Presenters

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  Amy Jacobs, MPH (she/they)

  NNPHI, NCCPHT Program Manager

  Amy Jacobs is a Program Manager for the National Coordinating Center for Public Health Training (NCCPHT) within the National Network of Public Health Institutes (NNPHI). Her focus is Project ECHO, a program she’s drawn to because of its mission to deinstitutionalize best practices for equity and innovation in healthcare.
  
  Amy’s public health journey started as a FoodCorps AmeriCorps service member in Camden, New Jersey. Through her role in FoodCorps, she solidified her ethos of care, community, and equity in public health. She worked in program management at FoodCorps for years after, supporting health justice in the northeastern United States and beyond.
  
  In 2021, Amy graduated with a Master of Public Health from the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health in Baltimore, Maryland. Most recently, Amy served as the Chief of Staff on the operations and executive leadership teams for the Maryland Department of Health’s Covid-19 Recovery Program. Since living in Baltimore, she has completed meaningful studies with Health Justice Commons and A Sacred Passing, worked at a local nonprofit as a curriculum development manager and training facilitator, and served as a caregiver for older adults.
  
  In her free time, Amy serves on the board of the Mental Health Emergency Fund, a Baltimore-based nonprofit that offers stipends and peer support to folks in need. She is also an avid gardener, a dance enthusiast, and a dog parent to a lively cattle dog mix named Luna.

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  Garlie St-Cyr, MPH (she/her)

  NNPHI, NCCPHT Program Assistant

  Garlie is the Project ECHO Program Assistant for the National Coordinating Center for Public Health Training (NCCPHT) team. She will be coordinating ECHO-related activities and providing administrative and logistical support across NCCPHT.
  
  She earned her Bachelors in Public Health, a minor in Healthcare Management, and her Master of Public Health degree concentrated in Health Policy and Management at Temple University in Philadelphia, PA. Garlie is proud to be from a Haitian immigrant family, and her interests lie in creating and coordinating equitable and sustainable programs and resources for different communities.
  
  Her previous experiences include performing a qualitative program evaluation for a resettlement agency, creating and facilitating health promotion workshops for college students, and supporting health equity program efforts within a health department. Garlie is excited to be a part of NNPHI and continue growing her public health career in the DC area! Garlie fills her cup through traveling, trying new restaurants and recipes, and volunteering.

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  Montrece Ransom, JD, MPH, PCC, BCC (she/her)

  NNPHI, Director of the National Coordinating Center for Public Health Training

  Ms. Ransom was appointed as a Presidential Management Fellow and worked at CDC for almost 20 years. For the last 10 years of her service, Ms. Ransom led CDC’s public health law related training and workforce development efforts. She received her law degree from the University of Alabama, her MPH from Emory University’s Rollins School of Public Health, and her Executive Leadership Coaching Certification from Georgetown University. In addition, she has received a certificate in training and facilitation from the Association of Talent Development. Ms. Ransom is the ABA Health Law Section’s 2019 Champion of Diversity and Inclusion Awardee, and the 2017 recipient of the American Public Health Association Jennifer Robbins Award for the Practice of Public Health Law. She is the President of the American Society for Law, Medicine, and Ethics and serves on the Advisory Committee for the Georgia Campaign for Adolescent Power and Potential.
  
  Devoted to helping people reach their human potential, Ms. Ransom also spends a lot of time working on career pathing and professional development with new public health practitioners and public health lawyers.
  
  She is also a well-known public speaker, peer-reviewed published author, the Co-Editor of the textbook, Public Health Law: Concepts and Case Studies.

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  Asha Bell, MPH (she/her)

  NNPHI, NCCPHT Program Manager

  Asha Bell is a Program Manager for the National Coordinating Center for Public Health Training (NCCPHT) at the National Network of Public Health Institutes (NNPHI). In this role, she helps coordinate responses to training and technical assistance requests brought forward by state and local public health departments.
  
  Asha is passionate about serving underserved communities and is dedicated to working to improve health outcomes of historically disadvantaged people. She holds a belief that everyone should have an equal opportunity to live a healthy life. Asha previously worked in clinical research for over five years; this work led her to understand and value the importance of giving a voice to those often left unheard. Asha is committed to a career focused on the progression of individual and community health, especially in the most diverse and vulnerable populations. She hopes to decrease the burden felt by communities in need; her work supporting technical assistance through the Public Health Infrastructure grant aligns directly with these goals.
  
  Prior to her current role, Asha worked as a Special Assistant to the President and CEO at the CDC Foundation. She holds a master’s degree in public health with a concentration on health promotion and behavior from Georgia State University and a BA in public health from Agnes Scott College located in Atlanta, Ga. In her free time, she enjoys spending time with her family and friends, playing sports, and eating good food.

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  Ajay Persaud, MPH, CPH (He/Him)

  NNPHI Senior Program Associate, Climate and Crisis Preparedness

  Ajay is a Senior Program Associate within the Climate and Crisis Preparedness program. He supports key programmatic work in CCP projects including Project Firstline, an-infection prevention and control initiative, and the Coaching for Enhanced Disease Intervention Skills program, and other environmental health projects.
  
  Ajay’s passion for public health began in high school when he joined his local volunteer EMS agency and discovered emergency preparedness and response. His goal to protect families and communities alike from natural and man-made disasters has guided him to advocate for improved climate change adaptation and mitigation research and projects.
  
  Ajay holds his master’s degree in public health with a concentration in Environmental and Occupational Health from the George Washington University in Washington, D.C. His graduate thesis focused assessing the impact that wildfire smoke may have on climate change and its implications. Prior to joining NNPHI, Ajay was an Emergency Medical Technician and telecommunications operator at the George Washington University Department of Emergency Medicine.