Board of DirectorsOFFICERSPRESIDENT JanMarie Ward, MPA
JanMarie is a lineal descendant of Santa Ynez and Barbareño, California Mission Indians. She has extensive experience in tribal, state, and local government as well as in nonprofit, and community sectors. She is the director/principal of Seven Generations Strategies LLC and serves as a senior public health policy and project advisor/consultant to the American Indian Health Commission (AIHC). With over 40 years of public sector experience in health policy, public administration, and tribal and intergovernmental affairs, JanMarie brings an understanding of evidence-based public health from working with tribes and in communities. She currently serves as the President of the Washington State Public Health Association and is on multiple boards to address systemic racism and historic inequities in support of community-driven capacity building in health and wellness systems change for American Indian and Alaska Native and BIPOC communities. Together, JanMarie and her husband Roger, have four grown sons, their partners, and their first grandchild.
PRESIDENT-ELECT Chair of the Conference Committee Seth Doyle, MA
Seth Doyle is Director of Strategic Initiatives at Northwest Regional Primary Care Association (NWRPCA). In this role, Seth oversees NWRPCA’s community health improvement and workforce programs and has broad responsibilities related to social determinants of health and health equity, health policy, workforce development, community health workers, vulnerable populations, and public health partnerships. Seth serves as NWRPCA’s subject matter expert on migrant health and directs the planning for the annual Western Forum for Migrant and Community Health. He also serves on the Agricultural Worker Health Committee for the National Association of Community Health Centers and is a past Chair of this Committee. In addition to his role with NWRPCA, Seth serves on the board of directors of the Washington State Public Health Association and the regional network steering committee for the Northwest Center for Public Health Practice. Prior to joining NWRPCA, Seth worked as a Health Educator and Case Manager for the Urban League of Rhode Island. Seth holds a master’s degree in Latin American Studies with a Public Health minor from the University of New Mexico, and a Bachelor of Arts in Spanish from the University of Rhode Island.
PAST-PRESIDENT Jack Thompson
Jack Thompson is a Principal Lecturer Emeritus in the Department of Health Systems and Population Healthat the University of Washington School of Public Health (UWSPH), having retired from the faculty in June 2014. In his emeritus role, Jack continues to advise students, and links students with community projects. From 1994 to 1999 Jack was the Associate Director of the Health Policy Analysis Program. He was a Senior Consultant with the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation Turning Point Initiative National Program Office (1998-2004). From 1999 to 2008, Jack served as the Director of the Northwest Center for Public Health Practice at the UWSPH and was founding faculty in the Community-Oriented Public Health Practice MPH program. Prior to that time, Jack was with the Seattle-King County Department of Public Health for 10 years, and was the Director of the Seattle Health Services Division from 1986 to 1994. Jack was awarded the UWSPH Community Service Award in 2003. He was also awarded the WSPHA Public Health Leader of the Year Award in 2008 and the President’s Award in 2019. Jack has served on numerous boards and committees nationally and in Washington state. He was a founding board member of the Children’s Campaign Fund (1991) and has served on the Board of Directors of Evergreen Treatment Services (2001-2008). He served on the board of the Washington State Public Health Association from 2012 to 2019 and was President from 2015-2017. Jack serves on the Steering Committee of the Health Coalition for Children and Youth and is a member of the Children’s Alliance Public Policy Council.
APHA AFFLIATE REPRESENTATIVE TO THE GOVERNING COUNCIL Lauren Jenks, MPH, CHES  Lauren Jenks, MPH, CHES, is Assistant Secretary for Environmental Public Health at the Washington State Department of Health and Chair of the Washington State Institutional Review Board. She is passionate about public health, environmental justice, and health equity. Lauren has a broad public health background, including post-graduate training from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s Public Health Prevention Service, a program designed to create public health generalists with an ability to work within the whole public health system and lead a variety of public health programs. Lauren cares deeply about people. She has a calm, assertive leadership style, with a focus on respect, trust, and continuous learning. She brings a deep understanding of public health data systems, using data for decision making, and evidence based approaches and interventions. She tries to live her public health values by occasionally slowly jogging and commuting to work on an electric bicycle. At work and at home, she encourages people to act boldly, make a difference in the world, and to do so with a joyful heart. She lives in Olympia with her spouse, 12-year-old son, and 10-year-old daughter.
