Thank you for your interest in the Addessing the C in ACEs: Building Community Resilience. We hope you enjoy the recording of this event that took place on May 24, 2023.
Topics covered on Day 1 include:
Speranza Human Compassion Project began in 2012 to
offer hospitals and first-responders innovative intervention strategies for
victims of domestic violence. Speranza is a collaborative of universities,
hospitals and government agencies that are passionate about preventing and
ending violence against women and children. Christina is using her
past experience as a victim, to change outcomes for families in crisis.
Christina won first place in three "Innovation in Healthcare" awards
through Mount Sinai's Icahn School of Medicine in New York City in 2020 and
2021. Christina was also recognized by La Salle University as an
"Outstanding Community Leader". She is currently studying for
her doctorate at Thomas Jefferson University in Philadelphia where she will
graduate with her DHSc in 2024. She currently holds a Master of Science and
her undergraduate degree from Indiana University, Bloomington. She
resides in Philadelphia where she volunteers her time to ensuring no woman
or child has to suffer in silence.
Dana
Rice, DrPH, assistant professor, is a public health practitioner and researcher
who examines best practices in public health leadership and community
engagement with a health equity, social justice and human rights lens. Her
primary focus is on the integration of public health and correctional health
systems and the impact of mass criminalization and mass incarceration on public
health. She was a recipient of the student-nominated Award for Excellence
in Teaching and Innovation, the peer-nominated Delta Omega Faculty
Award and a UNC Equity in Teaching fellow.
Prior
to joining the faculty at Gillings, Dr. Rice spent 20 years working in the
public, private and non-profit sectors. Her most recent work was dedicated to
designing, implementing and evaluating an HIV/STD screening program in a large
urban jail and training graduate public health and medical students in
translating applied public health practice skills to a variety of community
settings.
Dr. Josephine M.
Kim is senior lecturer on education at Harvard University and former faculty
director of the Office of Diversity and Inclusion at Harvard School of Dental
Medicine where she launched award-winning K-16 pipeline programs. She is a
licensed mental health counselor, national certified counselor, and affiliated
faculty at the Center for Cross Cultural Student Emotional Wellness at
Massachusetts General Hospital. Her work encompasses the cultural and racial
identity development in youth; intergenerational trauma and cultural adjustment
in immigrant families; promotion of mental health and prevention of
psychological risk in children and adolescents; intercultural understanding and
cultural brokering in migratory populations; culturally relevant counseling and
advocacy; and anti-racist pedagogy and practices.
As a diversity,
equity, and inclusion (DEI) scholar, she steers equity and anti-racist
practices of senior executives in nonprofit organizations, corporations, and
schools. She is an internationally known speaker and consultant who lends her
expertise on mental health, cross-cultural, diversity and inclusion, parenting,
and anti-racist practices to media sources, organizations, corporations, and
schools in Asia, Europe, and the U.S. She is a DEI expert in the University
Managers Training Executive Series at the Center for Workplace Development and
former resident fellow in the Administrative Fellowship Program at the Office
of the Assistant to the President for Institutional Diversity and Equity at
Harvard University. She is USA Today's collegiate case study expert
on school violence, expert on diversity and inclusion training design focused
on anti-racism in the workplace at United Nations, expert in The Inclusive
Policy Lab at UNESCO, and a diversity scholar at the National Center for
Institutional Diversity.
Dr. Mersky’s research
interests include child maltreatment and other adverse experiences that
undermine health and well-being over the life course. He is dedicated to
working with local and state partners to translate evidence into real-world
solutions that improve outcomes for vulnerable children and families.
Dr.
Mersky applies his expertise to the design, application, evaluation, and
dissemination of effective practices, programs, and policies. He is currently
the lead evaluator of the Family Foundations Home Visiting program, a
partnership between the Wisconsin Department of Children and Families and
Department of Health Services that supports evidence-based home visiting
programs statewide. He also heads the Healthy Families Study, a randomized
trial of multiple home visiting programs at the Milwaukee Health Department.
In
addition, Dr. Mersky is principal investigator of the Families and Children
Thriving (FACT) Study, a longitudinal investigation into the health and
well-being of at-risk children and families across Wisconsin.
Ms. Simmons is a skilled trainer, facilitator and
investigator. She executes and conducts various trainings on sexual harassment,
Title IX regulations, Equal Employment Opportunity, and diversity, equity, and
inclusion. She currently serves as an adjunct professor at various universities
throughout the year and volunteers with civic organizations regularly.
Ms. Simmons formerly served as a Federal Agent and was
tasked with investigating reports of sexual assault for the Naval Criminal
Investigative Service in the Middle East as well as the United States. She
later married her education to her experience by contributing to policy that
materially impacted the lives of women and the execution of investigations into
allegations of sexual misconduct within higher education. Ms. Simmons' aforementioned
involvement in government, law, and policy was the catalyst for her career in
legal compliance, corporate consulting, and equity advocacy.
Mighty Fine, a Social Epidemiologist by
training, is currently the Director of the Center for Public Health
Practice and Professional Development at the American Public Health
Association. In that role, Mr. Fine designs, develops, and evaluates public
health programs; and provides technical assistance and consultation to key
stakeholders on an array of public health issues. Although his work stems
across various aspects of public health, he employs a special focus on injury
and violence prevention, maternal and family health and chronic disease
prevention. Overall, within his duties he incorporates epidemiological concepts
to frame APHA’s public health practice initiatives and works to ensure
synergies exist between public health practice and policy.
Rebecca F. Wilson, PhD, currently works as a Behavioral Scientist in the
Division of Violence Prevention at the Centers for Disease Control and
Prevention (CDC), US Health and Human Services (HHS). In her current
position, she is responsible for assisting states with their implementation of
a national surveillance system that captures data related to violent deaths,
including those resulting from violence against children. Dr. Wilson’s area of
research at the CDC includes, but is not limited to, violence against children,
fatal child abuse and neglect, and child maltreatment. Prior to joining
HHS, Dr. Wilson worked as a Behavioral Health Specialist at a pediatric
behavioral health facility, serving children and teens experiencing complex
psychiatric and behavioral challenges. Dr. Wilson obtained her PhD from Georgia
State University, Atlanta, GA, in 2018 and her MPH and BS from Georgia Southern
University, Statesboro, GA.
