Neil Charvat is the Director of the Tobacco Prevention and Control Program at the North Dakota Department of Health and Human Services. He started in the Program working in community programs and health equity in 2008. Neil became the Program Director in 2014. He coordinates the North Dakota Comprehensive Tobacco Prevention and Control Program State Plan. Neil also works closely with Tobacco Prevention and Control Program staff to assist in the development and implementation of tobacco treatment programs, community engagement, and health equity in populations disparately affected by tobacco usage.
Ellen Cartmell is the manager of the Tobacco Prevention & Cessation Program at the Kentucky Department for Public Health. Prior to joining the state government, she served as the public health policy advocate and public information officer for her hometown health department. She has also worked for the health department of the International Federation of Red Cross & Red Crescent Societies at its global secretariat in Switzerland, and in volunteer management at American Red Cross National Headquarters in Washington D.C. Ellen is a graduate of Centre College and achieved her Master’s in Public Administration from Morehead State University, where her work contrasted international and Appalachian aid programs addressing at-risk pregnancy.
Ellen is a proud native of Maysville, Kentucky, and is descended from many generations of Kentucky physicians, politicians, and tobacco farmers. She became passionate about commercial tobacco control when her mother convinced her to attend a meeting of their local smoke-free coalition nearly ten years ago. Since then, Ellen has happily made a career in this special niche of public health. Ellen also serves as the chair of her local public library board and in a number of civic organizations, and as the executive director of United Way of Mason County. Between meetings, she likes to spend time with her cats, James Franco and Winn Ostrich.
Emily Carlson is the Office Chief for Tobacco Prevention and Cessation at the Arizona Department of Health Services, serving in this capacity since January 2019. Emily possesses a broad set of skills in program management, community engagement, and leadership across the complete spectrum of stakeholders, including local, state, and national partners. In this position, Emily oversees all commercial tobacco and electronic vapor product prevention and cessation activities for youth and adults. Prior to this role, Emily was the program manager in the Office of Cancer Prevention and Control for six years. She was instrumental in statewide efforts to prevent and control cancer, while remaining highly committed to public health values and evidence-based programming.
Emily is a team player who is well-versed in building consensus around a common set of public health priorities and strategies. As tobacco use continues to be the leading cause of disease-related death in Arizona, her current focus is to reduce commercial tobacco use among communities most disproportionately impacted and address the alarming rise in vape use among Arizona youth.
Emily obtained her Master of Public Health degree specializing in Social and Behavioral Health from the University of Nevada, Reno in 2013. Emily’s contract work with the Nevada Department of Health & Human Services prompted her master’s degree project that explored access to health care and health information among Nevada’s youth.
In her free time, Emily enjoys cooking, yoga, and spending time with her spouse, Jonathan, and their two English Bulldogs, Oliver and Winnie.
Aubri Devashrayee is the Media Coordinator for the Tobacco Prevention and Control Program (TPCP) at the Utah Department of Health and Human Services. She has worked in substance use prevention marketing and media for 3 years and brings experience in copywriting, technical writing, design, and campaign management. They currently manage TPCP’s Way to Quit, Déjelo Ya, See Through the Vape, and Vea a Través del Vapeo campaigns. She has a B.A. in English from Brigham Young University and enjoys reading and art in their free time.
Pronouns: she/they
Ron Davis has been with the Florida Department of Health, Bureau of Tobacco Free Florida for 23 years. He currenlty serves as the State and Community Interventions Tobacco Policy Section Manager. Ron supervises staff who work with the community-based tobacco intervention providers in each of the tobacco policy focus areas in all 67 counties in Florida. He has presented at 9 national tobacco control conferences and two international tobacco conferences. He has been an invited presenter for state tobacco control program conferences in three states. Mr. Davis coordinates tobacco control activities, advocacy initiatives and policy work at the state level and provides technical assistance and training to county level tobacco staff statewide.
Christina Thill is the State Policy Planner with the Minnesota Department of Health’s Tobacco Prevention and Control Program and oversees policy initiatives in collaboration with state and local partners. Christina has twenty-eight years of experience in state and local policy and program development. She provides expertise with the development and implementation of statewide initiatives including Tobacco 21, smoke-free housing, and behavioral health. She is working collaboratively with partners to develop Minnesota’s state strategic plan.
Christina is responsible for the oversight of the CDC grant requirements and develops agency policy proposals including the recently funded Youth E-cigarette Prevention and Cessation Initiative. She has extensive expertise in developing new state grant programs, leading the development of competitive RFP’s, technical assistance and training, and grant management.
In her free time, Christina enjoys running, cross-fit training, photography, traveling, visiting Frank Lloyd Wright designed homes and buildings and, spending time with family.
Christina Ortega-Peluso is a public health professional with 20 years of experience in program evaluation and research in topic areas including Tobacco, HIV/AIDS, LGBTQ+ health, and patient safety. She is currently an Evaluation Specialist with the NYSDOH Bureau of Chronic Disease Evaluation and Research where she works on local and statewide evaluation activities for the Tobacco Control Program. Christina is a member of the Division of Chronic Disease Prevention’s Racial Justice Workgroup. She has developed and facilitated Bureau-level trainings on racial justice, participated in NACDD GEAR Group sessions focused on the intersection of data and race, and she promotes the translation of best practices to advance health equity and racial justice at the Bureau and Division levels. Christina earned her bachelor’s degree in Human Biology and her master’s degree in Public Health from the University at Albany, State University of New York. She is an advocate for ethical data stewardship and believes that health equity is the future of Public Health.
