Disaggregation Nation 2023 » Speaker Bios
Implementing Data Disaggregation Laws and Regulations
Part 1: Navigating and Improving State Data Systems
AJ Scheitler, Ed.D., Director of Development, Engagement and Strategic Planning at the UCLA Center for Health Policy Research
AJ Scheitler is the Director of Development, Engagement and Strategic Planning at the UCLA Center for Health Policy Research. She leads the Center’s development activities and fosters funder relationships. Scheitler also manages several large programs at the Center, including the Data Equity Center and the National Network of Health Surveys, a national collaboration of population health survey leaders and data users promoting the improved collection and dissemination of critical local and state health data. Additionally, she conducts research projects to provide evidence for policy making in areas of patient experience and intersections of health and education. Prior to joining the Center, Scheitler conducted federal resource development activities for a number of institutions of higher education and lobbied Congress and the federal government for the interests of education organizations and post-secondary schools. She has experience at the state government level as well, having served as the Chief of Staff for the Florida Senate Minority Leader.
Susan H. Babey, Ph.D., Senior Research Scientist at the UCLA Center for Health Policy Research
Susan H. Babey, Ph.D., is a co-director of the Chronic Disease Research Program and a senior research scientist at the UCLA Center for Health Policy Research as well as an associate researcher in the Department of Health Policy and Management, UCLA Fielding School of Public Health. Her research focuses primarily on the prevention of chronic health conditions. She has examined the social and environmental determinants of health, health disparities, and access to care for vulnerable populations. Babey is currently leading research examining the links between health and civic engagement; access to care for physically, socially, and financially vulnerable populations, including sexual minorities, immigrants, and those who rely on public programs for food and medical care; and is also engaged in research involving disaggregating race/ethnicity data. Other recent projects include a qualitative study identifying barriers to care experienced by those with metastatic breast cancer, an evaluation of place-based obesity prevention strategies for the Los Angeles County Department of Public Health, and research that produced state and county-level modeled estimates of the prevalence of prediabetes in California.
Tara Becker, Senior Research Associate, UCLA Center for Health Policy Research
Tara Becker is a senior research associate at the UCLA Center for Health Policy Research, where she works with the California Health Interview Survey, the Data Equity Center, and the Native Hawaiian and Pacific Islander Data Policy Lab. Her research focuses on quantitative methodologies, data quality, and measurement with an emphasis on understanding the disproportionate impact that data collection methodologies have on the measurement of small and marginalized populations. Becker previously worked as a senior program officer for the Committee on National Statistics at the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine, where she managed the production of consensus studies on measuring sex, gender identity, and sexual orientation and understanding the aging workforce and employment at older ages. Prior to joining the Center, Becker worked as a UCLA/RAND postdoctoral fellow in the Department of Health Policy and Management at UCLA, where she trained in U.S. health policy. She also previously worked as a biostatistician at the University of Wisconsin–Madison’s Department of Biostatistics and Medical Informatics, where she provided statistical consultation, study design, data analysis, and grant-writing support services to medical and public health researchers. Becker received her Ph.D. in sociology, an M.S. in statistics, and a B.S. in mathematics and sociology from the University of Wisconsin–Madison.
Sharmin Hossain, Ph.D., Chief Data Officer for the Maryland Department of Human Services (DHS)
Sharmin Hossain, Ph.D. is an Epidemiologist and the Chief Data Officer for the Maryland Department of Human Services (DHS). At DHS, her work involves overseeing data operations at DHS, understanding needs (central and local DHS offices) and providing advanced data analytic support to the second largest state agency in Maryland. Prior to this role with DHS, Sharmin was the Director of Data Analytics and Research at the Center for Applied Analytics in Maryland Total Human-services Integrated NetworK (MDTHINK), a groundbreaking and first of its kind shared technology platform that will transform the state’s ability to deliver vital human services to Marylanders. Sharmin also serves as a special volunteer to the National Institute on Aging (NIA/NIH) working with a health disparities research group called, Healthy Aging in Neighborhoods of Diversity across the Life Span study or HANDLS. She continued her exploration of persistent health disparities in community-dwelling older adults of Baltimore, Maryland. She is also part of two research collaborations at the intersection of health disparities, nutrition, cognitive aging, and behavioral neuroscience with Johns Hopkins School of Public Health and Health Sciences, Department of Mental Health AND University of Maryland Baltimore County, School of Medicine. Sharmin’s Ph.D. training was in public health and nutrition research, with a special focus on nutritional biochemistry. She also received postdoctoral training at the National Institute on Aging (NIA) in cognitive aging and statistical analytics for examining bio-behavioral data. Sharmin has 50+ publications on diet quality, health disparities, cognition, and risk of Alzheimer’s or other chronic diseases (like cancer, heart disease. kidney disease, etc.).
