Tesfa Alexander, PhD, MA
Managing Director of the Division of Global and Public Health, MITRE Corporation
Eric Friedenwald-Fishman, BA
Creative director & CEO, Metropolitan Group
Eric is a social impact pioneer. He designs large narrative change initiatives and public will building campaigns to drive changes in policy, practice and expectations that advance a more just, healthy, and sustainable world. Eric passionately believes that amplifying change agents’ power of voice is one of the highest impact approaches to driving social change. He has helped MG’s clients authentically engage diverse stakeholders; transform bold ideas into tangible changes and results; build powerful coalitions; and frame their messages in ways that motivate action. He is MG’s key strategist on hundreds of international, national and regional projects, with particular focus at the intersections of public health, environment, and social justice. He has led the democracy narratives initative with deep research on countering authoritarianism and advancing democracy in over a dozen countries on five continents. He specializes in creating initiatives that leverage the strengths and build collaboration across the public, non-profit, and private sectors.
Lamar Hardwick, D.Min.
President/Founder, THG Consulting Services LLC
Lamar Hardwick also known as “the autism pastor” is a pastor, cancer survivor, PhD student and award winning author focused on the intersection of disability, race, and religion. Hardwick was diagnosed with Autism at the age of thirty-six. He provides workshops and consults with businesses, churches, universities, and faith-based organizations on becoming more disability inclusive. He is a graduate of Candler School of Theology at Emory University, the Clergy Scholar Program at Yale Divinity, and a 2017 graduate of Georgia Forward’s Young Game Changers program. He has authored four books including his most recent book, How Ableism Fuels Racism: Dismantling the Hierarchy of Bodies in the Church. (Brazos Press 2024)
Don Hoppert
Director of Government Relations, American Public Health Association
Don Hoppert is the director of government relations at the American Public Health Association where he leads the association's federal government relations and grassroots advocacy activities.
Shelley Hearne, DrPH, MPH
Director, Lerner Center for Public Health Advocacy; Deans Sommer and Klag Distinguished Professor of the Practice in Public Health Advocacy, Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health
Shelley Hearne has spent over three decades driving change in public health, safety, and environmental sustainability. She works with policymakers, foundations, businesses, and nonprofits to address critical health challenges, from pandemic response to reducing preventable risks. She is the Deans Sommer and Klag Distinguished Professor of the Practice for Public Health Advocacy and director of the Lerner Center for Public Health Advocacy at Johns Hopkins. She also serves as executive director of the Forsythia Foundation. Previously, she was the founding president of CityHealth, executive director of the Big Cities Health Coalition, and managing director of the Pew Health Group. Dr. Hearne founded Trust for America’s Health, a national advocacy organization focused on epidemic prevention and public health protection. She has held leadership roles at the Pew Environmental Health Commission, NJ DEP Office of Pollution Prevention, and the Natural Resources Defense Council. She has also chaired APHA’s Executive Board and served as vice president of the Council on Education for Public Health. She co-authored Policy Engagement as part of the Strategic Skills for Public Health Practice series and has testified before Congress on bioterrorism, pandemic preparedness, and public health funding. She has contributed to National Academy of Sciences committees, chaired accreditation site visits for top public health schools, and served a decade on Japan’s Radiation Effect Research Foundation. Dr. Hearne is also a Trustee at Bowdoin College, where she chairs the Committee on Inclusion.
Charlotte Hughes Huntley, PhD, MPH
CEO, DrCHHuntley, LLC
Dr. Charlotte Hughes Huntley, PhD, MPH, is an accomplished epidemiologist and public health leader with over 25 years of experience in healthcare and public health. She is a multidisciplinary public health entrepreneur. As CEO and principal consultant at DrCHHuntley, LLC, she provides epidemiologic consulting solutions to nonprofit organizations and state government agencies, with particular focus on developing and disseminating robust community assessments. As Founder of Public Health Entrepreneurs, LLC, Dr. Huntley leads in providing support to public health entrepreneurs in their premium Public Health Entrepreneurs Mastermind Group Program. As Founder of IBET Community, she provides a space dedicated to advancing the health and wellbeing of BIPOC (Black, Indigenous, People of Color) women and their allies. Dr. Huntley is the host of the Public Health Epidemiology Conversations Podcast, with over 400 weekly episodes, the Public Health Entrepreneurs Podcast, and the Tribal Epidemiology Centers Podcast.
Jennifer Mandelbaum, PhD, MPH
State Representative, New Hampshire House of Representatives
Jennifer Mandelbaum, PhD, MPH, is a social and behavioral scientist dedicated to using data-driven insights to tackle pressing public health challenges and improve patient care. With experience across academia, government, and industry, she has a strong track record of translating research into actionable strategies that enhance healthcare outcomes and efficiency. Committed to public service, Dr. Mandelbaum was recently elected to the New Hampshire House of Representatives, where she represents Portsmouth and Newington (Rockingham 21). In this role, she advocates for policies that support health and economic well-being at the state level. Her contributions to public health have earned her numerous accolades, including the 2022 Rising Star Award from the National Association of Chronic Disease Directors, the 2023 Early Career Award from the American Public Health Association’s Public Health Education and Health Promotion section, and the 2025 Health Policy Advocacy Award from the Society of Behavioral Medicine.
Susan Polan, PhD
Associate Executive Director, Public Affairs and Advocacy, American Public Health Association
Susan L. Polan is associate executive director for public affairs and advocacy with the American Public Health Association. She oversees the Association's departments of government relations and affiliate affairs, communications and membership. She 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. Prior to joining APHA, Polan worked as the director of government relations at the Trust for America's Health. Polan has almost three decades of experience in public health, government relations and associations. 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.
Anne Morris Reid, MPH
Policy Director, GWU Funders Forum on Accountable Health
Anne Morris Reid, MPH, Policy Director of the Funders Forum on Accountable Health project, is also Lecturer in the Health Policy and Management Department at the Milken Institute School of Public Health at The George Washington University (GWU). She began consulting with GWU in 2022 and staffed the Commonwealth Fund Commission on a National Public Health System; a more expansive Department role started in 2023. For over a decade, Reid served in a range of senior-level policy and leadership positions in the Legislative and Executive branches of the federal government, including Deputy Chief of Staff and Counselor to the Secretary at the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), Chief of Staff in the U.S. Senate, and Professional Staff to the Energy and Commerce Committee. While Counselor to the Secretary, she developed and executed regulatory, legislative, public affairs, and budget strategy with a focus on the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Health Resources and Services Administration, and Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration. On Capitol Hill, she contributed to the drafting and steerage of workforce provisions during the development and implementation of the Affordable Care Act. She was later promoted to serve as the lead Energy and Commerce Democratic staffer handling hearings and legislative markups for a range of public health agencies and issues. Reid received her BA from Harvard College and MPH from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.
Kumba Sennaar, MS, MA (PhD Candidate)
Founder & CEO, William Kelly Consulting, LLC
Kumba Sennaar is a health researcher, consultant, and former director of the National Medical Association’s HIV/AIDS prevention initiative, a collaboration with the CDC. She is the founder and CEO of William Kelly Consulting, LLC, which provides research services for mission-driven health organizations and tech companies. A PhD candidate at Brandeis University, Sennaar focuses on health disparities with research interests in culturally responsive and ethical AI. She holds master’s degrees in Social Policy (Brandeis University) and Biotechnology (Johns Hopkins University) and a B.S. in Science, Technology, and Society from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute. With interdisciplinary training, she applies qualitative and quantitative methods to generate research insights that inform theory, medical education, and public policy. Her research has been cited by the National Academy of Medicine, Deloitte, McKinsey Global Institute, and the World Economic Forum. Her work on AI has been referenced in journals such as Boston University Law Review, Fordham Urban Law Journal, and Harvard Data Science Review. In 2023, she proposed policy recommendations on AI’s role in addressing maternal health disparities, published with the Federation of American Scientists. She also spoke at a roundtable hosted by The Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars and the UN Population Fund. Sennaar is a Subject Matter Expert in the Brookings Institution Health Equity and AI Working Group and delivered a 2024 TEDx talk on reducing algorithmic bias. As a Civic Science Fellow at the Science Philanthropy Alliance, she advances initiatives to inspire philanthropy in discovery science.