Staff

Dr. Dorothy Cilenti is on faculty at the UNC Gillings School of Global Public Health’s Department of Maternal and Child Health and previously served as the NC Local Public Health Agency Accreditation Administrator at the NC Institute for Public Health. She has worked in leadership roles in local and state public health agencies in North Carolina for more than 20 years, including serving as health director for Chatham and Alamance counties and interim health director for Orange County in 2011. She currently directs the National MCH Workforce Development Center under a cooperative agreement with HRSA. She is committed to strengthening health system performance through workforce development, quality improvement, systems integration and implementation of evidence-based practices.

Caroline Stampfel is a co-principal investigator and practice lead for the Workforce Development Center. She also provides leadership at AMCHP on programs, communications, and learning events, with a priority on strategic program development with a racial equity lens, evaluation and data-driven decision-making, talent development, and external relationship-building.

Amy Mullenix currently serves as the Deputy Director for the National Maternal and Child Health Workforce Development Center and the Maternal Health Learning & Innovation Center, two national training and technical assistance centers housed in the MCH Department at the Gillings School of Global Public Health at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. She is also an adjunct instructor in the Department of Maternal and Child Health.

In this role, she coordinates and supports partnerships among the multiple academic and practice partners engaged in each Center to build the capacity of MCH practitioners across the country. For the National MCH Workforce Development Center, Ms. Mullenix also serves as a liaison with states and other jurisdictions as they seek technical assistance opportunities and serves as a team coach for their health transformation work. She also provides skills trainings and coordinates in-state consultations.

Mullenix, a Nebraska native, previously worked as the state coordinator of the North Carolina Preconception Health Campaign at the March of Dimes and as a bilingual social worker for pregnant women and families in public health departments and community health centers in North Carolina and Nebraska.

In her role at the MCH WDC, she collaborates with faculty and staff to build workforce capacity, teach transformational skills, and help teams of MCH professionals take strategic action to make progress on their goals. Rebecca Greenleaf is also an Adjunct Assistant Professor in the Department of Maternal and Child Health in the Gillings School of Global Public Health at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. 

Rebecca has been working in various public health roles for more than 20 years.  Prior to joining the MCH WDC, Rebecca worked for the Association of Maternal and Child Health Programs, North Carolina’s Title V Program, the Carolina Institute for Developmental Disabilities, and the National Training Institute for Child Care Health Consultants. 

Rebecca earned a master’s degree from the Gillings School of Global Public Health at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and a bachelor’s degree from James Madison University.

Dorothea Calhoun-Smith serves as the Business Services Coordinator for the National MCH Workforce Development Center. She has worked for the University of North Carolina system since 2009.

Christine Bozlak is also an associate professor in the Department of Health Policy, Management, and Behavior at the University at Albany School of Public Health. She also co-directs the HRSA-funded Maternal and Child Health Program at the School of Public Health.

Becky Burns consults through BBWorks, LLC. Her career centers on supporting children and families whose lives have been affected by unanticipated journeys through the world of disability services. She treasures the opportunities to work with these families whose resilience and growth continues to astound her. She worked in one capacity or another for the state of WI for over 20 years. 

Alexandria Coffey is a doctoral candidate in the Department of Maternal and Child Health at the UNC Gillings School of Global Public Health and a member of the Center Evaluation Team. Alex holds a BS in Biochemistry and a MPH in Epidemiology from Kent State University.

Amanda Cornett has over 10 years of experience in program design, implementation, and quality improvement. She has supported partners at the local, state, and national level to design, implement, and improve complex health initiatives. Additionally she has provided coaching and technical assistance to partners within state public health departments, national organizations, community coalitions, and health clinics to identify and implement best practices in relation to various maternal and child health issues including children and youth with special health care needs, maternal health, oral health, adolescent sexual health, and physical activity and nutrition. Most recently she has collaborated on projects with the National Maternal Child Health Workforce Development Center, the National Network for STD Clinical Prevention Training Centers, the National Governor’s Association, and the American Academy of Pediatrics.