Implementing Data Disaggregation Laws and Regulations
Part 2: Challenges, Solutions, and Community Roles
Thu Quach, Ph.D., President, Asian Health Services
Thu Quach, Ph.D., has worked in public health and health care for 25+ years. Her research, service, and advocacy work have been grounded in her own lived experience as a Vietnam refugee and the struggles her family faced in the health care system. She is currently the President of Asian Health Services (AHS), a federally qualified health center in Northern California serving 50,000 patients in English and 14 languages. With a background in epidemiology, she is involved in research and policy efforts to promote health equity, emphasizing the importance of language justice, data disaggregation and culturally competent mental health. Her research portfolio also includes cancer etiology, reproductive health, environmental health and justice, immigrant health, and racial/ ethnic health disparities. During the pandemic, Dr. Quach assembled an AA&PI multilingual team to provide community testing, contact tracing, and vaccinations. Her recent work has also focused on responding to anti-Asian violence and addressing mental health gaps for this population.
Julia Liou, Chief Executive Officer, Asian Health Services
Julia Liou, MPH, the Chief Executive Officer of Asian Health Services (AHS) is an accomplished, mission-driven executive leader with 20+ years of experience in the healthcare industry. AHS is a community health center that provides medical, dental, and behavioral health services to 50,000 patients in 14 languages. Ms. Liou has led strategic fund development initiatives, pioneered patient and community advocacy campaigns, and has spearheaded key partnerships regionally and statewide in the Oakland Chinatown and Asian community, including the Revive Chinatown Project, and the California Healthy Nail Salon Collaborative. She has led the charge in strategic planning, development, the AHS Business Council, communications, advocacy and fundraising campaigns, and cornerstone relationships. Whether forging coalitions or calling attention to neglected needs, fundraising for civic engagement, or lifting up patient voices to change policies, she continues to champion health equity and language access for vulnerable communities at local, state, and national levels. During her tenure with Asian Health Services, Ms. Liou catapulted AHS’ development successes in donor gifts, capital campaign fundraising, events, and grants from government and foundations. She also led state policy initiatives that resulted in the passage of key legislation at the state level. During the COVID pandemic, she collaborated with health centers throughout the nation through the National Association of Community Health Centers (NACHC) to successfully advocate for a federal funding stream that seeds innovation and technology for community health centers nationwide. Ms. Liou earned her Bachelor of Arts from Wellesley, and Masters in Public Health from UCLA. She sits on numerous boards including Kaiser Permanente National Research Board, California Primary Care Association, and co-chairs NACHC’s Innovation Advisory Council.
Caroline Sanders, Senior Policy Director, California Pan-Ethnic Health Network
Cary Sanders earned a Master of Public Policy from the University of California at Berkeley. Prior to joining CPEHN, Cary worked as a policy analyst for the California Immigrant Policy Center (CIPC) promoting pro-immigrant policies that address and respect the needs and contributions of California’s diverse immigrant communities and their families. She has also worked as Assistant Policy Director for SEIU United Health Care Workers-West representing over 150,000 health care workers in California and as Policy Director for Services, Immigrant Rights and Education Network (SIREN) in San Jose. Cary is proficient in Spanish after having lived and worked in Guatemala.
