Role Models for Change

Dr. L. Nneka Mobisson is co-Founder and CEO of mDoc, a digital health social enterprise which provides virtual AI-enabled self-care health coaching to people living with or at risk for chronic health needs in sub-Saharan Africa. Prior to mDoc, Dr. Mobisson served as Executive Director, Africa, at the Institute for Healthcare Improvement where she serves as Faculty Advisor and provides strategic guidance to countries on developing national quality policies and strategies in health. Dr. Mobisson, who is a pediatrician, also served as Vice President of Community Health and Population Health Management at Connecticut Hospital Association and worked on health care strategy at McKinsey & Company. A pediatrician by training, Dr. Mobisson earned a bachelor's in Mechanical Engineering from MIT, her MPH from Emory University Rollins School of Public Health, her MD and MBA from Yale University. She trained at the Children's Hospital of Philadelphia.

Niniola Williams is a public health professional leading projects, initiatives, and teams to improve community health and build resilient health systems prepared for epidemics and emergencies. She is passionate about reducing the burden of infectious diseases and increasing health security through interdisciplinary approaches. Niniola currently leads Dr. Ameyo Stella Adadevoh (DRASA) Health Trust, a public health organization building a network of health champions who are preventing diseases and saving lives through education and training, community engagement, emergency planning, and policy change. DRASA – founded in memory of Niniola’s aunt who prevented a major epidemic by diagnosing and containing the first case of Ebola in Nigeria – is addressing health system gaps while honoring Dr. Adadevoh’s legacy of protecting public health.

Dr. Benjamin W. Wachira is an Assistant Professor of Emergency Medicine and the Executive Director of the Emergency Medicine Kenya Foundation, an NGO that supports governments and emergency healthcare providers across Kenya to save lives by strengthening the emergency healthcare system. He is also a member of the National Emergency Medical Care Steering Committee in the Ministry of Health and a former President of the African Federation for Emergency Medicine. Demonstrating an unwavering commitment to enhancing emergency healthcare systems in Kenya, Dr. Wachira has spearheaded numerous impactful projects to fortify the nation's emergency healthcare infrastructure. His dedication extends beyond administrative roles, as his passion for the field is evident in his leadership of emergency care research in Kenya, contributing to a wealth of widely published work supporting emergency healthcare systems development in low- and middle-income countries.

Ari Johnson, MD, is co-founder and CEO of Muso, and Associate Professor at the University of California San Francisco, in the Department of Medicine and the Institute for Global Health Sciences. He has published peer-reviewed articles and essays in the fields of infectious disease, health systems design, socioeconomic determinants of health, AIDS, and migration. The co-recipient of the 2021 Charles Bronfman Prize, Ari trained at Harvard Medical School and completed his residency at the University of California San Francisco. Over the past fifteen years, Ari has supported Muso to design and build Rapid Care, a strategy to accelerate universal access to healthcare. A 2018 study in BMJ Global Health documented how communities served by this strategy achieved and sustained a rate of child death lower than any country in Sub-Saharan Africa for five years running. Muso cares for more than 500,000 patients, and supports governments to redesign their national community health systems.

Aimee Allison is the founder and president of She the People, a national organization that elevates the voice and power of women of color as leaders of a new political and cultural era. She made political history in 2019 when she organized and moderated the nation’s first presidential forum for women of color which led to to widespread recognition of the issues and strength of this voting block. For the past 5 years, she has been a leading advocate for women of color on the presidential ticket, on the Supreme Court, and in Congress. Allison’s expert political insight and power building efforts have been featured across national and international media outlets from Politico to the New York Times and PBS to MSNBC. Allison holds a B.A. and M.A. from Stanford University.

https://www.shethepeople.org/

Dakota Hall is an accomplished organizer and Executive Director of the Alliance for Youth Action and Alliance for Youth Organizing, the largest youth grassroots organizing network in the United States. He is a Black and Indigenous organizer from Milwaukee, Wisconsin, and has extensive experience in community organizing. Dakota founded Leaders Igniting Transformation (LIT) in Wisconsin, a Black and Brown-led organization dedicated to building power among youth of color and tackling issues such as the school-to-prison/deportation pipeline and racial equity issues. In his current role, Dakota works to build political power with young people across the United States, creating a world where young people are valued and their voices are heard. His passion for community organizing and social justice has driven him to make a positive impact on his community and empower youth to create change.

https://allianceforyouthorganizing.org/

Erin Vilardi is the Founder and Director of VoteRunLead, a national organization leveraging technology and training to accelerate the number of women in civic and political leadership. She first launched VRL as Vice President of Program and Communications at The White House Project, establishing the largest national political training program readying women for public office and civic life, training over 15,000 women. She has served as a Leadership Development Consultant for a range of clients, including the Athena Center for Leadership Studies at Barnard College, Columbia University, where she developed the Athena CORE10© – an innovative set of leadership competencies for 21st century women leaders based on the latest research and gender analysis. She has worked with a diverse range of clients including Fortune 100 companies, global girls’ initiatives and the U.S. Department of State, reaching women leaders in a dozen international cities.

https://voterunlead.org/

Mary-Pat Hector was born in Atlanta and graduated from Spelman College and Georgia State University. She began community organizing at the age of 12. At the age of 18, she was one of the youngest community leaders to advise President Barack Obama on criminal justice reform in the Oval Office. By the age of 19, she became the youngest woman to run for public office in the state of Georgia, losing by only 22 votes, which prompted her to found Equity for All, an ecosystem to train young leaders to run for office and seek equal representation opportunities.

Hector serves as CEO of Rise, an organization that trains and hires students to organize campaigns focused on eliminating tuition and fees, expanding financial aid, ending student hunger and homelessness, and getting out the vote. More than 250,000 students and supporters from colleges and universities nationwide lead the organizations to work.

https://risefree.org/

Jill Habig, the founder and CEO of Public Rights Project, discusses the organization's mission to support local government officials in protecting voter rights and democracy. Habig highlights the increasing efforts by corporate interests and anti-democracy groups to weaken the power of election officials and manipulate election rules. These efforts include contesting common-sense voter policies such as early vote centers and dropboxes. The Public Rights Project has responded by providing resources to election officials to defend the will of voters and uphold democratic principles. Habig remains hopeful for the future, as she observes a growing movement advocating for democracy, civil rights, and the rule of law.

Omar Parbhoo, a member of the behavioral science nonprofit ideas42, discusses his commitment to democracy and the challenges it faces in the United States in a YouTube video section titled "Using Behavioral Science To Support Voters." Parbhoo focuses on understanding and overcoming behavioral barriers that prevent people from fully participating in civic engagement. He expresses his desire for a more representative democracy and highlights the need to address structures that limit equal representation, such as the US Senate, Electoral College, and voter suppression laws. Parbhoo also emphasizes the importance of providing accurate and timely information to help people navigate the voting process. As an immigrant and naturalized citizen, he personally values the right to vote and feels a strong duty to protect it for all Americans.