Michelle Crawford is also a Senior Specialist of Family Leadership Initiatives, at AMCHP. She contributes to the advancement of maternal and child health programs through planning and program implementation, research, advocacy, education and evaluation, and projects related to family engagement and leadership development. Prior to joining AMCHP, her experience includes assisting in the drafting of and passing legislation for fair and equal coverage for individuals with autism, grant development, leadership in developing trainings, public information, policy research, coordinated supports and services for individuals with special health care needs and their families, as well as delivering trainings to diverse audiences.

Julianna Deardorff is a member of the Academic & Practice Partnership Team, which manages the Title V internship program. Julianna is Executive Associate Dean and a professor in the Division of Community Health Sciences at the University of California, Berkeley School of Public Health, where she is the head of the Maternal, Child and Adolescent Health program. She serves as Director/PI of UC Berkeley’s MCHB/HRSA-funded Center of Excellence and the undergraduate LEAP program. Julianna holds masters and doctorate degrees in clinical psychology, with an emphasis on adolescent development, puberty, sexual and reproductive health, and adversity in early life.

Leslie deRosset role with the National MCH Workforce Development Center is to support the development and implementation of academic practice partnerships. In addition to her work with the National MCH Workforce Development Center, she also supports three additional maternal and child health initiatives: The Maternal Health Learning & Innovation Center, the Strengthening the Evidence for MCH Programs and a national Preconception Health Initiative. In her roles, Leslie provides technical assistance, consultation, coaching, capacity building, and training to state and territorial public health leaders. Leslie is an expert in program development, implementation, evaluation, and dissemination of results. Her work focuses on addressing the root causes and disparities that contribute to the inequities in maternal and child health. Leslie is an Adjunct Instructor in the MCH Department as well as with the MPH@UNC program.

Jimmy Dills is a senior research associate at the Georgia Health Policy Center (GHPC). He works to improve public health by advancing a Health in All Policies perspective of decision-making. His areas of expertise are systems thinking, health impact assessment (HIA), and healthy community design.

At GHPC, Dills leads several maternal and child health (MCH) projects, including management of GHPC contributions to the National MCH Workforce Development Center, the National Maternal Health Learning and Innovation Center, and the Maternal Telehealth Access Project.

Chantelle Dowsett has background in lifespan human development and population research, with more than 20 years of experience evaluating state- and federally-funded projects focused on the effects of early childhood interventions and welfare and employment policies on low-income families. Her research in early child care and education, school readiness, and child development has been published in Developmental Psychology, Psychological Science, and Early Childhood Research Quarterly.

Oscar Fleming is also assistant professor in the Public Health Leadership Program at the UNC Gillings School of Global Public Health. His work focuses on expanding the capacity of the public health workforce to understand complex systems and collaboratively design and implement public health innovations. Oscar has worked on community, maternal and child health programs in the US and globally over 20 years. His areas of interest include applied implementation science, technical assistance and capacity building, and systems change, all in serve to improved well-being of children, families and communities.

Arden Handler currently aids in helping lead the Title V MCH Internship Program. Dr. Handler is Director of the Center of Excellence in Maternal and Child Health and a Professor in the Community Health Sciences division of the University of Illinois at Chicago School of Public Health. Her research career reflects her long-standing commitment to reducing inequities in reproductive and perinatal health outcomes in order to improve the health of women, pregnant and postpartum persons, children, and families across the life course.

Kristen Hassmiller Lich is an Associate Professor in the Department of Health Policy and Management at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. She specializes in the application of systems thinking, operations research and simulation modeling methods to inform health policy and management decision-making. Kristen is the Core Lead of the Systems Integration core of the National MCH Workforce Development Center. Her work seeks to advance the way we use system maps, models, and local data to improve

Jeannine Herrick is a leadership coach and consultant with a public health background.  Jeannine is an adjunct instructor with UNC’s Gillings School of Global Public Health- Public Health Leadership Department. Jeannine is the former Director and Coach for the Emerging Leaders in Public Health Initiative which has developed and supported 100 leaders in local public health to transform the role of their agency so that they are better equipped to meet adaptive challenges in their communities. Jeannine is also on staff with the National Maternal Child Health Workforce Development Center and serves on the Adaptive Leadership/Change Management Core supporting Title V MCH teams who are tackling complex challenges related to health transformation She also supports the Leadership Academy for the Maternal Health Learning and Innovation Center. Jeannine has supported MCH efforts for global and national organizations earlier in her career.