Karla Thomas, Co-Executive Director, Empowering Pacific Islander Communities (EPIC)
Karla Thomas is of Samoan and Aymara descent based out of Serrano and Tongva land in Southern California. In the last year, she has been serving as the Deputy Director of Empowering Pacific Islander Communities or EPIC, a national advocacy organization based in Los Angeles, California. EPIC serves Pacific Islanders in the U.S. through culture-centered advocacy, research, leadership development and narrative change. Karla’s lived experience, love for her communities, and background in public health have shaped her passion for eliminating Pacific Islander/Indigenous inequities. She continues to build off of 8 years of experience in advocacy, coalition building, research and direct service and hopes to contribute to creating a better future for other young Indigenous generations to come.
Andrew C. Lee, California Policy Manager, Southeast Asia Resource Action Center (SEARAC)
Andrew C. Lee is California Policy Manager at the Southeast Asia Resource Action Center (SEARAC). He manages SEARAC’s state-level policy and legislative advocacy in California. Andrew leads relationships with policymakers, cultivates statewide partnerships, and helps build the advocacy capacity of community leaders as part of SEARAC’s California team. Previously, Andrew was Campaigns Manager at PICO California, the largest faith-based community organizing network in the state. He also served on the external affairs staffs of former California State Controllers John Chiang and Betty Yee, and was a high school special education teacher in South Los Angeles. Andrew is based in Los Angeles.
Keynote address
Jenny R. Yang, Deputy Assistant to the President for Racial Justice and Equity, Domestic Policy Council
Jenny R. Yang serves at the White House Domestic Policy Council as Deputy Assistant to the President for Racial Justice and Equity. She leads DPC’s portfolio across a broad range of equity issues, including criminal justice, democracy and voting, the racial wealth gap, disability policy, LGBTQI+ rights, and Native Affairs. From January 20, 2021 through March 2023, Ms. Yang served as the Director of the Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs at the U.S. Department of Labor where she led equal opportunity enforcement in federal contracting.
In the Obama-Biden Administration, from 2013-2018, Ms. Yang served as Chair, Vice-Chair, and Commissioner of the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission where she tackled systemic discrimination, including requiring employers to report pay data and creating a task force to study and prevent harassment.
After her EEOC service, as a Senior Fellow at the Urban Institute, Ms. Yang worked to revitalize anti-discrimination laws to protect workers as structural and technological changes transform work. In addition, as a strategic partner with Working IDEAL, Ms. Yang assisted employers in preventing harassment and promoting equality of opportunity through the design of employment practices.
Prior to that, Ms. Yang spent over a decade representing workers in litigation in private practice and as a Senior Trial Attorney with the United States Department of Justice, Civil Rights Division, Employment Litigation Section. A graduate of Cornell University, she earned a B.A. in Government and a J.D. from NYU School of Law. Ms. Yang served as co-chair of NAPAWF’s first national governing board.
Race and Ethnicity Data Messaging Framework and Strategy
Cassidy Schwartz, Account Director, CLYDE
Cassidy Schwartz is an account director on the public affairs team at CLYDE, a full-service strategic communications agency that helps clients make an impact. She primarily focuses on coalition building and strategic communications campaigns on behalf of pro-democracy organizations. Before joining CLYDE, Cassidy channeled her energy into issue advocacy and public policy efforts, with a specific focus on climate solutions and housing accessibility across sectors, including business, non-profit organizations, and local government.
Austin Adams, Account Director, CLYDE
Austin Adams joined CLYDE’s public affairs team as an account director after four years designing and leading public affairs campaigns for a progressive think tank, driving public policy change on digital equity and online civil rights. At CLYDE, he works with clients in the non-profit and pro-democracy space to craft clear, persuasive messaging that moves audiences to action. His prior experience includes journalism and political campaigns.
Jake Gómez, Public Affairs Specialist, CLYDE
Jake Gómez is an experienced public affairs specialist at CLYDE, helping to build strategic campaigns that leverage media relations, social media, and other tactics to meet the moment. He has several years of expertise in program and grassroots organizing, particularly in the international development and non profit space. He has advised clients across subject areas including pro-democracy, Middle Eastern affairs, LGBTQ+ advocacy, and renewable energy.
