Description
Join us for a webinar hosted by the American Public Health Association and Healthy Democracy Healthy People on the relationship between voting and health. Experts will discuss how voting impacts public health and will highlight the important work being done at the community level to advance voting access and participation.
Contributors
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MODERATOR: Susan Polan, PhD - Associate Executive Director, Public Health Policy and Practice, American Public Health Association
Susan is associate executive director for public affairs and advocacy with APHA, overseeing the Association's departments of government relations and affiliate affairs, communications and membership. Dr. Polan is responsible for planning and directing APHA's legislative, regulatory and legal activities, communicating those initiatives and Association news to members and the public, and overseeing membership recruitment and retention and Affiliate, Caucus and Section relations. Dr. Polan earned her bachelor of science degree in psychology from the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign. She later earned a master's of science degree in health psychology from San Diego State University and a doctorate in social ecology from the University of California, Irvine.
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Jeanne Ayers, RN, MPH - Executive Direcotr, Healthy Democracy Healthy People
Jeanne Ayers leads Healthy Democracy Healthy People, a coalition of 11 public health organizations committed to advancing health and racial equity by strengthening civic and voter participation and ensuring access to the ballot for all eligible voters. Prior to establishing this coalition in August 2020, Ayers held leadership roles in state governmental public health for over 9 years. She served as the Wisconsin State Health Officer and Assistant Commissioner and Chief Health Equity Strategist for the Minnesota Department of Health. Jeanne has long been a recognized leader in national efforts to assure health and racial equity and improve population health. She was selected as the 2010 University of Minnesota Josie R. Johnson Human Rights and Social Justice Award winner for her work and was responsible for development of the Minnesota Department of Health, award-winning report “Advancing Health Equity in Minnesota: A report to the State Legislature”.
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Erica Fishman, MSW, MPH - Co-Chari Health Equity Committee, Minnesota Public Health Association
Erica Fishman joined APHA and the Minnesota Public Health Association while in graduate school and continued her membership in each organization for over 40 years. In APHA, she has been active in the Sexual and Reproductive Health Section, chaired the Committee on Membership and serves on the Council of Affiliates. In MPHA, she has held elected and appointed positions. She was a founding member and is currently the co-chair of the Health Equity Committee. Prior to retirement, she worked at the Minnesota Department of Health where she partnered with local public health agencies, community-based organizations, clinics and health systems.
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Dawn Hunter, JD, MPH - Director, Southeastern Region Office, The Network for Public Health Law
Dawn Hunter, JD, MPH, is Director of the Southeastern Region of the Network for Public Health Law. Dawn is an experienced state health department policymaker and legislative director whose work focuses on research, analysis, implementation, and capacity building related to the use of law and policy to improve health outcomes and advance racial equity. She previously served as deputy state health official in New Mexico, where she led legislative planning and policy development, strategic planning, performance management, and public health accreditation. Currently, Dawn leads an ongoing assessment of declarations of racism as a public health crisis and related efforts to address health inequities. She also focuses on strategies to improve health outcomes through civic engagement and conducts training on equity in public health messaging. Dawn started her career in child protective services in Hillsborough County, Florida. She later transitioned into research and development as a microbiologist at the USF Center for Biological Defense before embarking on her current path. Dawn is Certified in Public Health by the National Board of Public Health Examiners. She received her A.B. in English Literature from Princeton University, her B.S. in Microbiology and her M.P.H. in Global Communicable Disease from the University of South Florida, and her J.D. from Stetson University College of Law.