Jeannine has a Bachelor of Arts from William Smith College in psychology and a MPH degree from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill in Maternal and Child Health.

Dr. Hogan is also an Adjunct Professor Department of Maternal and Child Health – UNC Gillings School of Global Public Health. Dr. Hogan is a perinatal epidemiologist and principal consultant in an independent consulting firm. She is a member of the US-DHHS Secretary’s Advisory Committee on Infant Mortality (SACIM). She previously served as MCH Program Officer at the WK Kellogg Foundation, Clinical Professor in the Dept of Maternal and Child Health at UNC-CH, the lead epidemiologist on the Preterm Delivery Research Group in the Pregnancy and Infant Health Branch, Division of Reproductive Health at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. At the CDC, she directed research and programmatic activities relating to understanding the etiologic contributors to health disparities in perinatal outcomes. She served as a member of the March of Dimes Scientific Advisory Committee for the Prematurity Campaign, the CDC Preconception Care Workgroup, and was a technical advisor for the National Healthy Start evaluation project.

Ki’Yonna Jones is also a senior training associate at the North Carolina Institute for Public Health (NCIPH) who specializes in workforce and leadership development training, program design with a racial equity lens and coaching local and state public health leaders. She has experience in convening and working with MCH public health professionals on the local, state, and national level. Her areas of interest include implementing and strengthening programs that serve women, children, families and communities.

At AMCHP, Ben leads a dynamic staff team that is accountable for the development, implementation, and evaluation of program activities aligned with the “Maternal and Child Health Talent” core area of AMCHP’s strategic plan. This includes intensive, individualized leadership development for current and aspiring professionals, focused capacity building with Title V programs and their agency/community partners, and the creation/dissemination of products to meet real-time workforce needs.

Julia Kimmel (she/her) serves as the Communications Coordinator for the Workforce Development Center. In this role, she manages internal and external communications and provides communications-related support for the Center’s programs. Previously, she has served in communications roles for other public health-focused centers at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, including the North Carolina Institute for Public Health.

Ollie is also the Special Project Senior Analyst for AMCHP’s Evidence and Implementation team. Ollie holds a Bachelor of Arts (BA) in International Studies from Boston College, and recently received a Master of Public Health (MPH) in Maternal and Child Health from Gillings School of Global Public Health at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Ollie’s graduate thesis project was a web-based systematic review of all studied reproductive and maternal health service-delivery initiatives centering Indigenous women in Latin America. Throughout Ollie’s professional career, she has worked as a patient advocate and care coordinator at a federally qualified health center and conducted research on topics such as mortality and morbidity in children under 5 in low- and middle-income countries, and lactation and breastfeeding practices and training during humanitarian and environmental emergencies.

Lynda Krisowaty also supports state teams as a coach. She also serves as the Associate Director, Evidence & Implementation at AMCHP and leads AMCHP’s Evidence & Implementation Team where she manages activities which enhance the MCH workforce’s capacity to identify/develop, implement, improve, and sustain evidence-based/-informed practices as well as apply evidence-based decision making tools and processes.

Nora Lee is a co-investigator on multiple studies, including EARLI (Early Autism Risk Longitudinal Investigation), a multi-site study following pregnant women who already have an older child with autism and assessing the newborn’s development up to three years of age. She is also the principal investigator on a project to reduce youth access to tobacco in the State of Louisiana, and is engaged in the evaluation of a recent policy implemented to eliminate smoking in Philadelphia’s public housing communities.

She was a contributing author of the 2006 Surgeon General’s Report on The Health Consequences of Involuntary Exposure to Tobacco Smoke, and is co-author of numerous peer-reviewed publications.

Margaret Major is the Manager for the Equity & Engagement Core at the National MCH Workforce Development Center and a Research Associate at the Georgia Health Policy Center (GHPC). She provides provides research, technical assistance and project support on projects within GHPC’s maternal health and health in all policies portfolios. She supports GHPC’s contributions to both the National MCH Workforce Development Center, as well as the Maternal Health Learning and Innovation Center. Margaret’s professional experience in maternal and child health includes working as a youth educator domestically and abroad, coordinating programs within city governments and a non-profit, and providing evaluation and technical assistance support to state-funded substance use prevention programs serving youth and adults. She also served as a Title V MCH Intern with the Tennessee Department of Health during the summer of 2020.

