Michelle S. Williams, PhD, MSPH, MPH, MCHES, is an Associate Professor in the Department of Global and Community Health at George Mason University. Her current research activities are focused on developing and disseminating culturally-relevant health education/promotion interventions that will lead to: improvements in the health outcomes of African American breast cancer survivors in rural communities in the US; increases in uptake of cervical cancer screening among women in Ghana, West Africa; and increases in uptake of the HPV vaccine in among vaccine-eligible individuals in the US.

Sarah Gareau, DrPH, MCHES is the Immediate Past Chair of the Women’s Caucus and APHA Caucus Collaborative.  She is also an elected member of the APHA Executive Board.  Since 2012, Sarah has been employed as a Maternal & Child Health Policy Analyst at the University of SC Institute for Families in Society where her applied research focuses on improving maternal health equity and birth outcomes, as well as addressing access to healthcare for the uninsured.  Sarah also serves as an elected member of her neighborhood association, helped to develop a statewide COVID-19 e-advocacy group, and is the proud momma of two boys.  Sarah first became a member of the Women’s Caucus in 2004 because of our commitment to reproductive justice and birth equity. 

Amy Rooker, MPH, is an Associate at Burness, a public-interest communications firm in Bethesda, Maryland. Since earning her Master of Public Health in Epidemiology and a certificate in injury and violence prevention from the Columbia University Mailman School of Public Health in May 2019, Amy has become increasingly interested in the important role that communications can play in improving public health outcomes. In her role as Associate, Amy primarily works on a variety of projects with the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation on issues related to health equity, healthy children and families, caregiving, and research and evaluation. 

Nakesha Powell is a native of Arkansas and a staunch advocate for HIV/AIDS awareness for women and girls. Armed with a degree in Public Administration with an emphasis in Public Health Management she is a Health Communication Specialist. Focusing on an ever-expanding list of public health issues that includes HIV prevention, domestic violence, and sex trafficking; Powell spends both her days and nights ensuring the manifestation of her personal belief that “everyone deserves access to quality healthcare without regard to income or race.” She is the founder of HER Initiative, a non-profit which serves as a conduit of resources and health information for black women and girls, is a chartering member and former co-chair of the health committee for the National Council of Negro Women Greater Atlanta Section, and the HIV program manager for The Black Women’s Health Imperative. She enjoys reading, traveling, and spending quality time with family. On any given day, Nakesha is sure to be somewhere impacting lives through mentoring and other civic engagement. She is a proud member of Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Incorporated.

Meghan holds a bachelor’s degree in Community Health Education from Western Michigan University and a Master’s of Health Administration from Eastern Michigan University. She has worked in community and school settings as a health educator and has served as a community health worker, network research specialist, and recruitment & engagement liaison for MICHR over the past five years. Meghan works with study teams to enhance volunteer recruitment and retention and works with the Community Engagement team to identify collaborative projects

Dr. Bekmuratova is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Occupational Therapy in the School of Pharmacy and Health Professions at Creighton University. She received her Ph.D. degree in Health Services Research, Administration and Policy from the University of Nebraska Medical Center, and her MS in Community Health from Minnesota State University. Prior to that, she was involved in public health projects of international organizations such as Doctors Without Borders, United Nations Development Program, International Counterpart Organization among others. Dr. Bekmuratova’s primary area of research focus is gender-based violence including intimate partner violence, domestic violence, human trafficking, sexual violence, child abuse, and reproductive health. Additionally, she has conducted research related to rural health, health policy, cancer research, community violence, and hospital emergency preparedness. Her recent research focused on sex trafficking among girls with disabilities and racial/ethnic minorities, intersection of human trafficking and occupational therapy, and sexual violence among individuals with disabilities in the United States. Her current research focuses on disrupting illicit supply networks in a global human trafficking hot spot, Kyrgyzstan. She is a lifelong advocate for women’s health and rights and aims to address these societal issues using multisectoral approaches and applying both public health and human rights lens on both national and international levels.  

