The Commonwealth Fund Leadership Forum in Early Childhood Health and Development
Forum Participants (click participant's name for more information)
- Mayra Alvarez
- Office of Senator Durbin
- Rosemary Chalk
- National Academies
- Chuck Clapton
- US Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor, & Pensions
- Bobby Clark
- Office of Representative Pallone
- Jordanna Davis
- Office of Senator Whitehouse
- Jason Edgar
- Office of Representative Reichert
- Heather Foster
- Office of Representative DeGette
- Liz Fowler
- Senate Finance Committee
- Ruth Friedman
- Office of Education and Labor
- Aranthan Jones
- Office of Representative Clyburn
- Priscilla Hanley
- Office of Senator Collins
- Mark Hayes
- Senate Finance Committee
- Tamar Magarik Haro
- Office of Senator Dodd
- Noelle Lee
- Office of Representative Solis
- Jocelyn Moore
- Office of Senator Rockefeller
- Lauren Neff
- Office of Representative Pryce
- Beth Nelson
- Office of Representative Hobson
- Mildred Otero
- Office of Senator Clinton
- Barbara Pryor
- Office of Senator Rockefeller
- Stacey Sachs
- Office of Senator Kennedy
- Becky Shipp
- Senate Finance Committee
- Topher Spiro
- Office of Senator Reed
- Nicole Tapay
- Office of Senator Wyden
- William Turner
- Office of Senator Obama
- Matt Weidinger
- House Ways and Means Committee
- Rodney Whitlock
- Senate Finance Committee
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Mayra Alvarez, M.H.A., is a legislative assistant for Senator Durbin (D-IL), the senior Senator from the state of Illinois and the Majority Whip of the U.S. Senate. Ms. Alvarez works on public health, medical research, healthcare workforce, minority health and health disparities, and women and children's health issues. She previously served as a Legislative Assistant for Congresswoman Hilda L. Solis, chair of the Health Task Force for the Congressional Hispanic Caucus. Prior to working in the office of Ms. Solis, Ms. Alvarez was a David A. Winston Health Policy Fellow in the office of Senator Barack Obama. She completed her graduate education at the School of Public Health at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and her undergraduate education at the University of California at Berkeley. Ms. Alvarez is originally from southern California.
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Rosemary Chalk is a policy analyst who has been a study director for the National Academies since 1987. She assumed the position of BCYF director in 2003, which involves a joint collaboration between the National Research Council and the Institute of Medicine. Her responsibilities include the development and senior management of the Board's portfolio of studies and workshops, which currently include projects on parental depression, adolescent health care, the assessment of developmental outcomes of young children, and the prevention of mental health disorders and substance abuse among children, youth, and young adults. Earlier BCYF projects completed under Ms. Chalk's management prior to 2007 focused on contributions from the social and behavioral sciences to the prevention of teen motor vehicle crashes, the influence of pregnancy weight on maternal and child health outcomes, and the science of adolescent development.
Prior to her position as BCYF director, Ms. Chalk directed or served as a senior staff member for over a dozen studies within the Institute of Medicine and the National Research Council, including studies on vaccine finance, the public health infrastructure for immunization, family violence, child abuse and neglect, research ethics and misconduct in science, and education finance. Ms. Chalk has also conducted research projects on child abuse and neglect at Child Trends in Washington, DC and she worked on policy studies with the Congressional Research Service at the Library of Congress early in her career. She was the program head of the Committee on Scientific Freedom and Responsibility of the American Association for the Advancement of Science from 1976 to 1986. Ms. Chalk has a B.A. in foreign affairs from the University of Cincinnati and also served as an Exxon Research Fellow (1982-1983) in the MIT Program on Science, Technology, and Society.
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Employment
2007 - Present: Chief Republican Health Counsel, House Ways & Means Committee, working for Ranking Member Jim McCrery (R-LA).
