In a recent article, Sandro Galea, MD, DrPh, wrote, “There can be no health without social justice.” Recent events underscore the persistent, deeply entrenched inequities undermining the health of vulnerable populations and communities of color. This panel pulls together thought leaders from across the fields of community and population health to discuss the root causes of inequity and what is needed to truly transform health in Texas. The discussion will offer practical guidance for working internally and alongside community and government partners to advance equity, social justice, and systemic change.

William Buster, MA
Executive Vice President of Community Investments, St. David’s Foundation

Stephen Williams
Director, Houston Health Department

Stacey D. Stewart
President and CEO, March of Dimes

Joyce James 
President and CEO, Joyce James Consulting, LLC

David L. Lakey, M.D.
Vice Chancellor for Health Affairs and Chief Medical Officer, The University of Texas System

Amy McGeady
CEO, It’s Time Texas

Cross-sector partnerships are more critical than ever as the COVID-19 pandemic threatens the health and broader social systems of communities across the country.

This is especially dire for individuals with complex health and social needs who may already have difficulty accessing needed services. Presenters will share actionable best practices for collaboration in this environment and reflect on opportunities for future structural change.

Veronica Rosenbaum
Executive Director, Brownsville Coalition

Nishi Viswanathan, MBBS, MBA
Director, Texas Health Catalyst Face Shield Project

Daphne McGee
Staff Attorney, Texas Legal Services Center Medical-Legal Partnerships

Patrick Brandt
President, Shiftsmart

Amy McGeady
CEO, It’s Time Texas

These uniquely challenging times call for novel approaches to providing essential services, protecting vulnerable populations, and fostering community resilience.

This discussion highlights organizations that are stepping up to the challenge in navigating the current health crisis and addressing the impact of COVID-19.

Priscila Garza
Healthy Community School Coordinator, Goose Creek Consolidated ISD

Celia Cole
Chief Executive Officer, Feeding Texas

Christine Kutnick
Chief Operating Officer, The Caring Foundation

Amy McGeady
CEO, It’s Time Texas

Effective Health Communication is essential during a public health crisis. When done right, information can be shared and exchanged in an inspiring and dynamic way. This interactive presentation will explore tools that can empower individuals, populations, and communities to respond appropriately to public health issues.

Dr. Michael Mackert
Director, Center for Health Communication, University of Texas at Austin

Meme Styles
Founder and President, Measure

Dr. Eduardo Sanchez
Chief Medical Officer for Prevention, American Heart Association

Dr. Monica Webb Hooper
Deputy Director, National Institute on Minority Health and Health Disparities

Dr. Leslie Weisberg
Market Chief Medical Officer, Southwest Texas Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Texas

COVID-19 hasn’t just been a health crisis. It’s been an information and narrative crisis. When the scientists don’t even know what’s happening yet, or agree with each other about the proper response, the role of journalists in explaining the pandemic to the public becomes even more crucial, and more challenging. Throw into the mix political polarization, racial disparities, massive protests in the streets, and the presidential election, and the job of journalists becomes incredibly interesting and complex. In this panel we’ll speak to working journalists about the many different and overlapping aspects of covering COVID-19 in Texas.

Syeda Hasan
KERA

Dan Solomon
Texas Monthly

Elizabeth Bruenig
New York Times

Dr. Ricardo Nuila
Baylor College of Medicine in Houston

The COVID-19 pandemic has introduced extraordinary shocks to our food system, impacting access and affordability across the supply chain. The disruption poses new challenges to families and schools, with marginalized communities disproportionately experiencing the consequences.

The school system serves a critical role in addressing food insecurity. In this conversation, panelists will share ways to support processes within and outside of the school system as it pertains to ensuring food security. Panelists will highlight the various roles within a community to create sustainable food access for families.

Debra Franco
Child Hunger Outreach Specialist, Baylor Collaborative on Hunger and Poverty

Mike Pomeroy
Senior Program Director, Brighter Bites

Laura Strube
Deputy Director, Region 15 Education Service Center

Franco Cruz
Senior Program Manager, No Kid Hungry

Joycelyn Jurado
Director of School Programs, It's Time Texas

Action is needed to help those most affected by COVID-19 to prepare for subsequent waves and to address the long-standing issue of public health inequities.

What advances are needed in policy, advocacy, and education to address these issues? How do we engage and educate the community and what is the role of Community Health Workers (CHWs) in this process? Panelists will discuss how to empower CHWs to amplify their role in emergent public health crises.

Denise A. Hernandez, MPH, CHWI
President/Board of Directors, DFW Community Health Worker Association

Teresa Wagner, DrPH, MS, CPH, RD/LD, CPPS, CHWI, DipACLM, CHWC
Assistant Professor, UNT Health Science Center, Clinical Executive for Health Literacy, SaferCare Texas, Fellow and Project Director, Texas Center for Health Disparities

Melanie Stone, MPH, MEd
Assistant Director of Community Service Learning, UT Health San Antonio

Erin Carlson, DrPH, MPH
Associate Clinical Professor, Graduate Public Health Programs Director, University of Texas at Arlington

Ashley Rodriguez
Community Health Worker System Manager, Baylor Scott & White Health

Since COVID-19 hit the United States, so many families, communities, and organizations have come together to support each other and share the universal message that we are all in this together.

It is essential for governments and communities to work together more effectively, not only in public health crises, but also to deal with health equity, food insecurity, education, and other looming challenges that similarly require coordinated, large-scale responses.

Suzii Paynter March
Chief Executive Officer, Prosper Waco

In this conversation, epidemiologists will share an updated look at how COVID is impacting our state real time, see how growth trends and hot spots are being mapped and understand future projections.

This overview of COVID-19 will provide guidance to each of us in our respective roles to help us understand the data and how to make informed decisions.