Daniel Saggese has been the Director of Marketing for the Virginia Foundation for Healthy Youth for nearly two decades and has led the establishment of one of the premier youth engagement programs in the country. He is also responsible for numerous multi-media prevention campaigns which have helped drive down the tobacco use rate among youth in Virginia by more than half. Daniel is an M.B.A. recipient from Robert Morris University and a graduate of Virginia Commonwealth University.
Rachel is the Senior Health Communication Specialist with the Massachusetts Tobacco Cessation and Prevention Program (MTCP) at the Department of Public Health.
With over 25 years of experience in public health and, Rachel has worked on a range of projects to improve internal and external programmatic communications and to educate the public on important public health issues. In addition to her work in MA, Rachel’s experience includes working at small organizations focusing on medical technology and program planning and evaluation; small and large public relations agencies conducting national social marketing campaigns; and for the state health department in Minnesota on projects ranging from grantee newsletters to managing MDH’s Statewide Health Improvement Partnership (SHIP).
Rachel holds a BA in Spanish and International Studies from Washington University in St. Louis and an MPH from the University of Maryland, College Park. She enjoys visiting her hometown of Tucson, Arizona when it is cold in Massachusetts. In her spare time, Rachel enjoys baking and watching her two children play a lot of soccer.
Tanya Wells is a dedicated public health professional with nearly 20 years’ experience in worksite wellness, community health and chronic disease prevention. She currently serves as the Tobacco Control Program Manager for the Vermont Department of Health, where she has worked for over 10 years. Tanya received her Master of Science degree in Health Promotion from Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University.
Liz Johnson is the Director of the Tobacco Use Prevention and Control Program at the Tennessee Department of Health Services, serving in this capacity since October 2018. Liz possesses a broad set of skills in program management, community engagement, and leadership across the complete spectrum of stakeholders, including local, state, and national partners. Liz oversees all commercial tobacco and electronic vapor product prevention and cessation activities for youth and adults. Liz is a team player who is well-versed in building consensus around a common set of public health priorities and strategies. As tobacco use continues to be the leading cause of disease-related death in Tennessee, her current focus is to reduce commercial tobacco use among communities most disproportionately impacted and address the alarming rise in vape use among Tennessee youth.
Prior to this role, Liz was the Executive Director of the Sumner County Anti-Drug Coalition, served as the Program Coordinator for the Regional Intervention Program in Franklin, Tennessee, and taught elementary school for four years in Hendersonville, Tennessee.
Liz obtained a Bachelor of Science in Education from Middle Tennessee State University and a Master of Public Health from Walden University.
In her free time, she enjoys cooking, reading, and spending time with her husband, twin daughters, and boxer, Rudy.
Meredith Hennon is the Surveillance & Evaluation Manager within the Bureau of Tobacco Free Florida at the Florida Department of Health, a position she has held since September 2021. Prior experience includes:
Meredith has a BA in Sociology from Penn State University and a MPH in Epidemiology from the University of Pittsburgh, Graduate School of Public Health.
Sierra Phelps is the Tobacco Program Director with the South Dakota Department of Health. In this role, she oversees the tobacco control program, including the SD QuitLine, community and school outreach, counter-marketing, prevention programs, surveillance and evaluation. She provides oversight for all tobacco control program development, strategic planning, grant writing, management, budget preparation, staff supervision, outreach to partners and policy development. Sierra has a Master’s Degree in Criminal Justice and has been in tobacco control since 2020.
In her free time, Sierra enjoys spending time with family and all her animals, studying true crime, camping and rescuing (all) animals.
Keri Schneider has worked in commercial tobacco prevention and control for close to 20 years. Currently, she is the Tobacco Prevention Control Specialist for Wisconsin’s Tobacco Prevention and Control Program (TPCP). In her current role, she provides contract administration for local and statewide organizations and provides training/technical assistance with a focus on tobacco dependence treatment/cessation and smoke-free multi-unit housing for programs TPCP funds. Previously, Keri worked for the American Lung Association as the Manager, Health Promotions. Keri Schneider has a Bachelor of Science degree from the University of Wisconsin – La Crosse.
Sarah Wylie has worked in tobacco prevention and policy for more than a decade, in positions across multiple states and sectors. She currently serves as Manager for the Oregon Tobacco Retail License Program with the Oregon Health Authority – Public Health Division. In her role, Sarah leads development and implementation of a new regulatory program and provides oversight for Oregon’s National Tobacco Control Program grant activities. Sarah has also worked as tobacco communications and policy lead at the Oregon Health Authority, in program evaluation at RTI International, and as the community and policy programs specialist at the Vermont Department of Health.
Sarah is a graduate of the University of Washington Community-Oriented Public Health Practice Program and Carleton College. When she’s not dreaming up new program structures and connections, Sarah enjoys soccer, gardening, knitting, and visibly mending her family’s best-loved garments.
Christy Knight is the Tobacco Prevention and Control Program Manager at the State of Alaska, Division of Public Health, Section for Chronic Disease Prevention and Health Promotion. In this role, she administers the commercial Tobacco Prevention and Control Program and coordinates with partner organizations to ensure that services are available statewide. Christy graduated from Colorado Christian University and holds a Bachelor of Arts in Psychology. Christy has worked in health program management within the Alaska Department of Health for over 12 years and has experience within Medicaid Home and Community Based Waiver programs and the Part C Early Intervention/Infant Learning program. Christy’s areas of expertise include developmental disabilities, commercial tobacco control, and public policy. In her free time, Christy enjoys exploring Alaska while cross country skiing, hiking, four wheeling and camping.
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