Jehan El-Bayoumi, M.D., F.A.C.P.
Physician and Founding Director of the Rodham Institute
Dr. El-Bayoumi received her BS and MD degrees from the University of Michigan before completing her Internal Medicine Residency and Chief Residency at The George Washington University School of Medicine and Health Sciences. She then joined the faculty at GW and is an Academic General Internist. Her career focus has been on Medical Education and she had been the Internal Medicine Clerkship Director for 5 years before serving as the Program Director of the IM Residency for 15 years. In 2013, she established the Rodham Institute, named for her late patient Mrs. Dorothy Rodham, which is dedicated to improving health equity in Washington DC.
Edwin C. Chapman M.D.
Addiction Medicine Specialist
EDWIN C. CHAPMAN, Sr., M.D. has practiced in Washington, DC for over 40 years specializing in Internal Medicine and Addiction Medicine and is an adjunct assistant professor in the Howard University Department of Behavioral Health and Psychiatry.
Dr. Benjamin F. Chavis, Jr
Minister, Author, Entrepreneur
Dr. Benjamin F. Chavis, Jr., author, international entrepreneur, chemist, ordained minister, PBS TV producer-host, and global podcast host is an African American Civil Rights Movement 60-year veteran leader and icon. He is currently President and CEO of the National Newspaper Publishers Association (NNPA), representing the Black Press of America, based in Washington, DC.
Angela Owens Clark
Business and Community leader
Melissa Clarke M.D.
Physician and Health Educator
Dr. Melissa E. Clarke is a pioneering leader in population health and patient advocacy. A Harvard-educated Emergency Medicine physician, she works at 3M as a Physician Consultant for Healthcare Transformation. Dr Clarke is an author, health empowerment speaker, and medical contributor on nationally syndicated radio, who is using her platform for health equity, community education and advocacy in the COVID 19 epidemic and beyond.
Reverend Dr. Kendrick E. Curry
Pastor, The Pennsylvania Avenue Baptist Church, Washington, DC
Reverend Dr. Kendrick E. Curry has pastored the Pennsylvania Avenue Baptist Church (PABC) in Washington, DC for 17 years. He earned a B.S. in Chemical Engineering from Prairie View A&M University and an M.S. and Ph.D. in Chemical Engineering from the University of Michigan—Ann Arbor. He also earned a Master of Divinity from Virginia Union University, and has completed advanced studies in theology at Northern Theological Seminary. Rev. Curry has a passion to transform challenged East of the River communities and the DC at-large. As such, he has partnered MBI Health Services to deliver a day-treatment, mental health program at PABC. Additionally, he serves on Board of Directors for the DC Water and Sewer Authority, Education Forward DC, and AARP DC State Office, where he is currently the State President. Rev. Curry is married to Rev. Karen Curry and they have two children, Keyona and Kendrick II.
Joni Eisenberg, MPH
Public Health Advocate, Community Radio Host WPFW 89.3FM Jazz & Justice
Joni Eisenberg, MPH, a lifelong public health advocate, has hosted and produced a weekly program on WPFW 89.3FM Jazz & Justice Pacifica Radio (“To Heal DC”) since 1992. She’s been active in DC community health issues for 40 years, has worked in DC’s health department for decades and served on the front lines at the height of DC’s AIDS epidemic with Dr Reed Tuckson. She is passionate about encouraging participation from cross sections of the community (youth, musicians, poets, seniors, labor, health professionals, low income, healthy food advocates) to mobilize for health equity. As a young person, she helped coordinate the national office of Medical Committee for Human Rights (MCHR) in Pittsburgh, where she was mentored by the legendary physician Dr Paul Cornely (HU), and other medical workers committed to health justice.
Lisa Fitzpatrick M.D.
Public Health Advocate and Former Chief Medical Officer of DC Medicaid
Dr. Lisa Fitzpatrick is a physician, CDC-trained medical epidemiologist and former Chief Medical Officer for DC Medicaid. She is an adjunct clinical professor at the George Washington University School of Medicine and a professorial lecturer in the School of Public Health.
Marie Johns
Business Leader and Community Advocate
Marie Johns, CEO of PPC Leftwich, has been a leader in the business and civic sectors of Washington DC for over 30 years, including chair of City First Bank of DC, trustee of Howard University and immediate past chair of the DC Chamber of Commerce.