Gabriella Masini currently also serves as the Assistant Director for the Center of Excellence in Maternal and Child Health. Her past work experience includes non-profit data analysis at the YMCA of the USA and student affairs assessment at University of Wisconsin – Platteville. She has also previously worked as an Area Hall Director at North Central College. Gabriella completed her MSW at the University of Michigan School of Social Work in social policy and evaluation with a focus on communities and social systems.

Alexsandra Monge works for both the Evidence Center and the National MCH Workforce Development Center where she provides technical assistance and support for program evaluation and use of evidence-based practices. At the National MCh Workforce Development Center, Alexsandra serves as a member of the Evidence-Based Decision Making Core. Alexsandra earned her MPH from Rutgers University School of Public Health with a concentration in Epidemiology.

Steve Orton is the Lead for the Change Management and Adaptive Leadership Core at the National MCH Workforce Development Center and Senior Fellow for Public Health Leadership at the North Carolina Institute for Public Health. He works extensively on workforce and organizational development with Local and State health agencies.

Laura Powis also supports the Policy Core of the Maternal Health Learning and Innovation Center and serves as the Program Manager for Evidence-Based Policy & Practice on the Evidence and Implementation Team at the Association of Maternal and Child Health Programs (AMCHP). In this role, Laura provides technical assistance, support, and instruction to MCH professionals and advocates on topics related to equitable evidence utilization and generation, implementation science, and programmatic best practices. She co-leads AMCHP’s Evidence-Informed Policy Initiative, leads the Innovation Hub Learning Community, serves as a coach for Replication Project grantees, and supports Innovation Hub, an online platform that provides professionals with evidence-related resources including the MCH Innovations Database, a searchable repository of “what’s working” in the field of MCH that includes practices and policies grounded in evidence. She has a Bachelor of Science in Human Development from Cornell University and a Master of Public Health in Maternal and Child Health from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill where she was a Health Resources and Services Administration trainee in the Maternal and Child Health Center of Excellence.

Greg Randolph is state team coach and subject matter expert with over 20 years of experience in quality improvement (QI) leadership, implementation, education, and research focused on improving population health. He has published extensively on the application of QI in healthcare and public health. Dr. Randolph is currently an Adjunct Professor of Pediatrics and Public Health at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, as well as a consultant and founder of Greg Randolph Consulting, LLC. In the recent past he served as the founding Executive Director of Population Health Improvement Partners, a nonprofit organization focused on improving population health in the U.S.

At Georgetown University Medical Center, John is the Executive Director for the National Center for Education in Maternal and Child Health (NCEMCH), a national resource and training center within the Department of Pediatrics and as Lead for the Health Information Group that develops data-driven public health training sites and coordinates technology among the university’s main, law, and medical campuses. He currently serves as Principal Investigator (PI) for Strengthen the Evidence for MCH Programs, the MCH Navigator, the HealthCheck Training and Resource Center, and the Health Center Resource Clearinghouse.

Nakenge Robertson provides implementation support including developing infrastructure and building the capacity of new or existing programs or initiatives being implemented within state agencies, Office of Head Start National Centers, and state Medicaid projects. Nakenge also serves as the project director for the UNC Frank Porter Graham partner with the Office of Head Start National Center for Parent Family Community Engagement, where the team focuses on evaluation of practice change and equity. She leads the execution of the evaluation plan, monitors the budget, and works to incorporate equity throughout the national center. Nakenge also contributes to the advancement of research by the UNC FPG Equity Research Action Coalition that promotes and supports the healthy development of Black children across the African diaspora and other children of color. Prior to joining UNC-Chapel Hill, Nakenge worked in the financial services industry as a product manager, operations manager, and professional development trainer. While her professional roles have been fulfilling, some of her most memorable times have been previously serving her campus community in leadership roles with the UNC Carolina Black Caucus and UNC Employee Forum. Nakenge has a Bachelor of Science in Business Management from North Carolina Agricultural & Technical State University and a Master of Business Administration (MBA) from Amberton University.