Amy Torres, Executive Director, New Jersey Alliance for Immigrant Justice
Amy Torres is Executive Director for the New Jersey Alliance for Immigrant Justice (NJAIJ). NJAIJ is the state’s largest immigration coalition, bringing together over 50 organizations to fight for policies that empower and protect immigrants. Under Torres’s leadership, NJAIJ fought for the East Coast’s first ban on immigration detention contracts, advocated for the expansion of state Medicaid to cover undocumented children, and has served as a watchdog for New Jersey’s Drivers Licenses for All expansion. Firmly rooted in Torres’s identity is their experience as a Filipinx American and the core belief that human rights and liberties should not be subject to change because of something as arbitrary as border, birthplace, or paperwork. Prior to joining NJAIJ, Torres led immigrants rights and policy advocacy work in NYC, with a focus on Asian American and Pacific Islander communities.
Data Privacy Considerations
Claire McKay Bowen, Principal Research Associate and Statistical Methods Group Lead at the Urban Institute
Claire McKay Bowen (she/her) is a principal research associate in the Center on Labor, Human Services, and Population and leads the Statistical Methods Group at the Urban Institute. Her research primarily focuses on developing technical and policy solutions to safely expand access to confidential data that advances evidence-based policy-making. She also has interest in improving science communication and integrating data equity into the data privacy process. In 2021, the Committee of Presidents of Statistical Societies identified her as an emerging leader in statistics for her technical contributions and leadership to statistics and the field of data privacy and confidentiality. Further, she is a member of the Census Scientific Advisory Committee and several other data governance and data privacy committees as well as an adjunct professor at Stonehill College.
Terry Ao Minnis, Vice President of Census and Voting Programs, Asian Americans Advancing Justice | AAJC
Terry Ao Minnis is the Vice President of the census and voting programs for Asian Americans Advancing Justice | AAJC. Mrs. Minnis was part of the litigation team in LUPE v. Ross (D. Md. and 4th Cir.) (LUPE I) that challenged the administration’s attempted addition of a citizenship question to the 2020 decennial census. The team, including Mrs. Minnis, went back to court in LUPE v. Ross (D. Md.) (LUPE II) to challenge the administration’s plan to collect and provide incomplete citizenship data to the states for purposes of redistricting; the subsequent Presidential memorandum seeking to exclude undocumented immigrants from the constitutionally mandated apportionment; and the Census Bureau’s announced plan to end the counting of non-responsive individuals a month earlier than scheduled as an unconstitutional and racially discriminatory scheme intended to deprive Latinos, Asian Americans, and noncitizens of equal representation. Mrs. Minnis experience on the census spans two decades, having served as a leading authority on census campaigns in 2010 and 2020. Currently, Mrs. Minnis co-chairs the Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights’ Census Task Force. In addition, she was part of the U.S Department of Commerce’s 2010 Census Advisory Committee from 2002 through 2011 and the Census Bureau’s National Advisory Committee on Racial, Ethnic and Other Populations for two terms from 2013 through 2019.
Mara Youdelman, Managing Director for Federal Advocacy, National Health Law Program
Mara Youdelman is Managing Director for Federal Advocacy at the National Health Law Program. Mara has worked at the National Health Law Program since 2000 on issues that include Medicaid & CHIP, the Affordable Care Act, language access, and civil rights. Mara coordinates the National Health Law Program’s federal legislative and administrative work, leading the organization’s efforts at protecting and expanding access to and quality of health care for low-income and underserved populations. Recognized as a national expert on language access in health care settings, Mara has written a number of reports and participated on expert advisory panels on the subject. Mara also served as a Founding Commissioner for the Certification Commission for Healthcare Interpreters (www.cchicertification.org). She was named a 2010 Health Reform Champion by SHIRE (the Summit Health Institute for Research and Education) and a 2011 Language Access Champion by the National Council on Interpreting in Health Care (NCIHC).
