Our Staff
A culturally and ethnically diverse, multi-disciplinary team, the staff of Partnership for the Public's Health brings a wide range of personal and professional expertise to the many facets of fostering dynamic, effective community health and public health partnerships. With, collectively, decades of work in numerous arenas of public health, PPH staff combines multi-level, systems thinking with hands-on community experience.
- Sandi Gálvez
- Tonya Hammond
- Lisa Hershey, MPH
- Wanda Tidwell O'Neil
- Bob Prentice, PhD
- Merry Selk
- Jesus Verduzco
Maria Casey
Executive Director
Program Director, Healthy Eating, Active Communities
Maria Campbell Casey is the Executive Director of Partnership for the Public's Health and the Director of Healthy Eating, Active Communities (HEAC), a program of the California Endowment in partnership with Kaiser Permanente. Formerly, she was Executive Director of the Program Office for the Partnership for the Public's Health initiative. Before joining the Public Health Institute in 1999, Ms. Casey was President and CEO of the Oakland based Urban Strategies Council, a research, policy development and advocacy organization focused on reducing persistent poverty. While at the Council, she also directed the National Community Building Support Center. She brings over 35 years of experience working with local community residents and diverse partners in education, government, business, community organizations, public health, the faith arena and philanthropy to build healthy vibrant communities and improve outcomes for our most vulnerable children and families. She is a graduate of Morgan State University, and Harvard University where she received Masters Degrees in French and Education.
Phone: (510) 302-3319
Email:
Jeni Miller, PhD
Associate Director for
Organizational Development and Communications
As Communications Manager and member of the Management Team for Partnership for the Public's Health, Jeni Miller oversees communications and publications for all PPH projects and efforts, and co-manages strategic planning and program implementation for the organization. Her work centers on addressing the social determinants of health and fostering robust community well-being, at the juncture of health, equity, and environmental sustainability. She is co-editor of the first published textbook for U.S. based community health workers, Foundations for Community Health Workers: Client and Community Centered Practice (forthcoming, Jossey Bass), and has coordinated and co-written toolkits to comprehensively address children's asthma care, and to improve food and physical activity environments. She is a graduate of St. John's College, and received her doctorate from the UC Berkeley Department of Rhetoric, where her research studied culture and communication in complex socio-technical systems.
Phone: (510) 302-3326
Email:
Julie Williamson, MPH
Program Director, California Convergence
As Program Director for the Partnership for the Public's Health, Julie Williamson designs and manages implementation of PPH projects and initiatives. She is the Director of the California Convergence project, and directed The California Endowment's Public Health Department mini-grant program. She has been with the Public Health Institute for over 20 years, leading cutting edge programs that have forged new models for public health and community partnerships designed to promote community health equity, including: Community Oriented Primary Care Training project; the California Coalition on the Future of Public Health; the California Tobacco Control Resource Partnership; and The California Endowment's Partnership for the Public's Health initiative as well as the Healthy Eating Active Communities program. She has produced numerous training guides and manuals, the most recent being Roadmap to Improving Food and Physical Activity Environments: Tips and Tools from the Healthy Eating, Active Communities Program. She is a founding member and past chair of the Board of Directors of the California Center for Public Health Advocacy, and served on the California Public Health Association-North Governing Council for 16 years. She is a graduate of the School of Public Health at the University of California at Berkeley.
Phone: (510) 302-3330
Email:
Sonia Bailey
Conference and Meeting Planner
As the Conference & Meeting Planner for Partnership for the Public's Health, Sonia Bailey coordinates conferences, meetings, webinars, and conference calls for PPH programs and projects. Prior to joining PPH, she was a Policy Analyst/Project Manager for Impact Assessment, Inc., contractor to the California Department of Health Services' Lead Poison Prevention Program. Sonia graduated from Clark Atlanta University with a dual degree in Accounting and Marketing and is currently completing the certification for Project Management at UC Berkeley.
Phone: (510) 302-3325
Email:
Angela Burke
Finance, Operations and Grants Manager
As the Finance Manager for Partnership for the Public's Health, Angela Burke provides fiscal and grants management support for PPH and the Healthy Eating, Active Communities program grantees. Before joining PPH, she served as the Program Coordinator for the China Program with Holt International Children's Services, working to serve children in China through foster care and HIV family preservation programs, vocational programs, nutrition programs, and financial and medical assistance. Angela also organized and led homeland reunion tours to China for adoptees and their families. Angela obtained a Bachelor of Arts degree in English and Political Science from the University of Auckland.
Phone: (510) 302-3349
Email:
Robin Dean
CCROPP Technical Assistance Coordinator
As the Technical Assistance Coordinator for the Central California Regional Obesity Prevention Program, Robin Dean provides training, technical assistance, and other resources to this California Endowment-funded project to improve food and physical activity environments in eight Central Valley counties. Robin holds a Master's in Public Health with an emphasis on nutrition from the University of California at Berkeley School of Public Health. While pursuing her MPH, she volunteered with the Contra Costa County Health Services Department Healthy Neighborhoods Project, developed a media advocacy plan for a community-proposed alcohol outlet ordinance, and authored Issue 16: Moving from Head to Heart: Using Media Advocacy to Talk about Affordable Housing, published by the Berkeley Media Studies Group. Robin also has more than 25 years of experience in monitoring, managing, coordinating training for, and evaluating social services programs for the Corporation for National and Community Service, Peace Corps, the American Institutes for Research, and Juárez and Associates, among other organizations.
