Kim is a native of the Tidewater, Virginia area and moved to the New River Valley in Southwest VA in 2019. She holds an MS.Ed. in Health Promotion from Virginia Tech and a PhD in Education from Old Dominion University. She has over 20 years experience in higher education and has worked in various capacities in the public health field. Kim is currently working as research faculty in the Center for Transformative Research on Health Behaviors at the Fralin Biomedical Research Institute @ VTC in Roanoke, VA. Within the public health field, her experience and expertise lie primarily in the promotion of health and wellness and health equity, particularly through the planning, implementation, and evaluation of public health interventions. Kim is a Certified Health Education Specialist (CHES) and also holds an Exercise Physiologist certification through ACSM. Kim is a member of several professional organizations and currently serves as President-Elect on the Virginia Public Health Association board and as chief-editor of the Virginia Journal of Public Health. She is also an active member of SOPHE and APHA. Kim also serves in the community as a Near Southwest Medical Reserve Corp volunteer and as a Court Appointed Special Advocate (CASA) for the New River Valley. Kim enjoys hiking, biking, traveling, spending time with family and friends, and going to Virginia Tech sporting events.

Kim is a native of the Tidewater, Virginia area and moved to the New River Valley in Southwest VA in 2019. She holds an MS.Ed. in Health Promotion from Virginia Tech and a PhD in Education from Old Dominion University. She has over 20 years experience in higher education and has worked in various capacities in the public health field. Kim is currently working as research faculty in the Center for Transformative Research on Health Behaviors at the Fralin Biomedical Research Institute @ VTC in Roanoke, VA. Within the public health field, her experience and expertise lie primarily in the promotion of health and wellness and health equity, particularly through the planning, implementation, and evaluation of public health interventions. Kim is a Certified Health Education Specialist (CHES) and also holds an Exercise Physiologist certification through ACSM. Kim is a member of several professional organizations and currently serves as President-Elect on the Virginia Public Health Association board and as chief-editor of the Virginia Journal of Public Health. She is also an active member of SOPHE and APHA. Kim also serves in the community as a Near Southwest Medical Reserve Corp volunteer and as a Court Appointed Special Advocate (CASA) for the New River Valley. Kim enjoys hiking, biking, traveling, spending time with family and friends, and going to Virginia Tech sporting events.

Kim is a native of the Tidewater, Virginia area and moved to the New River Valley in Southwest VA in 2019. She holds an MS.Ed. in Health Promotion from Virginia Tech and a PhD in Education from Old Dominion University. She has over 20 years experience in higher education and has worked in various capacities in the public health field. Kim is currently working as research faculty in the Center for Transformative Research on Health Behaviors at the Fralin Biomedical Research Institute @ VTC in Roanoke, VA. Within the public health field, her experience and expertise lie primarily in the promotion of health and wellness and health equity, particularly through the planning, implementation, and evaluation of public health interventions. Kim is a Certified Health Education Specialist (CHES) and also holds an Exercise Physiologist certification through ACSM. Kim is a member of several professional organizations and currently serves as President-Elect on the Virginia Public Health Association board and as chief-editor of the Virginia Journal of Public Health. She is also an active member of SOPHE and APHA. Kim also serves in the community as a Near Southwest Medical Reserve Corp volunteer and as a Court Appointed Special Advocate (CASA) for the New River Valley. Kim enjoys hiking, biking, traveling, spending time with family and friends, and going to Virginia Tech sporting events.