Administrative Advocacy
Rosalind Deborah Gold, Chief Public Policy Officer, NALEO Educational Fund
Rosalind Gold serves as Chief Public Policy Officer with the NALEO Educational Fund, where she has worked for more than three decades on policy analysis and research for the organization’s Latino civic engagement efforts. Ms. Gold coordinates the research for several of the NALEO Educational Fund’s publications, including its Directory of Latino Elected Officials, the biennial Latino Election Handbook, and the Latino Election Profiles. Ms. Gold has extensive policy expertise in the areas of newcomer civic integration, election reform, voting rights, redistricting and the Census. She has delivered testimony before many public and private committee and commission hearings, and has served on governmental commissions, including the California State HAVA Plan Advisory Committee, and the City of Los Angeles Municipal Elections Reform Commission. She also currently serves on California Secretary of State’s Motor Voter Task Force, and the Board of the Directors of OpenSecrets. In addition, Ms. Gold is honored to be the President of the Culver City South Bay Gesneriad Society, which works to promote widespread interest in the propagation and culture of gesneriads. Ms. Gold received her J.D. from Harvard Law School and B.A. from Pomona College in Claremont, California.
Anita Gundanna, Co-Executive Director, Coalition for Asian American Children and Families (CACF)
Anita Gundanna (she/her) joined CACF as Co-Executive Director in April 2017. She has worked throughout her career to prevent and address violence against women and children, and to promote healthy families, primarily in minority and immigrant communities of New York City. Prior to her return to the Coalition for Asian American Children and Families (CACF), Anita worked as a consultant with a number of small and growing community-based non-profit organizations mostly serving Asian American and immigrant communities.
Michelle Riordan-Nold, Executive Director, CT Data Collaborative
Named Executive Director of the CT Data Collaborative in February 2014, Ms. Riordan-Nold is responsible for executing the vision and strategy of the CT Data which is a user-driven, public-private partnership that educates, liberates, curates, and democratizes data for public consumption to help drive planning, policy, budgeting and decision making in Connecticut. In her tenure at CTData, she has grown the organization from 1 full time staff person to 12. Ms. Riordan-Nold has created and developed new data service offerings including the CTData Academy, building an integrated data system initiative called the Hartford Data Collaborative, and in 2022 launching a social enterprise, CTData Strategic Planning that coaches nonprofits on how to make data an organizational strategic asset. Ms. Riordan-Nold holds a bachelor’s degree in Mathematics from Boston College and a master’s degree in public policy from the University of Chicago. In her career, she has had the opportunity to work in all sectors of the economy – private, nonprofit, and government.
Manisha Srivastava, Policy Coordinator and Economist in the Data & Policy Analytics unit at the Connecticut Office of Policy & Management (OPM)
Manisha Srivastava, MPA, MA, is a Policy Coordinator and Economist in the Data & Policy Analytics unit at the Connecticut Office of Policy & Management (OPM) where she executes initiatives to generate policy insights, measure outcomes, and advance research. More recently Manisha has been managing Connecticut’s Housing and Segregation study required per legislative mandate, as well as developing a program and expenditures dashboard that will summarize state program utilizers including demographics. Manisha leads the convening for Connecticut’s Equity Learning Community for state agencies and is participating in an Equity in Practice Learning Community, a training and technical assistance program out of UPenn to center racial equity in data integration. She is also collaborating with the Children’s Behavioral Health Partnership in Connecticut to understand disparities in behavioral health utilization. Manisha has authored numerous publications and has had her work cited in the CT Mirror, Hartford Courant, and other local and national media including The Pew Charitable Trusts, The Atlantic, and The Tax Foundation. Manisha currently serves on the Board for the CT Retirement Security Authority and on the Advisory Board for the Federal Reserve Bank of Boston’s New England Public Policy Center.
Building Data Literacy for CBOs serving Communities of Color
Chris Dick, Founder, Demographic Analytics Advisors
Chris Dick is the founder of Demographic Analytics Advisors where he helps organizations to create effective change using applied demography and data science. His goal is to understand the recipe for success through data use and implement it within the government space. Prior to founding his company he worked at Civis Analytics as the Managing Director of their Public Sector practice where he worked with local, state, and federal government organizations. Prior to Civis, he was a statistician at the Census Bureau, ending his time there as the Chief of the Population Evaluation, Analysis & Projections Branch, where he oversaw, among other things, the planning for the Demographic Analysis for the 2020 Census.