Quinyatta Mumford, MPH, CHES, founder of Mumford and Associates, LLC and the heart behind the Curvy Consciousness movement, accepts the call to be the change agent. She is a Leader, Innovator and Pioneer. On April 28, 2023, Mumford defended her dissertation, qualifying her as Doctor of Public Health.  In addition to this credential, Mumford holds a bachelor’s degree in Biology, a Master of Public Health, and a Master of Business Administration.  With her educational background and more than 10 years of public health experience it is without a question that she would be appointed by Governor Asa Hutchinson to the Arkansas Board of Health Education and previously hold the positions of President of the Arkansas Public Health Association and Conference Chair for the Society of Public Health Education.  Mumford currently serves on the Nominations Committee for the American Public Health Association. 

Dr. Megan L. Smith is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Community & Environmental Health at Boise State University.  Dr. Smith received her Ph.D. in Human Development and Family Studies from the College of Education and Human Services at West Virginia University in 2015. She has a teaching degree from California State University Chico (2008) and a BA in Psychology (with an emphasis on diverse populations and education) from University of California, Santa Cruz (2006).  Dr. Smith’s work builds on education, human development, and public health science to study the contextual factors that promote or thwart health outcomes (particularly substance abuse, mental health, and sexual risk behavior) for young people. Previously a K-12 teacher, she often focuses on the school environment. While working for the WVU School of Public Health, she served as Director of Child & Adolescent Health initiatives for the Prevention Research Center. She is currently on the evaluation team for SAMSHA/West Virginia Department of Education’s Project AWARE, promoting emotional health and safety in West Virginia public schools. She is proud to be a member of the successful Planet Youth Team to continue promoting the notion that true prevention is possible if you start at the community level and change the culture of health. She is committed to public health advocacy and deeply believes it is the mission of public health professionals to continue to advocate for and champion equity and health for all. Recently her work has focused specifically on adolescent girls’ mental health needs and women running for office in historic numbers.

Dr. Toby Rochelle Levin, PhD, MPH, CPH, CHES, MACE has been employed as an epidemiologist for the last 22 years at two different health department.  She is also an adjunct professor at Dominican College in the doctorate of nurse practice (DNP) for the last 6 years.

Dr. Levin has been a member of APHA consistently since 2017 but was a member intermittently since 2004.  She has recently been more involved in the sections, forum and caucus where she is a member.  She is the current governing council and co-chair of the mentoring committee for the APHA-Epidemiology section, policy chair for the APHA-Environment Section, secretary and soon-to-be vice chair of the Cancer Forum and policy co-chair for the Women’s Caucus. One of my major accomplishments was in 2002 when Dr. Levin collaborated with New York State Department of Health to provide the universal birth dose for Hepatitis B in half the hospitals in New York City.  She worked with the CEO, vice presidents and other leaders to get accomplish this task.  Most recently she has been the lead on many outbreak investigations including, the measles outbreak in New York State in 2018-2019 and most recently the Covid-19 operations since 2020. Her background is in infectious disease, disaster/emergency preparedness and diseas outbreaks.  Her interests include tobacco and vaping control, alcohol use and misuse, food safety, women’s health and emerging infections.

Svetlana (Lana) Tauzhnyanskaya graduated with an undergraduate Health Science Degree with a concentration in public health. Lana is passionate about reproductive and women's rights and wants to increase access to healthcare for women. In particular, Lana is dedicated to deconstructing systemic barriers that limit equal access to sexual and reporductive self advocacy. She is aspiring to get her MPH in community and social behavior to better understand determinants of health and how to use this knowledge to empower the communities she serves. When Lana is not thinking about public health she loves to travel to different places and learn about new cultures and traditions around the world. Lana also loves hiking around the San Francisco Bay Area and knows some great trails to get that famous San Francisco view.