Cheryl Phillips, MD, is President and Chief Executive Officer for the SNP Alliance, a national nonprofit association of special needs and managed Medicaid plans to serve vulnerable adults with complex care needs. Prior to this she served as the Senior Vice President for Public Policy and Health Services at LeadingAge in Washington, D.C. Dr. Phillips was the Chief Medical Officer of On Lok Lifeways, the originator of the PACE (Program of All-Inclusive care for the Elderly) model based in San Francisco from 2007-2011. She has also served as Medical Director for Senior Services and Chronic Disease Management for the Sutter Health System, a network of doctors, hospitals, and other health providers in Northern California.

Sarita A. Mohanty, MD, MPH, MBA, serves as the President and Chief Executive Officer of The SCAN Foundation. The SCAN Foundation is one of the largest foundations in the United States focused on improving the quality of health and life for older adults. Its mission is to advance a coordinated and easily navigated system of high-quality services for older adults that preserve dignity and independence. Previously, Sarita served as the Vice President of Care Coordination for Medicaid and Vulnerable Populations at Kaiser Permanente. Sarita was previously Assistant Professor of Medicine at USC; Chief Medical Officer of COPE Health Solutions, a health care management consulting company; and Senior Medical Director at L.A. Care, the largest U.S. public health plan.

Dr. Manuel Pastor is a Distinguished Professor of Sociology and American Studies & Ethnicity at the University of Southern California. He currently directs the Equity Research Institute at USC. Pastor holds an economics Ph.D. from the University of Massachusetts, Amherst, and is the inaugural holder of the Turpanjian Chair in Civil Society and Social Change at USC.

Jennie Chin Hansen is the immediate past CEO of the American Geriatrics Society, the largest professional membership organization of gero-clinicians committed to the
care of older adults living with care complexity. Prior to this position, she completed her role as president of the 38-million member AARP during the negotiations and development of the Affordable Care Act. She currently contributes in the content areas of dementia, workforce, chronic complex care, geriatric emergency departments, and health equity. Hansen’s primary career includes nearly 25 years in San Francisco providing integrated, globally financed, and comprehensive medical and community-based services for nursing home eligible older people. Its groundbreaking fully capitated, integrated, and coordinated service delivery system became the prototype for the 1997 federal law that established the Program of All Inclusive Care to the Elderly (PACE) into the Medicare and Medicaid programs. PACE now operates extensively in California and in 31 other states.

Carolina loves to build things. In her role as Senior Consultant at Community Wealth Partners, she supports organizations and foundations to think deeply about the conditions and environments needed to amplify change. She’s worked extensively with nonprofits in the United States and abroad to help evaluate and understand short- and long-term impacts of diverse programmatic implementation.

Sadé Dozan is a leader in philanthropy and social justice, currently serving as the Chief of Development & Operations at Caring Across Generations and the founder of Melanate.—an early stage-incubator shifting demographics in wealth movement spaces. Her work has been pivotal in making care systems more accessible and affordable, centering Black women in philanthropy, and disrupting traditional resource development models. As she transitions into her role as Vice President of Advancement at Borealis Philanthropy, Sadé continues to push boundaries with an innovative approach to fundraising that views philanthropy as a powerful tool for organizing and empowering communities.

Rea Pañares has dedicated her career to nonprofit and public service and has over two decades of experience working in diverse fields ranging from policy advocacy, philanthropy, public health, civic tech, and the federal government. While the settings have changed, her north star has remained constant: improving policies and systems to ensure communities have the opportunity to be healthy and thrive.

Denny joined Justice in Aging in 2014 and is responsible for leading and developing Justice in Aging’s Strategic Initiative on Advancing Equity. Denny and his team work across all program areas to ensure that Justice in Aging’s advocacy eliminates barriers and inequities for older adults experiencing systemic discrimination. The son of working-class Chinese immigrant parents, Denny has worked significantly on non-discrimination in health care, language access, and issues of aging and equity for low-income older adults and brings these experiences to his advocacy. He is affiliate faculty for the Shriver Center on Poverty Law and was appointed by California Governor Gavin Newsom to serve on California’s Civil Rights Council. Denny is a graduate of the University of California, Irvine School of Law. He received his BA from the University of Michigan.

Dan Torres serves as the Chief Equity Officer at the California Health and Human Services Agency. Prior to joining Cal HHS, Dan was the Program Director for Immigrant Rights at the Haas, Jr. Fund, a private philanthropy. Previously, he served as Special Assistant to Attorney General Xavier Becerra and was Director of Immigrant Integration in Governor Jerry Brown’s administration. Earlier in his career, Dan was the Chief of the Immigration Services Branch at the Department of Social Services and worked as a legal services lawyer in rural California.

Ignatius Bau is an independent health equity consultant, working with patient and consumer organizations, community-based health and social service organizations, state health departments and agencies, physician organizations, community health centers, health system and hospital associations, and foundations.