2006: Policy Advisor to Speaker J. Dennis Hastert, handling health and social security isuses. 2004-2005 Chief Health Counsel, House Energy & Commerce Committee (Chairman Barton) 2001-2004 Health Counsel, E&C Committee (Chairman Tauzin) 1999-2000 Oversight Counsel, E&C Committee, (Chairman Bliley)
While at the Committee, worked on both creating a new Medicare prescription drug benefit in the Medicare Modernization Act and enacting reforms to the Medicaid program in the Deficit Reduction Act.
1997-1998: Senior Legislative Assistant & Counsel for Rep. Harris Fawell (R-IL) 1995-1996: Legislative Assistant, Senate Judiciary Committee
Education J.D. Catholic University of America, Columbus School of Law, 1995 B.A. in History, Boston College, 1990
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Jordanna Davis is the health legislative assistant for Senator Sheldon Whitehouse. She was previously a health policy fellow for Senator Russell D. Feingold. Prior to coming to Capitol Hill, Jordanna worked at the Georgetown Health Policy Institute, where she focused on long term care research. Before moving to Washington, D.C., Jordanna lived in New York City, and worked in the Government and Community Affairs Department of the Greater New York Hospital Association, which represents nearly 300 hospitals and continuing care facilities throughout New York, New Jersey, Connecticut, and Rhode Island. She graduated cum laude from Yale University and has a Masters in Public Policy from the Georgetown Public Policy Institute.
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Heather Foster is the Health Legislative Assistant for Congresswoman Diana DeGette of Denver, Colorado. Rep. DeGette is the Vice-Chair of the House Energy & Commerce Committee, Co-Chair of the Congressional Diabetes Caucus, and Chief Deputy Whip.
Heather received her BA in Child Development from Tufts University and her MPH in Health Policy from George Washington University, where she graduated as the 2007 Distinguished Scholar in Health Policy. With a primary interest in child health policy, Heather has worked to improve access to care and quality of care for children at the Office of Child Advocacy at Children's Hospital Boston. She also worked to reauthorize the State Children's Health Insurance Program (SCHIP) as a Fellow with the House Committee on Energy and Commerce prior to working for Rep. DeGette.
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Elizabeth J. Fowler rejoined the Senate Finance Committee in March 2008 after nearly three years absence to serve as Senior Counsel to the Chair and Chief Health Counsel. Previously, Liz served as the Chief Health and Entitlements Counsel with responsibility for overseeing health policy issues within the Committee's jurisdiction, including Medicare, Medicaid, SCHIP, health tax issues and initiatives to provide health coverage for the uninsured. During her hiatus from the Finance Committee, Liz was Vice President of Public Policy for WellPoint, Inc. Liz has nearly 20 years of experience in health services research and health policy. She was an attorney with the Washington law firm Hogan & Hartson, and she spent nearly five years as a health services researcher with HealthSystem Minnesota. Liz received a B.A. from the University of Pennsylvania, a Ph.D. from the Johns Hopkins School of Public Health, where her research focused on risk adjustment, and a law degree (J.D.) from the University of Minnesota. She is admitted to the bars of the District of Columbia and Maryland.
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Aranthan S. Jones II or "AJ" is the Policy Director for the US House of Representatives (USHR) Majority Whip office, headed by Congressman James E. Clyburn of the 6th district of South Carolina. AJ is directly responsible for shaping policy and legislation in the following committees: Ways and Means, Financial Services, Energy and Commerce, Judiciary, Transportation and Infrastructure, Homeland Security, Small Business, Budget, Education and Labor, and Foreign Relations.
AJ is one of four policy directors within the leadership of the USHR, the only African American policy director, and highest ranking African American healthcare advisor. He also serves as policy director for the Congressional Katrina and Rita Leadership Working Group (CKRG) which is charged with coordinating and directing congressional action on Gulf Coast recovery matters. As policy director of CKRG, AJ serves as a lead recovery advisor for the Democratic Caucus and Democratic Leadership (which includes all 233 Democratic members of the US House of Representatives). In addition, he serves as the Majority Whip's policy liaison to the Congressional Blue Dog Coalition, New Democrat Coalition, and 15 policy-oriented Congressional Member Organizations.