Phone: (510) 302-3371
Email:
Sandi Gálvez
Senior Associate, BARHII
Sandi Gálvez provides technical assistance on organizational capacity development for local health departments participating in the Healthy Eating Active Communities initiative. Over the past fifteen years, Sandi has worked in a variety of roles in public health and on the social determinants of health, including HIV/AIDS prevention, community and labor organizing, and immigrant rights. Sandi most recently spent eight years at the Alameda County Public Health Department, where she developed initiatives to build capacity both within the health department and in the community to engage in public health practice focused on social determinants of health and health equity. Sandi also works with the Bay Area Regional Health Inequities Initiative (BARHII), a collaboration among ten bay area health departments, where her primary role is to coordinate the work of the Internal Capacity and Built Environment Committees. Sandi serves as a Planning Commissioner in the City of Oakland. She has a Masters degree in Social Welfare, Management & Planning and a Bachelors degree in Sociology, both from the University of California at Berkeley.
Phone: (510) 302-3369
Email:
Tonya Hammond
Office Administrator
Tonya Hammond is the Office Administrator for Partnership for the Public's Health. She brings 15 years administrative experience to the organization and more than four years working toward solutions to hunger with the Alameda County Community Food Bank. At the Food Bank, she worked as a liaison to more than 300 community organizations as the Agency Services Coordinator. She is committed to the goal of equal access to and the promotion of healthy environments. Her hobbies include nutrition research and cooking. She is a graduate of Claremont McKenna College.
Phone: (510) 302-3320
Email:
Lisa Hershey, MPH
Associate Director, California Convergence
As Associate Director of the California Convergence, a project of Partnership for the Public's Health, Lisa Hershey plans and manages the day-to-day operations of the California Convergence. Prior to Lisa's current position with the Public Health Institute, Lisa served as the Chief for the Coordinating Office for Obesity Prevention (CO-OP) in the California Department of Public Health. In this role, Lisa coordinated the department-wide obesity prevention policy efforts across programs, served as the contact and coordinator for external stakeholders wanting to collaborate for obesity prevention, fulfilled the role as the primary advisor to the Director's Office on obesity prevention issues and emerging policy, environmental change and health equity initiatives, and managed the CO-OP staff of administrative and program personnel. Lisa held leadership positions at the state and local level; served on state and national committees and boards, and presented at state and national meetings. Lisa received a Masters in Public Health in Health Promotion and Education from Loma Linda University School of Public Health, with a minor in worksite wellness.
Phone: (510) 302-3327
Email:
Wanda Tidwell O'Neil
Administrative Assistant
As Administrative Assistant for PPH, Wanda O'Neil has assisted the PPH staff with a variety of administrative and program needs since 2006, including a recent focus on the Building Healthy Communities program. She previously worked for clients in the areas of law, engineering, pharmaceutical, and Internet-based computing. Wanda was formerly employed by the Chevron Corporation Law Department as a paralegal, responsible for domestic and international trademark and copyright matters. In addition to prosecuting and filing trademark applications worldwide, she participated in matters that included protecting major brands, name change for trademark registrations throughout the world, product marketing, business resumption plans and corporate-wide United Way campaigns.
Phone: (510) 302-3359
Email:
Bob Prentice, PhD
Senior Associate, Public Health Policy and Practice Director, BARHII
Bob Prentice, PhD, is a Senior Associate for Public Health Policy and Practice, where he works with state and local health departments to help build their capacity for work on chronic disease, social determinants of health and health inequities. He also serves as Director of the Bay Area Regional Health Inequities Initiative, a collaboration among nine bay area public health departments with a common mission to transform public health practice for the purpose of eliminating health inequities. Bob was previously Director of the Public Health Division at the San Francisco health department, where he also served as a health planner, director of clinical programs for indigent and homeless people and administrator of a network of ten community-based clinics. Bob had lead responsibility for crafting and overseeing homeless policy in the San Francisco mayor's office during the late 1980s and early 1990s. Bob has taught courses in Health Policy and Health & Social Justice to undergraduate and graduate students at San Francisco State University. He received his doctorate in sociology from Michigan State University. He is also an alumnus of the Public Health Leadership Institute.
Phone: (510) 302-3321
Email:
Merry Selk
Communications Specialist
Merry Selk works collaboratively with PPH staff to communicate the resources and opportunities for communities to reshape the food and physical activity environment. She participates in strategic communications planning, and the development and dissemination of interesting information on the web and in print. Inspired by the prospect of communities collaborating to change the landscape for health, she links resources to a wide variety of audiences. As a consultant with Selk Communications, she previously consulted with a wide variety of healthcare clients and nonprofit organizations. Merry developed the first Media Alliance Media Training for Community Groups program, and wrote the Public Relations Manual for Nonprofits for the Public Management Institute. She is a graduate of Barnard College.
Phone: (510) 302-3362
Email:
Jesus Verduzco
HEAC Program Manager
Jesus Verduzco is the technical assistance coordinator for the Healthy Eating, Active Communities program. Over the past 8 years he has worked extensively in youth development and community planning to help improve low-and middle-income neighborhoods. Prior to joining PPH, he was a program manager with the American Red Cross Bay Area Chapter, strategy consultant with Alameda County Health Care Services Agency and program director for Young Entrepreneurs at HAAS. Jesus obtained a Masters in City and Regional Planning from University of California at Berkeley and is a graduate of Cornell University with a BS in Agriculture and Environmental Engineering.
Phone: (510) 302-3364
Email: