Dwinita Mosby Tyler, Chief Catalyst & Founder The Equity Project, LLC
Dean Cathy Bradley, Dean of the Colorado School of Public Health
Jill Hunsaker Ryan, Executive Director of Colorado Department of Public Health & Environment
Wivine Ngongo, Colorado Public Health Association
Montelle Tamez, Colorado Public Health Association (moderator)
Kweku Hazel, Co-Founder of Gyedi Project and General Surgeon and Faculty Fellow, University of Colorado Hospital
Robert Belknap M.D., Executive Director, Public Health Institute at Denver Health
Dr. Ned Calonge, MD, MPH (moderator)
Dwinita Mosby Tyler
Chief Catalyst & Founder
The Equity Project, LLC
Background:
Dr. Dwinita Mosby Tyler is the Chief Catalyst and Founder of The Equity Project, LLC — a consulting firm supporting organizations and communities in building diversity, equity and inclusion strategies — as well as The HR Shop, LLC, a human resources firm designed to support non-profits and small businesses. She is the former Senior Vice President and Chief Inclusion Officer for Children’s Hospital Colorado -– the first African-American woman to hold that position in the organization’s 100+ year history. She is also the former Executive Director of the Office of Human Resources for the City and County of Denver –- the first African-American woman to hold that position in the 63+ year history of the agency. Dr. Mosby Tyler, a consultant accredited by the Georgetown University National Center for Cultural Competence and recipient of the Cornell University Diversity & Inclusion certification, is nationally recognized for her equity work with non-profit, community, government and corporate organizations. has received many local and national awards for her service and leadership accomplishments including recognition from U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, U.S. Department of Agriculture and Human Rights Campaign. She holds a doctorate in the field of
Wivine Ngongo
Colorado Public Health Association
Background:
Wivine’s professional background is in medical and public health research, health programs management, community engagement, and diversity, equity, and inclusion initiatives. However, her passions and experiences center around addressing racial health disparities for Black/Indigenous/People of Color (BIPOC) populations. These include her work and collaborations with the Colorado Sickle Cell Treatment and Research Center, the Center for African American Health, the Colorado Public Health Association, the Denver Justice Project, and other local community-empowerment groups located in the Denver and Chicago areas. She has authored and co-authored publications centering health equity in medical education and has current interest in pursuing a PhD tract in psychology to offer non-readily available forms of therapy among populations experiencing systemically removed access to behavioral health resources. Her proudest achievement is leveraging her gained knowledge and privileges around sickle cell treatment and research to help get her sister cured from the invasive disease in 2020.
Montelle Taméz
Colorado Public Health Association (Moderator)
Background:
Montelle Taméz is the Deputy Director of Community Engagement & Health Equity at the University of Colorado’sClinical and Translational Sciences Institute (CCTSI) where she co-leads the CCTSI’s Community Engagement (CE)Core, which aims to build capacity in community-academic research partnerships to improve the translation of scientific discoveries into culturally relevant interventions and programs that improve health in vulnerable communities. Ms. Taméz has more than 20 years of experience working to improve health equity through publichealth interventions, community engagementand community engaged research. Before joining the CCTSI in 2009, Ms. Taméz worked for the Colorado Department of Public Health and the Environment’s Prevention Services Division, where she specialized in community-based initiatives to promote chronic disease prevention, screening andtreatment. While at the health department, Ms.Taméz co-lead the Cancer, Cardiovascular Disease and Pulmonary Disease Competitive Grants Program. In this role, Ms. Taméz managed the communications and daily operations of the program, provided technical assistance to more than 70 grant recipients across the state, and worked closely with the legislatively mandated review committee. Ms. Taméz began her public health career at the American CancerSociety (ACS) as a Cancer Control Specialist, developing and implementing community-based tobacco control initiatives. Ms. Taméz worked closely with external partners and coalitions to pass legislation that made Coloradosmoke free. In this role, Ms. Taméz also worked in the Latino/a/x community as a health educator, promoting cancerprevention, screening and treatment. Ms. Taméz co-authored the American Cancer Society’s You Can Quit smoking cessation program, developing a train-the-trainer model, which she implemented in businesses, community-based organizations, primary care clinics and hospitals throughout the state.In addition to her role at the University of Colorado, Ms.Taméz is a senior consultant with the Otowi Group, LLC, specializing in communications, engagement and health equity
Dr. Ned Calonge, MD, MPH (moderator)
Background:
Ned Calonge, MD, MPH, is a professor of Epidemiology and the Associate Dean for Public Health Practice at the Colorado School of Public Health, and is the Chief Medical Officer for the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment. He is an associate professor of Family Medicine at the University of Colorado School of Medicine. Nationally, Dr. Calonge chairs HRSA’s Advisory Committee on Heritable Disorders of Newborns and Children and is a member of the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering and Medicine (NASEM) Standing Committee on Reproductive Health, Equity and Society. He is past chair of the NASEM Board on Population Health and Public Health Practice, past chair of CDC’s Community Services Task Force, past chair of the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force and past chair of CDC’s Evaluating Genomic Applications in Practice and Prevention Working Group. He has served on and chaired several NASEM consensus studies including studies on health equity, genetic testing in medicine, safety and quality of abortion services, evidence-based public health emergency preparedness and response, PFAS testing, exposure reduction and clinical follow up, the VA Presumptive Decision Process, and alcohol and health. Dr Calonge received his MD from the University of Colorado, his MPH from the University of Washington, and is board certified in Preventive Medicine.