During his congressional tenure, AJ has received over 60 national awards and citations acknowledging his leadership in a myriad of public policy areas. In the spring of 2007, he was selected by Iowa State University (ISU) to receive its coveted Young Alumnus Award. This award recognizes alumni aged 40 and under who excel in their profession and provide service to their communities. It is the highest honor the University can bestow on an alumnus under the age of 40. He was also acknowledged by ISU's College of Liberal Arts & Sciences (LAS) as one of the 150 most fascinating people to have graduated from the LAS school since its inception.
In 2007, AJ was inducted into the prodigious Stennis Congressional Staff Fellowship for the 110th Congress. As a fellow, he joined 32 other bicameral and bipartisan fellows to outline a strategic and policy framework for Congress to use for addressing future policy challenges.
In the fall of 2006, AJ was publicly acknowledged by congressional members, fellow staffers, and The Hill newspaper as one of the "Top 35 staffers under 35."AJ was recognized by Ebony Magazine in 2005 as one of its top "30 Future Leaders Under 30," and was profiled by CNN Headline News as one of the top four congressional staffers to be future national policy leaders.
In the spring of 2008, AJ was inducted into Hanns Seidel Memorial Foundation (HSMF) fellowship program. This distinguish fellowship program was established to strengthen the public policy relationship between German and American legislative institutions. The fellowship facilitates high-level policy dialog between German and American public policy decision makers on a wide range of issues such as: transatlantic security and defense policy, monetary policy, international trade—development policy, energy policy, healthcare policy, and environmental policy. The HSMF fellowship program sends its fellows to high-level public policy meetings in Munich, Brussels, and Berlin, Germany.
Preceding his congressional career, AJ served as a short term consultant with the World Health Organization (WHO), a clinical research associate at Johns Hopkins School of Public Health, a program specialist with Fogerty International Center at the National Institutes of Health, and a college research coordinator at the University Of Illinois School Of Public Health (UIC-SPH).
AJ has over a decade of work experience in healthcare policy, public health policy, urban policy, and sustainable development policy. He currently holds consultancy and advisory positions with over 30 national and international health care policy institutions. In 2004, he served as a member of the Roundtable on Racial and Ethnic Disparities in Health Care Treatment with Harvard University's Civil Rights Project.
AJ has been noted by numerous committees and periodicals as being the "point-man" in regards to health disparity elimination policy, public finance policy, and social policy. This reputation, led to AJ being appointed as a lead policy advisor for the Congressional Minority Caucus (representing over 150 Congressional members and is comprised of the Congressional Black, Hispanic, and Asian Pacific American Caucuses), Congressional Bicameral HIV/AIDS Taskforce, and a congressional advisor for health disparities on John F. Kerry and John Edwards Presidential campaign of 2004.
AJ has worked internationally in Nigeria, South Africa, and France. He can speak Yoruba (a prominent Nigerian language) and is currently learning conversational Hebrew. He lectures widely on healthcare quality, urban policy, disaster preparedness policy, international relations, congressional advocacy, and African American political theory.
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Priscilla Hobson Hanley has served as the Health Care Policy Advisor to U.S. Senator Susan M. Collins (R-ME) since 1997, including a stint as Minority Staff Director of the Subcommittee on Children and Families of the Senate HELP Committee from 2001-2002. Prior to joining Senator Collins' staff, Ms. Hanley handled health and social welfare issues for U.S. Senator William S. Cohen (R-ME) from 1984-1986 and from 1990-1996, first in the Senator's personal office and later as the Professional Staff Member for Health for the Senate Special Committee on Aging when Senator Cohen was Ranking Member then Chairman. From 1986-1988, she was Washington Representative for the California Health and Welfare Agency. From 1981-1984, she was a Legislative Assistant to Rep. Bill Lowery (R-CA), and from 1979-1980, she was a Legislative Assistant to Rep. John Rousselot (R-CA). Ms. Hanley holds a B. A. in history from the University of California at Santa Barbara and an M. S. in Library Science from the University of Southern California.