Ambrose Lane Jr
Public Health Activist and Community Leader
Ambrose Lane, Jr. is a known long-time activist and community builder in the District of Columbia. Over 25 years of leadership experience as an effective organizer and executive, working directly with youth, elected officials, community leaders and businesses. He is an institution builder and specialist on organizational development, including board development, infrastructure analysis and organization, program assessment and strengthening, entrepreneurship strategies, and development. He is the original author of legislation creating the DC Youth Advisory Council, was instrumental in creating the youth non-voting position on the school boards of Washington, DC and Howard County, MD, is the founder and creator of DC’s largest youth advocacy organization, the DC Alliance of Youth Advocates, is a former COO of the Marshall Heights Community Development Organization, and in 2014, was the Campaign Manager for the DC Council At-large candidate Rev. Graylan Hagler. In late 2013, Mr. Lane organized and founded the Health Alliance Network, a.k.a. the Ward 7 Health Alliance Network, the strongest and largest DC community health advocacy group, to advocate for residents of poor and low-income communities in Wards 5, 7 & 8, the issues of health equity, population health policy, chronic disease prevention strategies and the need for a “change in community health culture” to bring about healthy and thriving communities. He has assisted in the writing of past DC Council health legislation and current pending legislation on Health Impact Assessments (HIA’s). In 2019, Mr. Lane was again selected by DC Mayor Muriel Bowser to serve a second term as a Commissioner for the DC Commission on Health Equity. He was recently named the Health Committee Chair for the DC Democratic Black Caucus. Mr. Lane is a current Master Trainer for both of Stanford University’s Diabetes and Chronic Disease Management Programs, is a past Chairman of the DC Department of Health’s (DOH) Chronic Disease City-wide Collaborative, and is involved in the Healthy Youth and Schools Commission, the Cancer Action Partnership, and the recently formed Birth to 3 Coalition. Born in Pittsburgh, PA, Mr. Lane attended Howard University, is a Ward 7 resident, is the father of four children, and is married to Dr. Nura Green Lane.
Reverend Adora Iris Lee, MPH, MDiv
Minister, Global Health Consultant
Reverend Adora Iris Lee is an ordained minister in the United Church of Christ where she advocated on racial and health justice issues. She served as the denomination’s first Minister of Environmental Justice and helped to co-author the landmark study, Toxic Wastes and Race. Rev. Lee is a Yale-educated public health specialist with over 30 years of experience implementing HIV/AIDS, women's economic empowerment, and community health initiatives in the United States and Southern Africa.
Joe Leonard, Jr., PhD
Director, Howard University Community Association
Leonard's life has been a commitment to social justice concerns. He has worked in various capacities for the Rainbow/PUSH Coalition, the Black Leadership Forum, the Congressional Black Caucus, and the Obama administration at USDA. Recently, he has worked for the executive office of the Mayor of Washington, DC, and currently, Leonard is the Director of the Howard University Community Association. The unifying thread is his career is direct social advocacy on behalf of the most vulnerable persons in American society.
Kim Michelle Lewis PhD
Physicist
Dr. Kim Michelle Lewis is the Associate Dean for Research, Graduate Programs, and Natural Sciences in the College of Arts and Sciences at Howard University. She is a native of New Orleans, Louisiana, a physicist, and participates in community outreach efforts. Dr. Lewis leads the BCAC-19 Message Formulators, Design, and Test Team.
Rubin Patterson PhD
Dean, College of Arts and Sciences Howard University
Dr. Rubin Patterson is Dean of Howard University's College of Arts and Sciences. He is a sociologist and an environmental justice scholar and advocate.
Reverend Frank D. Tucker
Senior Pastor of First Baptist Church in the District of Columbia,
Reed Tuckson M.D.
Former Commissioner of Public Health for The District of Columbia
Reed Tuckson M.D. is a multigenerational Washingtonian who was privileged to serve as his hometown’s Commissioner of Public Health during the height of the HIV/Aids epidemic where he learned to respect the importance of collaborating with community
leaders and residents to advance health.
Josh N. Williams
President of the Metropolitan Washington Council, AFL-CIO,
Josh N. Williams is the first African-American President of the Metropolitan Washington Council, AFL-CIO, having been first elected in 1982 and re-elected every three years since. Formerly, he had been the Director of AFSCME Council 26, representing federal employees.