#S2WDC2017
Illustration by
Jeffrey Coleman
Speakers
This year, Solutions to Wellness gathers stakeholders in the healthcare industry, government representatives, and community activists whose work has an direct impact on wellness to engage in an informative discussion addressing the health-related issues that concern all of us.
DR. LAQUANDRA S. DESBITT
Director @ Department of Health (DOH)
Dr. LaQuandra S. Nesbitt is a board-certified family physician who became the Director of the District of Columbia Department of Health in Washington, DC in January 2015. In her role as Health Director, Dr. Nesbitt leads Mayor Muriel Bowser’s health and wellness initiative, FitDC, and serves key leadership roles in addressing critical public health issues such as the use of synthetic drugs, the impact of medical marijuana and decriminalization of marijuana possession on public health, as well as innovation in healthcare delivery and its impact on high cost, high need and other special populations. Prior to her role in DC, Dr. Nesbitt served as the Director of the Louisville Metro Department of Public Health and Wellness where she led initiatives focused on Affordable Care Act implementation, health equity, and violence prevention.
ESTHER FORD
CEO @ First Stop Recovery Resource and Wellness Center
Esther Ford is the founder and CEO of First Stop Recovery Resource and Wellness Center with is a peer run organization that supports individuals as they journey on the road to recovery. Ms. Ford is also the creator and founder of a new self-help program for all persons who have been involved in the criminal justice system called EXOA (Ex-Offenders Anonymous) and provides support to inmates at DC Department of Corrections with weekly meetings, resources and unconditional support.
Ms. Ford is a Family, Veteran, Forensic Certified Peer Specialist who also serves on the Department of Behavioral Health Peer Specialist Certification Committee. Ms. Ford is a master facilitator who in 2017 was contracted Department of Behavioral Health as an off-site training for Department of Employment Services. Esther Ford has an Associate’s Degree in Human Services and is alumni at The Catholic University of America and is currently working on her BSW.
Esther is a former employee at Department of Correction Residential Substance Abuse Treatment Facility. Her commitment in assisting and severing her community, resulted in her being nominated and selected to serve on Mayor Bowser’s Commission on Reentry and Returning Citizens Affairs. Esther Ford is a 2017 recipient of the George Strawn Volunteer Award for her support to those in the criminal justice system. Ms Ford’s overall goal is to support our community thru education and providing understanding on how to address the underlining issues and barriers that cause the behaviors that led to recidivism.
EARLINE BUDD
Treatment Adherence Specialist @ HIPS
Earline Budd is a long time DC resident and transgender woman who has worked tirelessly over the last 20 years to advocate for the rights and inclusion of transgender people and other members of the lesbian, gay and bisexual (LBGTQ) community. She is one of the founding members and former Executive Director of Transgender Health Empowerment, Inc. (T.H.E.) and was the District of Columbia’s first transgender women appointed to the Office of Human Rights. Earline currently works as a Treatment Adherence Specialist at HIPS and represents HIPS and the trans community on the Mayor’s Commission on HIV/AIDS and on the DC Ryan White Planning Council. Earline has two years of college in Business Administration and attended the Brookwein Business Institute of Washington, D.C. Earline comes to HIPS everyday with a grocery bag of home cooked snacks and goodies and keeps everyone who walks through our doors well fed regardless if they are on her caseload. She describes her everyday hobby as just wanting to just “to help her community, even if it’s just by getting them something to eat just for today, and being there to work on the next step tomorrow.”
MAURICE HARRISON
Peer Support Specialist @ DCVA Medical Center
Maurice Harrison is a native of Washington, DC. Mr. Harrison is an honorably discharged US Army and DC National Guard veteran serving a total of 15 years. Mr. Harrison is a disable combat veteran serving in the Persian Gulf War. He attended the District of Columbia Public School System and continued his education at the University of the District of Columbia focusing on addictions counseling, he also received his certification as a Peer Support Specialist from Mental Health Association of Southeastern Pennsylvania and work at the DCVA Medical Center providing Peer Support to veterans. An advocate for change and recovery, Mr. Harrison’s love for the people and communities of the District of Columbia is promoted in his work. He understands the importance of having people around who care about helping others. Mr. Harrison made a decision to devote his life to helping others overcome their life challenges.
DEE CURRY
Minority Health Activist @
Casa Ruby
Dee Curry created Solutions for Wellness in the late 90s to address HIV, mental health, and substance abuse. For ten years, this event sought to bring together advocates, consumers, and policy makers to come up with solutions to wellness. Recently, Ms. Curry has once again organized an effort to promote wellness in the metropolitan area.
