F1: Framing the Anti-Racism Narrative So People Listen

Sara is an Assistant Clinical Professor of Public Health at Northern Arizona University (NAU). Her training in public health is broadly focused on social and behavioral aspects of health and health equity— primarily working with immigrant, refugee, and incarcerated populations. I also have over ten years of community-based experience in public health program evaluation.

Tara Lutz is the training director at the Center for Excellence in Developmental Disabilities Education, Research, and Service (CT UCEDD) and an assistant professor of public health sciences at the University of Connecticut (UConn) School of Medicine. She coordinates the graduate Certificate of Interdisciplinary Disability Studies in Public Health and co-directs the clinical doctoring course for second year medical students. She is a Master Certified Health Education Specialist (MCHES ®).
Her areas of interest include disability and public health, health education and health promotion, addressing issues of health equity across different communities, and integrating disability education and competency into public health and health care training programs. She is skilled in curriculum development for public health and medical students in public health, disability, and racism and bias that incorporates a health equity framework to describe and address systems-level issues including access, accessibility, and inclusivity.

At SOPHE, Tara is the national delegate for Connecticut (CT) SOPHE, and the speaker of the House of Delegates for 2022. She is dedicated to public health education students, professionals, and those we serve. She strives for equitable access to services, education, and communication through ways in which are consumable to our many audiences. She values collaboration, partnerships, teamwork, and accountability. To borrow from the newly-revised 10 Essential Public Health Services, I see one my contributions to the field is to develop our workforce to “enable equitable access” and “build a diverse and skilled workforce”.

LaNita S. Wright is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Health Promotion and Physical Education, Public Health Education program at Kennesaw State University. She teaches undergraduate courses pertaining to public health theory, planning, implementation and evaluation.

Her current research focuses on how interconnected systems influence health-promoting behaviors, especially among adolescents, with a recent research project focusing on the Black Church’s role in preventing teen pregnancy. She also recently facilitated a community engagement project (alongside a nonprofit) pertaining to the local community’s perceptions of sexual health related topics and implementation. Her recent work has been published in Health Promotion Practice and Journal of Adolescence.

LaNita offers professional service in various ways, including peer-reviewing manuscripts for multiple journals and book publishers, and serving on the Health Promotion Practice Editorial Board.

She received a Doctor of Philosophy in Health Promotion and a Master of Public Health in Health Promotion Sciences from the University of Oklahoma. She received a Bachelor of Science in Health Services Administration from Auburn University.

LaNita is a passionate, dedicated public health professional. She finds joy in playing an active role in the development of young people through research, teaching, training, and mentoring.  

Dr. James Butler III is an Associate Professor in the Department of Behavioral and Community Health at the University of Maryland College Park School of Public Health. His teaching philosophy is rooted in a pedagogy of collegiality, which values diversity of all kinds and creativity in the classroom community so that effective educational environments are developed where students’ voices are incorporated along with the course materials. His goal is to establish a setting that fosters an open and free exchange of ideas. Where “pedagogy” captures students’ full experience of learning in the classroom, including content, methods, and student learning styles. And, “collegiality” indicates the student/teacher relationship that embodies mutual learning that shifts the center of attention away from Dr. Butler to the students and back again so that all can become members of a community of learners. Dr. Butler has more than 20 years of experience teaching in trade schools, juvenile detention centers, elementary and middle schools, and in undergraduate and graduate programs.

Bishar Jenkins, Jr., MPP is an emerging health equity practitioner based in Washington, D.C. Bishar earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in Political Science from Rutgers University-New Brunswick and a Master of Public Policy degree from Brandeis University.  

Bishar is the Manager of Policy and Programs at the Society for Public Health Education (SOPHE), where he leads their federal advocacy efforts. Prior to SOPHE, Bishar served as a Congressional Black Caucus Foundation Fellow. In this capacity, he served as a health policy staffer in the office of Congresswoman Frederica S. Wilson and completed his second rotation in the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's Division of HIV Prevention. Bishar actively centers health equity and justice in his health policy efforts.   

Bishar proudly hails from Trenton, New Jersey.