PROBLEM GAMBLING PREVENTION - Key Persons

Job Titles:

• Associate
• Project Director
• Project Manager

Mr. Spooner is an experienced project manager and training and technical assistance (TA) provider, and has a passion for advancing cultural and linguistic responsiveness and helping communities do the same. He brings expertise in communications planning, sustainability planning, strategic planning, event organizing, and developing and facilitating virtual events. He specializes in providing training and developing tools that build the capacity of prevention professionals in key areas such as SAMHSA's Strategic Prevention Framework. Mr. Spooner holds a BS in Marketing from the University of Connecticut and a PMD Pro Certification from APMG International. He is a Certified Prevention Specialist in Massachusetts.

Job Titles:

• Education & Operations Coordinator

Carol holds a master's degree in Global Studies and International Relations from Northeastern University, and she is passionate about social impact, health equity and international development. As a global development professional, she brings expertise in digital and communications strategy, project management, policy analysis and advocacy. She is fluent in English and Arabic with hands on experience in projects based in Jordan, Lebanon, Syria, and Mexico.

Mr. Klevgaard is a nationally recognized expert in substance misuse prevention, public health, and the prevention of problem gambling. Drawing on his experience in collective impact and focused partnerships, he builds the capacity of states, tribes, schools, and communities, to use evidence-based problem gambling prevention and outreach strategies. He specializes in training and technical assistance, curriculum development, and instructional design. Klevgaard is a senior certified prevention specialist with over 25 years of experience in public health promotion focused on effective cross-sectorial approaches to address disparities through a focus on health equity. Mr. Klevgaard calls Chicago home and has worked all over the country with a variety of groups including state bureaus, community agencies, and tribes. "Of all the forms of inequality, injustice in health is the most shocking and inhumane."- Martin Luther King Jr.

Job Titles:

• Administrative Coordinator

As an administrative coordinator, Ms. English collaborates with the Massachusetts Center of Excellence on Problem Gambling Prevention and the Center for Strategic Prevention Support in providing virtual technical assistance for meetings and webinars to grantees and sponsors. Previously, she was an administrative coordinator for the Zero Suicide Institute and a project coordinator for the Center on the Application of Prevention Technologies, where she oversaw the training and technical assistance approval process. As the tech lead for the Northeast Resource Team, she provided webinar and online course support.

Job Titles:

• Training and Technical Assistance Associate

Dr. Hernández has worked for 31 years in the health and human service field developing, implementing, and evaluating culturally and linguistically competent youth and adult health prevention, intervention, treatment, and recovery support programs. He also has many years of experience in delivering addiction counseling and clinical supervision to professionals in the field. As a professional trainer and facilitator, he provides individualized technical assistance and support to organizations that provide addiction prevention, intervention, treatment, and recovery supports. Dr. Hernández is in long-term recovery from addiction himself and is committed to eliminating health disparities by working at the national, state, and local levels. Originally from Puerto Rico, Dr. Hernández is fluent in English and Spanish. "It's not that the system doesn't work; in fact, it works exactly the way it was designed to work! Inequalities exist by design, are purposeful, and dehumanizing. I believe we an ethical and moral obligation to call out, denounce, and act to eliminate inequities by creating EQUITY. We should also understand that some systems cannot be reformed. These systems require that we use a bulldoze to tear them down! It is only then that we can begin anew, and engage in true community partnerships; partnerships designed to recognize existing community strengths, resiliency, power, and knowledge. The very knowledge that keeps us in the struggle for self-determination and liberation"developing an unhealthy habit."

Job Titles:

• Project Director
• Public Health and Wellness Expert

Jacqueline Dick is a public health and wellness expert who brings over 30 years of experience leading and advancing community collaboration and grant-funded initiatives. She brings extensive expertise as a program manager, health educator, wellness coach, and tenured professor and has led programs at the federal and state levels. She is adept in utilizing and adapting learning management systems to accommodate diverse learning styles. As director of EDC's Massachusetts Center of Excellence on Problem Gambling Prevention, Ms. Dick leads a team in providing high-quality and culturally responsive capacity building, training, and education to address problem gambling and related behavioral health issues. Previously, Ms. Dick was a program leader and tenured faculty for Northern Essex Community College's Public Health Program and has extensive experience in program design and community health worker trainings. Additionally, she served on the advisory board for the Academic Public Health Corps of Massachusetts. Ms. Dick holds an MS from the Indiana University School of Public Health and a BA in Human Movement Studies from the Carnegie College of Human Movement in Leeds England.

Job Titles:

• Training and Technical Assistance Associate

Ms. Jerome is a solution-oriented, versatile public health professional with research, consulting, policy, and leadership experience. She aims to reduce and ultimately eliminate health disparities in marginalized communities through education, capacity building, and advocacy. She has expertise and experience in areas that include infant and early childhood mental health, substance misuse prevention, adolescent health, adverse childhood experiences, collaborative learning, curriculum development, instructional design, motivational interviewing, and group facilitation. Ms. Jerome is fluent in Haitian Creole and conversational in French and Spanish. "I like the way RWJ put it ‘Achieving health equity requires removing obstacles to health such as poverty, discrimination, and their consequences'. We understand that racism and oppression in any form is violence against humanity-including forms that are structural and embedded in systems, policies, and social norms. These are forces at the root that lead to disparities in health and wellness including problem gambling. Our work is part of the solution in addressing and mitigating these harms by building equity."

Job Titles:

• Training and Technical Assistance Associate

Ms. Cassidy is an adept problem solver and strategic thinker who has more than seven years of experience working on public health projects specializing in substance misuse prevention, behavioral health promotion, and social and emotional learning (SEL). She has expertise and knowledge of adult learning theory and specializes in conceptualizing and facilitating effective training experiences. She provides technical assistance and supports communities to help reduce health disparities.