Throughout her 62 years, Dee has worked and been affiliated with many organizations, including the D.C. Care Consortium, the D.C. Department of Health, the Administration for HIV/AIDS (HASTA). Among her mentors have been Dr. Patricia Hawkins, Theodore Kirkland, Thomas Gleaton, and Commander Hank Carde.
Dee is currently working at Casa Ruby. She also promotes a wellness initiative, and hopes to open a wellness center that could be a model for the nation. As a transwomen of color she has focused on health care, housing, employment, and building skills among her priorities for the community.
LOURDES ASHLEY HUNTER
Executive Director @
Trans Women of Color Collective
Lourdes Ashley Hunter has served as a transformative thought leader for grass-roots initiatives that works towards the socio-economic growth and leadership development of communities disproportionately impacted by state sanctioned violence for over 20 years.
Lourdes earned a Bachelor degree in Social Theory, Structure and Change with concentrations in Race, Class and Gender Studies from SUNY: Empire State College. Lourdes also earned a Master of Public Administration from Rutgers University: School of Public Affairs and Administration.
Originally from Detroit, Michigan, Lourdes is the co-founder and Executive Director of Trans Women of Color Collective (TWOCC) based in Washington D.C. TWOCC works to uplift the narratives, lived experiences and leadership of trans and gender non-conforming people of color while building toward the collective liberation of all oppressed people.
EMMANUEL FORD
Certified DC Youth Peer Specialist
Emmanuel Ford was born and raised and is still a DC resident. Emanuel is a product of District of Columbia Public Schools, where he graduated from Columbia Heights Educational Campus. At a young age Emmanuel was a victim of childhood trauma and it was that experience that led Emmanuel down a path of complete darkness. It was during that journey that Emmanuel found his passion of helping others and, moved forward in gaining knowledge and insight into the challenges of other individuals with behavioral health conditions.
Today, Emmanuel is in recovery and uses his lived experience and knowledge of the integrated systems of care to help other youth towards success. Emmanuel has always been a leader and advocate for young adults in the city. Emmanuel started his advocacy by joining YARG, Youth Action, Research Group, and their goal was to find causes that youth care about to bring change towards the culture in DC.
Emmanuel joined the YMCA’s Youth and Government program to practice creating policies that will impact our youth.
Emmanuel is now a DC Youth Certified Peer Specialist and continually seeks to acquire educational models in the human service field to perfect his craft. Emmanuel created and implemented a summer program for youth called “YIELD” (youth institute for empowering learning and development. Emmanuel is currently pursuing a degree in anthropology to better understand the way individuals behave to further understand how to serve his community.
DEBRA ROWE
Acting Executive Director @ Returning Citizens United
Debra Rowe, M.H.S., C.C.H.C.P provides both leadership and managerial oversight for Returning Citizens United, Inc. Ms. Rowe has over 20 years of extensive experience in the development, administration and implementation of programs for reentry populations. She became connected with Returning Citizens United in 2008 at the request of the Board Chairman, based on her past work with him.
Ms. Rowe has a longstanding connection with the community served by the organization, beginning at the time of her own incarceration from 1988 until 1991. Her interactions with the population during that time exposed her to the wide range of social ills that impacted the pre and post incarcerated population and sparked an overwhelming need to advocate and ensure that they would receive available resources.
She was fortunate soon after her incarceration to meet a retired physician and national reentry pioneer (The Late Dr. Gertrude T. Hunter) who became her mentor. This relationship guided her to tap into her skills and prepare her for better opportunities.
Ms. Rowe holds a Master of Human Services Degree and is a nationally Certified Correctional Health Care Professional. She has experienced both career successes as well as stigma related to her race and her criminal record. In spite of these obstacles, she remains purpose driven on behalf of the reentry community as she is both a member of the community served and a strong leader.
As someone who was born and raised in Washington, DC, I have valued the opportunity to give back to my community through my work at HIPS and the DC Center for the LGBT Community. I haven’t always worked in the “traditional way.” At HIPS, I became a Peer Educator, where I facilitate groups on safety planning and hormonal therapy. I also participate in the Social Network Strategy (SNS), which is a peer-driven recruitment strategy to reach people who engage in high risk behavior who may be infected with HIV, but are unaware. People living with HIV understand the importance of getting tested and adhering to treatment regimens, and gives people living with HIV a chance to protect others in their community. As Peer Advocacy Fellow, I organize with our community of sex workers to advocate for the decriminalization of sex work. As part of this role, I also participate in the Sex Worker Advocates Coalition to address the disproportionate impact of criminal laws on trans women of color, in particular those engaged in or perceived to be engaged in sex work.