Dr. Laura Trejo, Director of the Los Angeles County Aging and Disabilities Department, is responsible for launching a new county department along with establishing a proactive, coordinated, and comprehensive strategy and service delivery system for older adults and adults with disabilities. Dr. Trejo oversees programs and operations such as Adult Protective Services, the Area Agency on Aging, fourteen Community and Senior Centers, and the work of the Los Angeles Commission on Older Adults and Commission on Disabilities.

Rigo J. Saborio, MSG, is Vice President of Programs, Equity, and Community Impact at The SCAN Foundation. In this role, Rigo oversees the Foundation’s efforts around diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) to ensure all older adults receive the services and supports they need to age well. He also is developing the Foundation’s community impact plan for strategic grantmaking. Rigo has over 30 years of experience in the field of aging with an emphasis on public policy, diversity outreach, administration, and direct service.

Erin Westphal serves as a Program Officer at The SCAN Foundation. Erin’s work focuses on building the business case for person-centered care models and integrating the care and financing for medical and social services. Before joining the Foundation, Erin was the Special Projects Coordinator for the Los Angeles Department of Aging. There, she developed community-based programs for older adults and caregivers. Prior, Erin served as Director of Research for the Beverly Foundation and Project Coordinator for the Orange County Elder Abuse Forensic Center.

I am an associate professor at USF’s Counseling Psychology Department and the founder and CEO of On the Margins. I work in the areas of Latinx mental health, antiracism, migrant justice, and trauma-responsive care. My program of research has focused on understanding how Latinx communities heal from trauma and use specific strategies to access positive health. Grounded in Critical Race Theory (CRT; Crenshaw, 1989), I use critical and political methodological approaches in reaction to one-size-fits-all traditional paradigms of doing research, assessment, and evaluation. My most recent publications encourage psychologists to distance themselves from the Eurocentric epistemologies that dominate the field of psychology today, and to move toward a critical race epistemology that understands knowledge as being shaped by membership in multiple subordinated groups and interlocking systems of oppression.

Dr. Byron Johns is an experienced community organizer and organizational development consultant with leadership experiences at the grassroots, non-profit, and corporate level. From 2016-2021, he worked in South Los Angeles on systems and policy change as the Project Director for First 5’s Best Start West Athens Program at the Girls Club of Los Angeles. In this role, Johns facilitated the creation of community forums, participated in Anti-Racist Training through the Ready-to-Rise County Program, the Department of Public Health’s Community Action Project, West Athens Task Force, and provided onsite Social Justice training in collaboration with a variety of South LA organizations. Through the community outreach required by the role, he has steeped himself in the community culture, becoming very familiar with the needs of families, youth, and seniors, which inspired him to create a food distribution program that was a lifeline for some residents during COVID. The initiative has now grown tremendously through multiple collaborations and is one of the central hubs for family and senior resources in South LA.

Tonya P Williams, born in a New York City Housing Development, raised in an African American Christian home, orphaned by age four and raised by her Great Aunt who she affectionally called, “Grandma”. Tonya holds a BS in Healthcare Administration, 1985 from Davis and Elkins College, Elkins, WV and in 2001 she completed her Master of Public Administration degree at Kutztown University, Kutztown, PA.

Tonya has over forty years’ experience as a facilitator, administrator, and an advocate. Of those 40 years, twelve years she served as the Executive Director of the Girls After School Academy (GASA) located in San Francisco. Her hopes are to break every barrier that separates us as humans and for each individual to BE who they are created, because everyone else is taken and WE are Wired Differently the Proper Way (WD t PW).

A lifelong resident of the Imperial Valley, Cari’s passion for her community drives her to dedicate her time to provide essential services to Imperial Valley residents. She is constantly seeking opportunities and resources to improve the lives of those around her.

As a program coordinator at the Imperial Valley Food Bank, she oversees the USDA commodities program, manages the weekend backpack program, and ensures program compliance through staff and volunteer training. Cari also participates in the Community Health Improvement Plan (CHIP) Steering Committee and collaborates with the Imperial Valley Wellness Foundation on the Equity Community Organizing Groups, benefiting older adults in the northend communities of Imperial County.

Dolores Huerta is a civil rights activist and community organizer. She has worked for labor rights and social justice for over 50 years. In 1962, she and Cesar Chavez founded the United Farm Workers union. She served as Vice President and played a critical role in many of the union’s accomplishments for four decades. In 2002, she received the Puffin/Nation $100,000 prize for Creative Citizenship which she used to establish the Dolores Huerta Foundation (DHF). DHF is connecting groundbreaking community-based organizing to state and national movements to register and educate voters; advocate for education reform; bring about infrastructure improvements in low-income communities; advocate for greater equality for the LGBT community; and create strong leadership development. She has received numerous awards: among them The Eleanor Roosevelt Humans Rights Award from President Clinton in 1998. In 2012 President Obama bestowed Dolores with The Presidential Medal of Freedom, the highest civilian honor in the United States.