TREASURER Carrie Horwitch, MD, MPH, FACP
SECRETARY Julie Peterson
Julie is responsible for the vision, leadership, planning and implementation of a Public Affairs plan that promotes Foundation for Healthy Generation’s mission through public policy. Julie’s public policy advocacy and legislative work is recognized by Philanthropy Northwest, Washington State Department of Social and Health Services’ Division of Alcohol and Substance Abuse, Community Anti-Drug Coalitions of America (CADCA) and the National Network for Safe and Drug-Free Schools and Communities. Currently, Julie serves as the past president of the Washington Association for Substance Abuse and Violence Prevention. Prior to her arrival at Foundation for Healthy Generations, she was the deputy director of the Washington State Traffic Safety Commission. She served as the agency’s legislative liaison and a member of the inter-agency work group on drugs. DIRECTORSLori Mae Yvette Calibuso Acob
Heidi Berthoud, MPH Heidi Berthoud Consulting, LLC John Furman, PhD, MSN, COHN-S
Dr. Furman has been involved in the promotion of healthcare quality and safety for many years serving as the president of the Pacific Northwest Chapter of the Association of Occupational Health Professionals (AOHP), vice-president of the Puget Sound Chapter of the Association of Professionals in Infection Control, and vice-president of the Washington Healthcare Safety Council (WHCSC). In addition, he has completed two appointments on the National Organization of Alternative Programs (NOAP) Executive Committee, and serves as the chair of the NOAP research committee. Prior to coming to WHPS Dr. Furman worked with the Department of Labor & Industries Division of Occupational Safety and Health (DOSH). Where he helped develop nationally recognized programs on pesticide exposure monitoring, and outdoor heat exposure. Just prior to leaving the DOSH program he acted as the primary author of the nation’s first Healthcare Hazardous Drug Exposure regulation. Public health is at the core of everything he does, with a keen interest in erasing stigma and achieving equal access and opportunity for everyone.
Janessa Graves, PhD MPH
Dr. Janessa Graves is an Associate Professor of Nursing at Washington State University (WSU). Dr. Graves holds a Masters in Public Health and a PhD in health services research from the School of Public Health at the University of Washington. She completed a two-year postdoctoral fellowship in pediatric injury research at the Harborview Injury Prevention and Research Center prior to coming to WSU. Dr. Graves holds expertise in program evaluation, interdisciplinary research methodologies, public health data, and rural health. She leads the evaluation efforts for the WSU College of Nursing and provides biostatistical and epidemiological support to faculty and community partners. Dr. Graves served in the Peace Corps in the Fiji Islands and studied at Columbia University in New York City. She collaborates with researchers from around the US and world, with a focus on improving rural health equity and prioritizing the needs and concerns of rural communities. Dr. Graves serves on multiple regional and state boards to supporting public health efforts. She lives in northeast Washington with her husband and two children. Amy Person, MD Health Officer, Benton-Franklin Health District
Dr. Amy Person has been the Health Officer for the Benton-Franklin Health District since 2011. Prior to joining BFHD, she was a primary care pediatrician in Milwaukee, WI for 18 years, working with teen mothers and inner city families. Recognizing the impact of health disparities on the lives of her own patients, she pursued a career in public health to better address prevention and the social determinants of health at the population level She holds a medical degree from University of Illinois as well as a master’s in health care informatics and a GIS (geographic information systems) certificate from University of Wisconsin.
Gayle Shimokura, PhD Lake Washington Institute of Technology
Gayle received her Master of Science and PhD from the University of North Carolina’s Gillings School of Public Health in Chapel Hill, North Carolina. She has co-authored original research publications on hepatitis C virus, infection prevention and control, exposure to trihalomethanes through tap water, and liver cell biology. She is passionate about helping students grow through hands-on educational opportunities and is dedicated to helping expand and diversify the public health workforce. *I was granted tenure in March but through my contract I am still Associate Professor through June
WASHINGTON STATE ASSOCIATION OF LOCAL PUBLIC HEALTH OFFICIALS REPRESENTATIVE (EX OFFICIO) Jaime Bodden, MPH, MSW Jaime Bodden has been the Managing Director for the Washington State Association of Local Public Health Officials (WSALPHO) since 2017. Before working for WSALPHO, served as the director for a small health department in rural Wisconsin. Previously, Jaime has worked in global public health, focusing on gender development, community mobilization, and childhood development. Jaime earned BA degrees in Anthropology and Women’s Studies from Marquette University and her Master of Public Health and Master of Social Work from Washington University in St. Louis. In her role with WSALPHO, she works to elevate local public health’s role in making Washington State a safe, health, and vibrant place though advocacy, systems collaboration, and partnerships. DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH REPRESENTATIVE (EX OFFICIO) Maria Courogen, MPH
Prior to this role, Maria worked in infectious disease, starting as an epidemiologist in the HIV/AIDS program at the Massachusetts Department of Public Health. She went on to lead infectious disease assessment and program work at the Washington State Department of Health, overseeing epidemiologic studies, becoming the director of the Office of Infectious Disease and the AIDS Director for Washington State, and contributing as one of the architects of the state’s End AIDS initiative. She had the opportunity to travel to India, Zambia, Trinidad, Haiti, and the Republic of Georgia to work with colleagues on HIV reporting and program management activities. Maria obtained her Master’s of Public Health in Social and Behavioral Science from Boston University. STAFF Megan Moore, MPH | Executive Director
Megan Moore is dedicated to advancing the health of all those in Washington State as the Executive Director of the Washington State Public Health Association. She has broad experience in both the public and private sectors and was most recently employed at Kitsap Public Health District for the last five years in Chronic Disease Prevention, Built Environment, and in Legislative Affairs. She has worked at the Washington State Board of Health assisting with Rulemaking and Health Impact Reviews. She completed her practicum with the Washington State Department of Health in the One Health program. Megan graduated with her Master’s in Public Health from Bastyr University in 2017. Prior to her career in public Health, she worked in the field of Physical Therapy and Rehabilitation for ten years. She has been on the WSPHA Board for nearly three years as the policy committee co-chair working to effect equitable policy change at the legislature. Megan’s passion is teaching professionals, community members, and youth how to use their voice in decision-making processes and has been recognized for this work with the WSPHA Excellence in Public Health Award in 2022 and at the Washington State Prevention Summit in 2021. She believes that the WSPHA has the responsibility to amplify the voices overshadowed by the traditional public health system, especially in policy decisions. As a mother of a young child, Megan has a high priority to assist in restructuring the system for families of all kinds, to help reduce barriers that result in poor health outcomes later in life, and to allow all children in Washington State to thrive.
