Jail and the network of health centers (ACHN) operated by the County. Today she serves as the Chief Medical Officer for the Cook County Department of Public Health of the Cook County Health & Hospital System, the state certified public health agency for suburban Cook County. She practices as a general internist at Woodlawn Health Center, is an attending physician in the Division of Occupational and Environmental Medicine at Cook County Hospital and an adjunct Assistant Professor at the University of Illinois at Chicago School of Public Health (Occupational & Environmental Health and the Health Policy & Administration Departments). She plays a leadership role in many organizations including NACCHO's (National Association of City & County Health Officers) Health Equity & Social Justice Team, the national executive board of American Public Health Association and serves on the board of the Chicago based Health and Medicine Policy Research Group. She remains passionate about increasing the number of Black and Latino health professionals and serves as the co-chair for the Urban Health Program Community Advisory Committee at the University of Illinois. In November 2010, Dr. Murray became President of the American Public Health Association. She has been a voice for social justice and health care as a basic human right for over forty years.

Job Titles:

• Digital Communications and Operations Associate

Job Titles:

• Member of the National Advisory Committee
• Associate Adjunct Professor, Health and Social Behavior, Director, Berkeley Media Studies Group

Job Titles:

• Deputy Director for Programs & Strategy
• National Expert

Ms. Delgado is a national expert in organizational management, grassroots mobilization, and advocacy for social justice and equity.' Ms. Delgado worked with Fortune 500 pharmaceutical companies, as well as in the philanthropic, and non-profit sectors. She worked with the W.K. Kellogg Foundation, where she was a Program Officer for Truth, Racial Healing & Transformation and Deputy Director to the Vice for Racial Equity and Healing, Community Engagement & Leadership, Learning & Impact, and the priority places of New Mexico, Mississippi, and New Orleans.

Job Titles:

• Senior Operations Manager

Job Titles:

• Member of the National Advisory Committee
• Founder & Director of NABRE ( Network of Alliances Bridging Race and Ethnicity )

Michael R. Wenger, of Mitchellville, Maryland, teaches about race relations and institutional racism in the Department of Sociology at The George Washington University, and he is a consultant on race relations. In addition, he is the author of his recently-published memoir, My Black Family, My White Privilege: A White Man's Journey Through the Nation's Racial Minefield, and he is a co-founder of the Within Our Lifetime Network (www.withinourlifetime.net), a national network of individuals and community-based organizations working to promote racial equity and foster racial healing. Its name reflects the commitment of its members to end racism within our lifetime. Mr. Wenger serves on the Interim Leadership Team for the network. From 1998 until August, 2014, Mr. Wenger was with the Joint Center for Political and Economic Studies, a research and public policy analysis institution focused on issues of race. At the Joint Center Mr. Wenger was the founder and Director of NABRE (Network of Alliances Bridging Race and Ethnicity), a Joint Center initiative that linked more than 200 race relations/racial justice organizations across the country for the purpose of facilitating communication and interaction, both electronic and face to face, among leaders of community-based racial reconciliation activities. The network's mission was to cultivate and nurture local leaders as they build and sustain alliances that break down and transcend barriers of race and ethnicity in all sectors of civil society and in communities across the country. Mr. Wenger also served the Joint Center as Acting Vice President for Governance and Economic Analysis, Acting Vice President for Communications, Acting Vice President and Director of the Joint Center's Civic Engagement and Governance Institute, and most recently, as a Senior Fellow. From September 1997 to October 1998, Mr. Wenger served as the Deputy Director for Outreach and Program Development for President Clinton's Initiative on Race. In this position he was responsible for the development and implementation of programs designed to broaden public support for President Clinton's vision of One America in the 21st Century-a more just, inclusive and unified America that offers opportunity and fairness for all Americans. Prior to his work with the President's Initiative on Race, Mr. Wenger served for more than 16 years as the States' Washington Representative for the Appalachian Regional Commission, a Congressionally-funded agency charged with promoting economic development in the 13-state Appalachian region of the United States. His responsibility in this position was to represent the Governors of the 13 Appalachian states on policy and legislative matters relating to their membership on the Commission. Before coming to Washington, D.C. in 1981, Mr. Wenger held several policy-making positions in the administration of West Virginia Governor John D. Rockefeller IV, including Director of the Governor's Office of Federal/State Programs, Director of the Governor's Office of Community Development, Deputy Commissioner of the Department of Welfare and Commissioner of the Department of Employment Security. Prior to that he served as Director of Federal/State Relations for the City of Charleston, WV, under the administration of then-Mayor John G. Hutchinson, and before that, as a community organizer and then Executive Director of the Raleigh County (WV) Community Action Association. He began his career as a journalist and public school teacher in the New York City area. Mr. Wenger's memoir describes his experiences as a white man from New York City married to an African American woman from rural North Carolina and living in Charleston, WV, integrates his personal experiences with his professional insights, and shares the lessons he has learned about race as a result of his journey. He also is the co-author of Window Pane Stories: Vignettes to Help You Look At and Beyond Your Experiences, a frequent speaker on race relations, and the author of numerous articles on race relations and on rural economic development. Mr. Wenger was born in New York City and educated at Queens College of the City University of New York, where he was a leader in the civil rights struggles of the early 1960s. He is married and has three grown children, four grandchildren, and a great grandchild.

Job Titles:

• Administrative Coordinator
• Administrative Coordinator at the National Collaborative for Health Equity

Muriel Warren is the Administrative Coordinator at the National Collaborative for Health Equity. In this role, Ms. Warren supports the Executive Director and Senior Staff and is responsible for coordinating the day-to-day administrative tasks of the organization. Prior to joining the National Collaborative, Ms. Warren worked as an Administrative Assistant at the Joint Center for Political and Economic Studies where she served five Presidents, and supported four key departments. Her responsibilities included planning internal and external meetings and events, scheduling, and coordinating travel for senior staff and other key members of the organization Ms. Warren is a graduate of Spingarn Senior High School in Washington, D.C. and has over 25 years of Administrative and Executive Administrative experience.

Job Titles:

• Special Assistant to the Executive Director of the National Collaborative for Health Equity

Nicole Fry is the Special Assistant to the Executive Director of the National Collaborative for Health Equity (NCHE). In this position, Ms. Fry serves as the primary contact for external offices interested in working with Dr. Gail C. Christopher. She joined NCHE in May 2022. Prior to this position, she served as the Program Coordinator & Assistant to the Vice President of Diversity, Equity, and Student Success at the American Association of Colleges and Universities (AAC&U). In this role, she was responsible for not only general administrative duties, but also coordinating the largest and most profitable DESS conference and HIPs Institute in AAC&U's history. Ms. Fry received her Bachelors of Science degree with a minor in Philosophy from Bucknell University.