Sarah Enz is the Public Administrator/Guardian/Conservator for the County of Imperial and Director of the Area Agency on Aging. Ms. Enz holds a Juris Doctorate Degree from Northwestern California University School of Law and has been with the County of Imperial for five and a half years. Prior to moving into the public government sector, she worked in the private legal field for 16 years. Sarah has been married to her high school sweetheart for 20 years and has two daughters, age 15 and 11, who keep her busy with competitive cheerleading and dance.

Catherine Hyowon Han (한효원) (she/her/hers) is a second-generation Korean American, a proud daughter of immigrants, and is the  oldest of five in her family. She currently serves as a Program Specialist with the Center of Healthy Aging at National Council on Aging (NCOA) based in Arlington, VA. In her role, she supports a historic $50 million grant from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Administration for Community Living to provide technical assistance to community-based organizations and senior centers  working to provide lifesaving COVID-19 and influenza vaccines to older adults and people with disabilities. Formerly, Catherine served as the Virginia Middle School Program Coordinator at Asian American LEAD (AALEAD).

Siri Perlman is a Registered Dietitian with over two decades of experience in managing and leading nutrition programs across various educational and community settings. With a Bachelor of Science in Biology from the University of California, San Diego, and a Registered Dietitian certification from California State University, Long Beach, Siri has a strong foundation in both science and practical application. Currently serving as the Director of Senior Nutrition at Jewish Family Service LA since November 2020, Siri oversees a comprehensive Senior Nutrition program. Siri is instrumental in ensuring the delivery of healthy meals to approximately 4,000 seniors of diverse backgrounds and socioeconomic status. She manages large scale meal service operations across multiple City of Los Angeles and LA County funded programs, serving as a leader in strategic policy development and system improvement. 

Kaylyn Williams is a consultant at Community Wealth Partners where she brings her background in public health and passion for decreasing healthy disparities. She has worked in research, evaluation, technical assistance, and strategic planning on numerous projects related to racial and health equity. Through partnerships with foundations, nonprofits and the federal government, Kaylyn has worked to embed equity in systems, research, policies, and practices.   Kaylyn is skilled at centering community voice and building trusting relationships to understand where nonprofits and foundations are uniquely positioned to have impact, grounded in solutions that support those most impacted.

Lizette Escobedo is a passionate advocate for civic engagement and social justice, with over two decades of experience leading impactful initiatives to empower Latino communities. Currently serving as Vice President of Government Relations and Civic Engagement at AltaMed Health Services, Lizette has spearheaded successful campaigns to increase voter participation and access to healthcare. She played a key role in the ¡Andale! ¿Que Esperas?! COVID-19 vaccine outreach program, resulting in over 130,000 vaccinations, and led the My Vote. My Health. campaign, reaching over half a million Latino voters.

Alberto Campos, LCSW, serves as the Associate Director. Alberto is a native of Southeast Los Angeles, South Gate. He holds a Master’s degree in Social Work from the University of Southern California (USC) and a Bachelor of Science in Criminal Justice from California State University – Los Angeles. Additionally, he has earned a Youth Agency Administration Certificate from Cal State LA. Alberto has over ten years’ experience working in community-based organizations, most recently serving as a Program Supervisor for Special Services for Groups – Project 180 Los Angeles. In this capacity he supervised, managed and guided a team of case managers providing services to adults. Alberto brings to his position as Associate Director an array of experiences including facilitation, training, research and data management, presentation, and planning.

Dr. Seciah Aquino serves as Executive Director for the Latino Coalition for a Healthy California (LCHC) — the State’s leading policy organization advocating for health equity in the Latine community. In her role, she is passionate to advance health justice for CA Latines through unity. Latines working hand in hand with fellow siblings from other systemically disenfranchised communities, to advance a unified Health Equity Agenda. One that seeks sustainable systemic changes, through policy solutions that will address the acute and long-term repercussions of health inequities. She strongly believes we must as a collective — own our power and harness our resiliency to achieve true justice.

Daniel E. Dawes, J.D., is a widely respected healthcare and public health leader, health equity & policy expert, educator, and researcher who currently serves as Senior Vice President, Global Health and is the founding Dean of the School of Global Public Health at Meharry Medical College, which is the first school of its kind in the United States. Prior to that he served as executive director of the Satcher Health Leadership Institute at Morehouse School of Medicine and is a professor of health law, policy and management. A trailblazer and nationally respected voice in the health equity movement, his scholarship and leadership, particularly the innovative political determinants of health framework that he pioneered, have resulted in increased policies and laws prioritizing health equity. By tackling upstream determinants of health, he has ventured into such uncharted territory as the intersection between equity and the social and political determinants of health to change the course of domestic and global policies for the better. (Photo courtesy: OCHIN and photo credit: Zack Smith Photography.)