Kim is a native of the Tidewater, Virginia area and moved to the New River Valley in Southwest VA in 2019. She holds an MS.Ed. in Health Promotion from Virginia Tech and a PhD in Education from Old Dominion University. She has over 20 years experience in higher education and has worked in various capacities in the public health field. Kim is currently working as research faculty in the Center for Transformative Research on Health Behaviors at the Fralin Biomedical Research Institute @ VTC in Roanoke, VA. Within the public health field, her experience and expertise lie primarily in the promotion of health and wellness and health equity, particularly through the planning, implementation, and evaluation of public health interventions. Kim is a Certified Health Education Specialist (CHES) and also holds an Exercise Physiologist certification through ACSM. Kim is a member of several professional organizations and currently serves as President-Elect on the Virginia Public Health Association board and as chief-editor of the Virginia Journal of Public Health. She is also an active member of SOPHE and APHA. Kim also serves in the community as a Near Southwest Medical Reserve Corp volunteer and as a Court Appointed Special Advocate (CASA) for the New River Valley. Kim enjoys hiking, biking, traveling, spending time with family and friends, and going to Virginia Tech sporting events.

Heidi Hancher-Rauch, PhD, CHES® has been a university faculty member and researcher for approximately 15 years, the last 13 of those at the University of Indianapolis where she is a professor and director of the Public Health Program. She has practiced in the field for more than 20 years, including work in the areas of community disease prevention and worksite health. Her areas of expertise include health policy and advocacy, program evaluation, and evidence-based health promotion. Health advocacy has always been her main passion, with the majority of her publications and professional presentations on the topic. She teaches courses including Health Policy and Advocacy; Program Planning, Implementation & Evaluation; and Leadership in Public Health. Heidi provides professional service as the Board Trustee for Advocacy & Resolutions for SOPHE, serves on the SOPHE Advocacy Committee, is a member of the Top 10 Steering Committee, and previously served as the director of Indiana SOPHE Advocacy for two terms. Heidi started a chapter of Eta Sigma Gamma at the University of Indianapolis in 2019 and continues to serve as co-sponsor of the organization. She engages with community organizations such as the Indiana Minority Health Coalition as an outside evaluator and uses her advocacy skills to promote health equity and social justice every chance provided.

Chelsea Dade is a health communications professional who also is the founder of Communicate for Health Justice organization. She wears many hats in the wide field of health equity and builds awareness and resources on communicating health with equity and social justice in mind. 

For more information, check out Chelsea's online portfolio: https://chelseadade.wordpress....

Gigi Holder currently serves as the program director for the Child Access to Mental Health and Psychiatry (CHAMP) program operated out of the Department of Psychiatry and Human Behavior at the University of Mississippi Medical Center (UMMC) in Jackson. In this role, Gigi operates the day-to-day activities which vastly involve providing resources and referrals, and education to primary care providers across the state when they call the consultation phone line to speak to a mental health specialist regarding the care of their pediatric patients. The mission of CHAMP is to address the lack of mental health resources across Mississippi by allowing for same-day, peer to peer consultation between a medical provider and a social worker, child psychologist, or child psychiatrist so that behavioral and emotional concerns can be addressed without the need for unnecessary referral delay for services.

Prior to this position, Gigi completed a 2-year postgraduate fellowship with the Mississippi Thrive! Child Health and Development Project which was a comprised of a multidisciplinary team conducting developmental assessments for children up to age 6 at the Center for Advancement of Youth (CAY) at UMMC. As a clinician, she continues to provide therapy services to families with children aged 2 to 7 regarding behavioral concerns as well as exposure to trauma events for young children and adolescents. 

Gigi earned her bachelor’s degree in Health Education from the University of Arkansas in her hometown of Fayetteville, AR, and later received a Master's of Public Health and a Master's of Social Work from the Dual Degree Program in New Mexico State University in Las Cruces. Through all of this, her involvement with SOPHE has remained steadfast from maintaining her CHES credentialing to serving in leadership roles in both the House of Delegates and on the Board of Trustees for National SOPHE. 

Gayle is currently a lecturer in the Department of Health and Human Physiology at the University of Iowa. She received her PhD in Public Health and MPH from Walden University.  Dr. Walter has served in leadership positions for national SOPHE as a Delegate Trustee and the Trustee for Research and Ethics.  She also served on the Task Force to revise the code of ethics for the health education profession.  Her areas of interest include social determinants, cultural competency, and access to care for vulnerable populations.  Gayle is also involved in the community by serving on the Board of Directors for the Free Medical and Dental Clinic in Iowa City.