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Tamar Magarik Haro has worked as a Professional Staff Member for Senator Christopher Dodd (D-CT) on the Subcommittee on Children and Families of the Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions Committee since May of 2006. In this capacity, she handles a wide range of health care issues for the Senator, including FDA, health insurance, HIV/AIDS, patient safety, and maternal and child health. Prior to working for Senator Dodd, Tamar spent more than 5 years working for Senator Dianne Feinstein (D-CA) as a health Legislative Assistant. There she handled stem cells, health insurance, NIH, cancer, and reproductive health. Tamar came to Washington, D.C. to work as a political appointee in the Clinton Administration in the Office of the Secretary at the U.S. Department of Commerce. She graduated with honors from Washington University in St. Louis in 1999 with a B.A. in Political Science and Russian.
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Noelle Lee is a Legislative Assistant for Congresswoman Hilda L. Solis and works on a broad range of health issues. Congresswoman Solis is a member of the Energy and Commerce Subcommittee on Health and Chair of the Congressional Hispanic Caucus Task Force on Health and the Environment. Congresswoman Solis' priorities include eliminating health disparities and improving the health of underserved communities. Noelle previously worked at the Institute for Health Policy Studies at the University of California, San Francisco on the California Health Benefits Review Program (CHBRP).
Noelle is originally from San Jose, California and is a graduate of Johns Hopkins University. She received her Master's in Health Policy and Management from the Harvard School of Public Health.
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Beth Nelson is a Senior Legislative Assistant to Congressman Dave Hobson (R-OH). She joined Hobson's staff in 2004. Nelson has conducted research and advised the Congressman on legislation relating to health care, science and technology, veterans, agriculture, and the Department of Interior. She coordinated Appropriations for Labor, Health and Human Services, and Education; Interior, Agriculture, and Commerce, Justice, and Science. She received her BS from John Carroll University and her MS from Ohio State University.
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Mildred Otero began her career as a legislative aide to New York State Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver, where she served in both his Albany and New York City office. In 1998, she went on to work for the Kings County District Attorney's Office as a victim advocate and later as a counselor, acting as a resource of support for victims of violent crimes and their families, specifically children ten and under who were victims of sexual and physical abuse.
In 2003, Ms. Otero was one of twenty Latinos nationwide chosen to participate in the prestigious Congressional Hispanic Caucus Institute (CHCI) Public Policy Fellowship in Washington, DC, where she worked for Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton (D-NY). Upon completion of the CHCI fellowship, she joined The Children's Defense Fund as the Deputy Director of their Early Childhood Development Division. Ms. Otero went on to work for Senator Jack Reed (D-RI), before rejoining the office of Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton of New York in early 2006 as her Legislative Assistant on education and children's issues. Currently, Ms. Otero serves as Senator Clinton's Senior Education and Child Welfare Policy Advisor.
Ms. Otero earned a bachelor's degree from the State University of New York at Albany and a master's degree in social work from New York University, Shirley M. Ehrenkranz School of Social Work.
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Barbara Pryor has worked for Senator Rockefeller since 1985, and has done his children's social and education policy since 1990.
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Rebecca Dean Shipp has served as a Health Policy Advisor, Republican staff, to the United States Senate Committee on Finance since 2003. Ms. Shipp's areas of responsibility include: the State Children's Health Insurance Program (SCHIP), disability policy, including nursing home standards and quality, and the Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) and related programs. Additional areas of responsibility include: mental health parity, child welfare, foster care and adoption assistance programs.