The DC Center gave me the opportunity to give back to my LGBTQ community. I mentor younger and older Trans people from all backgrounds on Pre-exposure Prophylaxis (PrEP) to prevent people who are at substantial risk of getting HIV from infection. I also run a peer group called Sis’tah Talk, where we discuss important issues facing LGBTQ people in DC.
COURTNEY WILLIAMS
Peer Support Specialist @ DCVA Medical Center
Courtney Williams has a long career of LGBT activism and community organizing on a local and national level. With over 30 years s of LGTB grassroots community organizing and human services he’s served as an advocate, activist, educator and administrator in the areas of human services, ,HIV/AIDS, LGBT equality, disability and elder rights.
He previously was employed as City Planner at the DC Office on Aging where he developed policy and managed programs and services to educate, train and developed a state plan to address an aging population.
Courtney Williams grew up and was educated in Washington D.C. He has attended Howard University, George Washington University and holds Bachelors of Arts and Masters Degree in Urban Planning and Development from the University of District of Columbia. He has done doctoral work at the University of Maryland. He has served on numerous local and national boards, committees and commissions.
A long-time community advocates and organizer, he focused on empowering African-Americans, LGBT community since 1970’s. He had previously served as President of the DC Coalition of Black Lesbians, Gay Men and Transgender and Board Member of DC Black Pride. Courtney has served as a panelist for national and local LGTB workshops and conferences. Courtney was a core organizer of a local participation of gay and lesbians in national and local marches and parades. In 2005, he founded along with Charlotte Smallwood, Community Life Newsletter which is an email monthly newsletter of information and events of interest to the African American Gay and Lesbian Community. The newsletter is now is its 12 year and has over 2,000 subscribers.
He is the recipient of many local and national organizations for his work for LGTB, disability and aging issues including DC Black Pride Welmore Cook Award.
He is most proud of the generation that he was part of in 1970’s-90 and the new generation of the black matters movement.
GIBBY THOMAS
@
Gibby Thomas started working in the HIV/AIDS field in the 1999, and has worked for various non-profit organizations, including Us Helping Us and Transgender Empowerment Inc., both of which provide services to the transgender communities. She is currently in her 12th year of providing services to the community.
Amy Nelson is the Director of Legal Services at Whitman-Walker Health in Washington, DC, a holistic community health center offering transgender, primary, and HIV healthcare; mental health and addiction services; dental care; medical case management; and free legal services. In 2016, WWH Legal Services assisted more than 3,000 legal clients on immigration, discrimination, name and gender changes, insurance, disability, medical privacy, medical debt, elder law, and public benefits cases. Amy is a frequent speaker on trans health and legal issues and managed the creation of DC’s first name and gender change legal clinic in 2012 which has served more than 1,000 clients. In 2014, Amy was recognized as a “Shero of the Movement” by the DC Mayor's Office of LGBTQ Affairs and honored with Capital TransPride’s Engendered Spirit award. Amy serves on the boards of the National LGBT Bar Association’s Transgender Law and Policy Institute and GW Lambda Law Alumni Association. Amy served on the Board of Directors of Miriam's House, a residence for HIV-positive, homeless women, and oversaw its successful transition into the N Street Village family of programs in 2011. Like most Texans, she is proud to be a native, but is even prouder to call DC home for nearly 20 years and to recognize DC’s national leadership in health care reform and LGBTQI inclusivity.
SHAREESE "REVLON" MONE
Peer Advocacy Fellow @HIPS
MALLY HATCHER
Director of Youth Services and the TransLife Center @ Casa Ruby
Mally Hatcher is the Director of Youth Services and the TransLife Center at Casa Ruby, a non-profit organization whose mission is to create success stories among transgender, gender queer and gender non-conforming gay, lesbian and bisexual people. In addition to overseeing all youth services, Mally is also the Director of the TransLife Center which provides Prevention training and a newly instituted Health Educators Fellowship Program. Mally joined Casa Ruby 3 years ago, but has been an Activist, Advocate and speaker for LGBTQ Issues for over five years. Mally is also the youngest serving member of the Executive Leadership Team. She has been an instrumental and driving force in the creation and directorship of the Annual Dc Trans Ball.
Amy Nelson
Director of Legal Services @ Whitman-Walker Health
Connect with Us
Subscribe to Updates from Solutions to Wellness Conference