Cindy San Miguel has supported the Title V MCH Internship Program in various capacities for the last eight years and is also an alum of this program (Summer 2015). She supports the Pipeline Team with strategic decisions on the Title V MCH Internship Program, from the development and review of intern applications to the implementation of  the training curriculum. Cindy also acts as a thought partner on all activities related to the academic-practice partnerships. 

Cindy San Miguel also serves as the Director of Health Equity at CountyCare, a provider-led Medicaid managed care organization within Cook County, Illinois.

Candice Simon is the Core Manager for the Change Management and Adaptive Leadership Core and a member of the Academic & Practice Partnership Team, which manages the Title V MCH Internship Program. Candice is also a program manager on the Workforce Development and Capacity Building Team at AMCHP, where she manages a portfolio of projects aimed at supporting individualized leadership development for MCH and CYSHCN professionals across roles and settings, including those new to (and aspiring to) formal leadership positions in state/territory Title V programs.

She also supports jurisdictional capacity building in priority areas such as equitable and anti-racist practice, youth and family partnership, and emergency preparedness and response. She plays a key role in AMCHP’s efforts to collect, analyze, and share MCH workforce data, leveraging her extensive mentorship experience to support advancement initiatives for students and early career professionals.

Jessica Simon is the Manager for the Systems Integration Core at the National MCH Workforce Development Center and a senior program manager on the Health Systems Transformation team at AMCHP in Washington, DC. In her role, she specializes in the application of systems thinking as a tool for the maternal and child health workforce. She also provides technical assistance to strengthen maternal and child health behavioral health systems and supports the use and dissemination of evidence-based policy. Simon holds a Master of Social Work (Social and Economic Development) and a certificate in System Dynamics from Washington University in St. Louis. She also serves as an adjunct professor at the Gillings School of Global Public Health at UNC-Chapel Hill where she teaches Systems and Design Thinking for Public Health Leaders.

Smith’s areas of expertise are in monitoring and evaluation design and implementation; qualitative and quantitative data collection, analysis, and dissemination; program design and quality improvement; and research design and implementation. Her portfolio of work focuses on maternal and child health, substance use, mental health, and co-occurring disorders. She has professional experience throughout the Americas and Africa.

Stacey Tuck is also the Director of Programs at AMCHP where she serves as part of the executive leadership team and oversees the five branches of the organization’s programmatic portfolio. These roles fit with her passion to advance racial and health equity within the MCH ecosystem. Prior to coming to AMCHP and the WDC, she worked in various capacities within the Maternal and Child Health Bureau at the Baltimore City Health Department for over 20 years engaging in program development, capacity building, fundraising, leadership, etc. A lifelong learner, Ms. Tuck is now enrolled in the DrPH program at Morgan State University.

Rebecca Wells is a state team coach and member of the Change Management/Adaptive Leadership and Systems Integration Cores at the National MCH Workforce Development Center. Rebecca’s research addresses complex process implementation,  contraceptive access, and supporting community coalitions.

Rebecca is a coauthor of a leading text on public health program evaluation. Previously, she served on the Health Policy and Management faculty full time for seven years at the University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill, during which time she taught strategy classes in the DrPH program. While in North Carolina, Rebecca co-chaired the North Carolina Collaborative for Children, Youth, and Families, a statewide group promoting implementation of system of care practices.

As a health equity researcher, whose work intersects family planning, maternal and child health, and implementation science. She has led and supported various projects using qualitative and quantitative methods to examine the health system factors that influence equitable access to family planning services, specifically long-acting reversible contraception (LARC) and abortion care. Dr. Yates is also invested in working with communities to identify and implement solutions to address inequities in maternal and child health, particularly inequities that disproportionately impact Black women, birthing people and children. Dr. Yates is also an Assistant Professor in the Department of Maternal and Child Health (MCH) at the Gillings School of Global Public Health at the University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill. She has experience supporting Title V teams and local health department teams to advance equity, using implementation science and other tools to help teams clarify their approach to achieving equitable outcomes. Dr. Yates works with both national and local agencies, and scholars from various academic disciplines to curate and share best practices for MCH partners.