Ms. Shipp also served as the policy lead for: "The Family Opportunity Act," "Money Follows the Person," the reauthorization of the TANF program all of which were enacted into law as part of the Deficit Reduction Act of 2005 (DRA). Ms Shipp also participated in negotiating Medicaid benefit flexibility and home and community based services improvements in the DRA. Ms. Shipp served as the policy lead for the "Child and Family Services Improvement Act," which was enacted into law in 2006.
From 2002 - 2003, Ms. Shipp served as Professional Staff on the Senate Judiciary Committee's Health Unit, for the Chairman, Senator Orrin G. Hatch (R-Utah). She advised Chairman Hatch on domestic social policy, welfare, SCHIP and Medicaid in his capacity as a senior member of the Senate Finance Committee.
From 1996 - 2002, Ms. Shipp worked as a Legislative Assistant in Senator Hatch's personal office, responsible for issues including: education policy and workforce training, child care, child welfare, disability policy and adoption. From 1994 - 1996, Ms. Shipp was a Research Assistant for Senator Hatch's Legislative Director.
Prior to joining the staff of Senator Hatch, Ms. Shipp taught English literature and composition at the University of Iowa, in Iowa City, Iowa and Northeastern University and Boston College in Boston, Massachusetts.
Ms. Shipp has a Bachelor of Arts (B.A) in English Language and Literature from the University of Virginia, a Master of Fine Arts (M.F.A.) in creative writing from the Iowa Writer's Workshop and a Masters of Arts in Teaching (M.A.T) from Boston University.
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Nicole Tapay is the Senior Health Policy Advisor for U.S. Senator Ron Wyden (D-OR), with responsibility for health care related legislation and policy, including issues before the Senate Finance, Budget and Aging Committees. She has been an Associate Research Professor at the Georgetown University Health Policy Institute; the Director of the Division of Benefits, Coverage and Payment for the U.S. Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS), with responsibility for key aspects of the SCHIP and Medicaid programs; Senior Legislative Counsel for Health Policy for the National Association of Insurance Commissioners (NAIC); and an Associate in the health care practice of the law firm Epstein, Becker and Green. She also has worked in international health policy for the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), Novartis AG and the World Bank. Nicole has authored and co-authored a number of books and articles on health care financing and coverage in the U.S. and abroad. She received a JD from Georgetown University Law Center in 1991 and an A.B. from Princeton University, magna cum laude, in 1986.
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William L Turner, Ph.D., is a Robert Wood Johnson Health Policy Fellow in the office of Senator Barack Obama and Professor of Family Therapy in the Department of Family Social Science at the University of Minnesota. Previously he was Professor of Family Therapy at the University of Kentucky. He received a B.A. in journalism from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, an M.S. in family therapy from Abilene Christian University, and a Ph.D. in family therapy from Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University. He completed an internship in family therapy at the Lewis-Gale Hospital Substance Abuse Treatment Program in Salem, Virginia. He has received fellowships from the American Association for Marriage and Family Therapy, the National Institute on Drug Abuse, the Michigan State University Institute for Children, Youth, and Families, and the University of North Carolina Center for Family and Human Development. His program of research is conceptually grounded in systems theory and other ecological perspectives, and his research and writings have centered on themes related to African American family strengths and their relationship to health and mental health prevention and intervention, specifically in the areas of substance abuse, clinical family therapy, adolescent development, rehabilitation, and family-based end-of-life care. The methodological approaches he uses to explore these issues are comparative, longitudinal, and multi-method. He has served on scientific study sections at the National Institutes of Health, the National Institute on Drug Abuse, and the National Institute of Mental Health. He received the award for economic and cultural diversity from the American Family Therapy Academy and the Sussman Award from the National Council on Family Relations. He was associate editor of the Journal of Marital and Family Therapy as well as guest editor for two special issues addressing the translation of basic research on ethnically diverse families to clinical practice.
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