Dr. Shreela V. Sharma
Professor of Epidemiology, Michael & Susan Dell Center for Healthy Living

Dr. Bijal Bala
Associate Professor & Regional Dean, UT School of Public Health in Dallas

The word coalition is frequently used in many sectors and generally takes shape as a collaborative effort towards a common goal. In this conversation, panelists will share different perspectives on how they define a coalition, how one is formed, and how coalitions address social determinants of health.

Elena Marks
President and CEO, Episcopal Health Foundation

Kelli Becerra
Community Partnerships Manager, Healthy Williamson County

Heidi McPherson
Sr. Director, Healthcare Systems & Community Impact, American Heart Association

Bert Pickell
Director, San Antonio Walks! San Antonio Mayor's Fitness Council

Dr. Leslie Weisberg
Market Chief Medical Officer, Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Texas

Health care systems are increasingly being called upon to address the social and environmental factors impacting their patients' health. However, evidence to guide implementation is still limited, as are mechanisms to fund this work.

Four leaders will discuss different approaches to create sustainable initiatives that address patients’ social needs. They will also lay out the reasons funding this work is challenging, and how their projects are navigating these challenges.

Salil Deshpande
Chief Medical Officer, UnitedHealthcare

Len Nichols
Director of the Health Policy Research and Ethics Center, George Mason University

Nirav Shah
Vice President, Social Finance

Mini Kahlon
Vice Dean for Health Ecosystem, Dell Medical School at UT Austin

Elena Marks
President and CEO, Episcopal Health Foundation

In the past year, many agencies and institutions have developed strategies and services that can address urgent mental health challenges that impact children and their families in Texas.

In this session, panelists will outline some strategies and services that were developed, discuss some of the challenges and needs faced due to COVID-19 and identify ways that clinicians, coordinators, schools and families can tap into these services.

Luanne Southern, MSW
Executive Director of the Texas Child Mental Health Care Consortium, University of Texas System

Sonja Gaines, MBA
Deputy Executive Commissioner for Intellectual and Developmental and Behavioral Health Services Health and Human Services Commission

Dr. Sarah Wakefield
Associate Professor and Chair of Psychiatry
Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center Member of the Texas Child Mental Health Care Consortium

Dr. Andy Keller   
President and Chief Executive Officer
Meadows Mental Health Policy Institute

Stephany Bryan
Senior Program Officer and Consumer & Family Liaison
Hogg Foundation for Mental Health, UT Austin

Uncertainty is the theme of 2020, and its consequences are directly affecting our mental health. Whether or not previous diagnoses existed, this pandemic is generating a new set of concerns. Experts point to increased feelings of anxiety, depression and loneliness.

Panelists will discuss the current reality of mental health in our society and what actions we must consider now and in the future.

Dr. Andy Keller
President and CEO, Meadows Mental Health Policy Institute

Ben G. Hubert, LPC
Counselor, West Texas Counseling & Guidance

Greg Hansch, LMSW
Executive Director, NAMI Texas

Leroy Mitchell
Masculinity & Mental Health Trainer, Black Emotional And Mental Health (BEAM)

Dr. Frank Webster
Senior Medical Director, Health Care Serice Corporation

Cultural competency is a developmental process that evolves over an extended period. Both individuals and organizations are at various levels of awareness, knowledge and skills along the cultural competence continuum. Building healthier communities requires culturally competent health professionals equipped to address the unique cultural differences that affect health literacy.

This interactive session will explore the strategies and tactics for building cultural competency by introducing frameworks for critical reflection and consideration.

Christine Tuell
Program Manager, UT Health Science Center at Tyler

Dr. Kent L. Willis
Associate Provost, UT Health Science Center at Tyler

Brought to you by Cigna

Resilience is commonly defined as the ability to quickly recover from challenges. It’s a skill we each develop throughout our life in the face of significant stressors. As challenging of a year we are experiencing, it’s critical to spend some time discussing our collective paths of resilience. Panelists will highlight the significance of finding opportunities to cultivate resilience within communities and offer insight into how we can contribute to enhancing our resilience.

Tom Heritage
CIGNA

Charlene James
President, AARP

Nwakaego Oriji
Counselor Facilitator and the lead for Social Emotional Learning (SEL), Garland ISD

Dr. Mark Netoskie
Market Medical Executive, CIGNA

Texas has its share of big cities, smaller towns, and rural areas. Often the differences are simplified to urban and rural, with rural communities viewed as lacking relative to the more urban areas, and emphasis is placed on the shortage of resources.

This session will help build a more complete picture of the variation in communities throughout Texas. This panel will showcase community health practice in four communities in rural and less populated areas across the state.

Shannon Calhoun
Chair, Texas Health Services Authority

Nikki Steinsbo
Executive Director, Best Friends Community Services

Erin Marietta
Director of Operations, Madison & Grimes Hospitals

Angela Tanguma
RGV Mobile Women's Health Van

Shara McClure
Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Texas

Access to healthy foods is a critical social determinant of health.  Health care systems and charitable food systems across the state are partnering to identify and address the needs of food insecure individuals. 

Four professionals representing health care, food banks, and hunger relief networks will discuss how food banks and health care are partnering together and with social services to support the health of Texans. They will also discuss challenges related to working across sectors, assessing outcomes, and funding.

Dr. Valerie Smith
Chair, Smith County Food Security Council 
Pediatrician, St. Paul Children's Foundation

Rachel Koay
Chief Impact Officer, Feeding Texas

Esther Liew, LMSW
Food for Change Partnerships Manager, Houston Food Bank

April Rosales
Social Services Manager, El Pasoans Fighting Hunger Food Bank

Natalie Poulos, PhD
UT System Population Health