Gloria Rogers | Administrate Coordinator
Gloria Rogers is a dedicated administrative leader with over 10 years of experience in administrative support, customer service, and team coordination. Over the course of her career Gloria has enjoyed advocating for those who cannot advocate for themselves and believes that everyone deserves quality care regardless of economic circumstance. She genuinely enjoys helping people understand complex information and providing them with the tools and resources they need to make informed decisions.
During her spare time Gloria enjoys making memories with her family and visiting the Oregon Coast.
|
Dr. Carrie Horwitch is an outpatient internal medicine physician. She is also certified as an HIV care specialist and has been taking care of people living with HIV since the early 1990s. She graduated from University of Arizona School of Medicine and completed her Master of Public Health from University of California, Berkeley. She focuses her clinical time at Virginia Mason Medical Center and has been an educator for internal medicine residents and medical students for the past 22 years. She is also a Clinical Associate Professor of Medicine at University of Washington. She spent 20 years co-teaching a course entitled Emerging Infections of Public Health Importance. She was the American College of Physicians representative for IOM/ASTHO public health & primary care integration project which worked to have primary care and public health work more closely together.
Lori Mae Yvette Calibuso Acob is a Hawai’i native. She received her undergraduate degree in 2022 in Public Health-Global Health from the University of Washington. Yvette loves to love people and is passionate about changing the lives of some of the most vulnerable people in her community by creating an all-inclusive, equitable culture of health. Her current efforts are centered around addressing the needs of people experiencing homelessness, protecting women and children's rights, de-stigmatizing mental health and HIV/AIDS, and eradicating infectious diseases such as malaria and polio. In 2021, she was awarded the WSPHA’s Exceptional Student Award and in 2022, the University of Washington School of Public Health granted her the Outstanding Student Community Service Award.
Heidi is an experienced leader who began her public health and social service career at a large non-profit county hospital supporting training teams in the nursing education department. She received her Master’s Degree in Public Health from the University of Washington and concurrently completed a Global Health Masters Certificate. Heidi has more than 20 years of knowledge and experience in health care research, evaluation, technical writing, public health initiatives, qualitative data collection and analysis, and patient advocacy. Her experience includes working with government, academia, and non-profit organizations and she has been invited to work with Indigenous communities developing and delivering surveys and evaluations. Heidi is particularly interested in community focused work and giving data back to communities. She is the founder and principal consultant at Heidi Berthoud Consulting, LLC and is passionate about working at the intersection of social justice and public health, supporting social change organizations that are working to increase access to care, reduce inequities, and improve health outcomes.
Dr. John Furman works with Washington State Health Professional Services (WHPS) program as a consultant, and education and outreach specialist. WHPS is the state approved Alternative to Discipline substance use monitoring program providing services to the nursing professions. He has worked for the state of Washington for over 40 years primarily in the areas of behavioral and occupational health, and infection control. Educational background includes undergraduate and graduate degrees in nursing, doctorate in health administration, and certification as an occupational health nurse-specialist.
Dr. Gayle Shimokura is Professor* and Faculty Director of the Public Health program at Lake Washington Institute of Technology, where students obtain a Bachelor’s in Applied Science in Public Health. As Professor, she teaches courses on epidemiology, research design, and leadership and was recognized for her Instructional Excellence in 2023. As Faculty Director, she provides leadership and strategic planning for the Public Health program and continues to adapt the curriculum to meet the needs of today’s public health workforce. The program’s focus is on providing students with an applied public health education and includes interning with a public health organization in their Senior year.
Maria Courogen, MPH, is a strategic health leader working with partners and communities to achieve equity and optimal health for all. As the Special Assistant for Systems Transformation at the Washington State Department of Health, she sits on the Executive Team of the agency and leads a group that works to help public health transform through its Foundational Public Health Services work as well as adapt to transformation of the health care delivery system. 
