Technical Assistance Team • CCR Support
Featured
TA Team
Director
Community Health Worker Institute
With a passion for health equity and more than a decade of experience working in the public health and healthcare sectors, Andrea Heyward has supported the efforts of numerous community-based and healthcare organizations providing expertise in the areas of community health, rural health, integration of evidence- based models to include the CHW model. Andrea holds a Master of Science degree in Health Education and Health Communication from Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health.
Areas of expertise: health education, grant writing and reviewing, quality improvement coaching and training, program management, technical assistance.
TA Team
Envision CHW Coach
University of South Carolina—Center for Community Health Alignment (CCHA)
Erin is a Community Health Worker Program Consultant for Envision. With more than ten years of experience connecting resources with community members, Erin is familiar with the many barriers that they may encounter. Trained as an educator, Erin’s background in community engagement has led to her facilitating the Stanford-based Chronic Disease Self-Management Program as well as working as a Certified Community Health Worker Trainer. She has a passion for addressing health inequities and providing support and creative ways to affect change.
Areas of expertise include: CHW Coaching, CHW association and network development, SNAP-ED Nutrition Education, community engagement and training,
Leadership & TA Teams
CCHA Executive Director
University of South Carolina—Center for Community Health Alignment (CCHA)
CCHA Executive DirectorUniversity of South Carolina—Center for Community Health Alignment (CCHA)Julie Smithwick, CHW, LMSW, has more than 25 years of experience working alongside communities to address inequities. Julie is the founder and director of the Center for Community Health Alignment at the University of South Carolina, which also houses the Community Health Worker Institute. Prior to developing the Center, Julie founded and led PASOs, a community-based CHW organization. She also helped found the South Carolina CHW Association and is on the Boards of various organizations including the National Association of Community Health Workers.
Areas of expertise: Developing CHW teams and CHW organizations, CHW coaching, CHW association and network development, CHW sustainability and policy, CHW leadership, advocacy, reaching marginalized populations, health and racial equity.
Leadership & TA Teams
Envision Co-Director CHW, Leadership Development
University of South Carolina—Center for Community Health Alignment (CCHA)
Lisa Renee has been a proud member of the CHW workforce for over 30 years. She is passionate about policy development to support the workforce and has drafted legislation to support CHWs. She has spent recent years supporting professional development of her peers through mentoring emerging leaders, developing curriculum, and providing training.
Lisa Renee has co-founded several organizations including the Massachusetts Association of Community Health Workers and the National Association of Community Health Workers where she serves as a founding board member. She has co-authored publications including the foreword for the textbook, Promoting the Health of the Community: Community Health Workers Describing Their Roles, Competencies and Practice and the initial Smiles for Life Frontline Health Worker module. Her unique background stimulates innovation when providing technical assistance to established and developing CHW programs and associations.
Areas of expertise: network & association development, interdisciplinary partnerships, curriculum development, training, mentoring
TA Team
Executive Director PASOs
University of South Carolina—Center for Community Health Alignment (CCHA)
Maria has more than 20 years of experience in community health and social service work and administration of non-profit and public programs. As Executive Director of PASOs, she and her team strive to provide culturally responsive education on family health, early childhood, and positive parenting skills; individual guidance for participants in need of resources; and partnership with health care and social service providers to help them provide more effective services. Founded in 2005, PASOs helps the Latino community and service providers work together for strong and healthy families.
TA Team
CHW Program Consultant
University of South Carolina—Center for Community Health Alignment (CCHA)
Silvia is one of seven children born to immigrant parents who rose from a humble upbringing to become the first in her family to attend college and earn a degree in Business Administration, with a minor in Hospitality Management, from California State Polytechnic University in Pomona.
For over a decade now, Silvia has worked in the nonprofit sector, earning certificates in Professional Life Coaching, Community Health Work and Doula. Through her work in maternal health, she became an integral part of the accreditation process for Home Visitation Expectant Mothers Programs. Also, Silvia became the first CHW instructor in the Promotores Academy (where she was once a student).
Silvia has devoted her personal and professional life to her dual passions for health and education. She has learned that the root issues of our society all steam from systems that influence communities to make poor lifestyle choices that result in a poor health and lack of education. Silvia finds joy in working side by side with community members to create strong and healthy foundations in order to thrive in wellness.
TA Team
CHW Program Consultant
University of South Carolina—Center for Community Health Alignment (CCHA)
Soledad Bolden is Community Health Worker and Program Manager with over eight years of experience and now an envision CHW Program Consultant. Prior to joining the envision team, Soledad was a Middle School Science Teacher. She graduated with her Bachelor’s degree from the University of Maryland Eastern Shore and received her Masters in Secondary Education from Brooklyn College. She was also an Educational Specialist, leading various sessions in providing best practices in the classroom to teachers across the district.