Selena Tan, Senior Associate, PolicyLink
Selena Tan is a Senior Associate at PolicyLink, and works to advance equitable decision making in policy through supporting community access to power. With the National Equity Atlas team, she leads the Racial Equity Data Lab and National Equity Atlas Fellowship where community advocates and leaders of color are supported to use data as a tool in their campaigns for community action, decision making, and holding policymakers accountable. Prior to this role, she served as a program officer at the Annie E. Casey Foundation, and previously managed the Strategic Data Project fellowship at the Center for Education Policy Research at Harvard University. She holds a bachelor’s degree in psychology with a minor in education studies from the University of California, Los Angeles, and a master’s in public administration from the Maxwell School at Syracuse University.
Paola Aracely Ilescas, Senior Programs Manager, Latino Coalition for a Healthy California
Paola Aracely Ilescas grew up in North County San Diego, a region with both rural and densely populated regions with strong immigrant and agricultural roots. She experienced and witnessed the inequities in her community, which impulsed her to work towards providing and connecting her community to life saving resources. Currently at LCHC, she is the Senior Programs Manager, where she leads and supports the development and implementation of multiple programs and initiatives that centers community engagement and equity, including the creation of leadership capacity building via curriculums. As a San Diego Leadership Alumnae, she believes in building leadership pipelines within communities. After complementing the CVCC Promotora Academy, she also prioritized the importance of leading with other community members at all levels of programming to create equitable and transformative outcomes. Throughout both her career and personal trajectory, Paola has come to learn that eliminating health inequities requires multi-sector partnerships and action. Paola is proud of being Vee’neh Xiza, the Zapotec name of her town and people. Outside her role, she enjoys hiking the hills of North County, walking her three dogs, yoga, and supporting local businesses in her community.
Marjorie A. Innocent, Ph.D., Director of Learning and Impact, NAACP
Dr. Marjorie Innocent serves as director of learning and impact at the NAACP. In this capacity, she is responsible for internal structures and systems for capturing metrics, monitoring progress, reporting, and cross-team sharing and learning. She leads transformative, interdisciplinary research and evaluation projects in collaboration with external partners. Along with a working team, she also develops and communicates the Association’s learning impacts to a broad audience of stakeholders to promote the NAACP as a critical resource and advance equity-centered policies as standard practice. Marjorie earned her PhD in health and social policy from the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health and has published numerous articles and writings covering various health and education-related topics. She is a lover of God, fairness, music, and culture.
Strategy Session
Dr. Laura E. Durso, Founder, Harmonic Strategies
Dr. Laura E. Durso is the founder of Harmonic Strategies, a DC-based consulting practice working with clients at the intersection of research and policy. Previously, Dr. Durso was the Chief of Staff at the Office for Civil Rights at the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services where she helped lead the civil rights and health information privacy agenda under the Biden-Harris Administration. Prior to public service, she was the Executive Director and Chief Learning Officer of the Whitman-Walker Institute, where she led the strategic integration of research, policy, and education for the Whitman-Walker community health enterprise, and was the Vice President of the LGBTQ Research and Communications Project at the Center for American Progress. A native New Yorker, Dr. Durso holds a BA in psychology from Harvard College and master’s and doctoral degrees in clinical psychology from the University of Hawai’i at Manoa.
Closing Remarks
Denice Ross, Deputy U.S. Chief Technology Officer for Tech Capacity (invited)
Denice Ross is the Deputy U.S. CTO for Tech Capacity in the White House where she focuses on building conduits between federal tech and data policy and its implementation in state, Tribal, local, and territorial governments. She also co-chairs the Subcommittee on Equitable Data charged with using data to implement the Administration’s equity agenda. Denice most recently served as the nation’s Chief Data Scientist, and previously co-led the Census Quality Reinforcement Task Force. Denice served as a data leader both in the Obama Administration and in local government in the City of New Orleans. Before government, Denice co-led the Data Center in New Orleans, a local nonprofit intermediary that was vital for the region’s equitable recovery from Hurricane Katrina.