Whole School, Whole Community, Whole Child: From Model to Practice

An Associate Professor of Community Health & Human Services at the UAB School of Education, Dr. Larrell Wilkinson is a teacher, researcher, and servant to the Birmingham metropolitan community. Dr. Wilkinson has a Master of Science in Public Health in Health Promotion Education & Behavior (2005) and a Ph.D. in Health Services Policy & Management (2011), both from the Arnold School of Public Health at the University of South Carolina. Dr. Wilkinson started his public health career as an intern at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention within the National Center for Immunization and Respiratory Diseases (formerly National Immunization Program). Today, Dr. Wilkinson is a behavioral research scientist interested in addressing the biopsychosocial pathways and life course mechanisms determining health and social outcomes and related racial/ethnic health and social disparities.

Rachael Dombrowski, PhD, MPH, designs, implements and evaluates multilevel interventions to advance social justice and improve community health. Dr. Dombrowski is a faculty member of California State University San Marcos where she conducts community-based participatory research, including program development and evaluation within the Midwest and nation-wide. Dr. Dombrowski serves as an evaluator for the Best Food Forward school-based nutrition supports intervention, and recently conducted an assessment of over 300 grocery stores for the Great Grocer Project. Prior to working in academia, Dr. Dombrowski spent over 10 years directing and evaluating several multilevel interventions focused on policy, systems and environmental change within schools, communities, hospitals and corner stores in suburban Cook County and Chicago, Illinois. She is a graduate of the University of Illinois at Chicago (PhD) and the University of Michigan (MPH). She has worked in the public health field for over 15 years.

Stephanie Kellam, MS,CPT Recognized by the Michael and Susan Dell Center for Healthy Living in 2018 as the Texas Health Champion, Stephanie Kellam currently serves as the Director of Wellness and Community Engagement for UnitedHealthcare. Her extensive experience in wellness-related program design and implementation brings her exceptional knowledge and strategy to the well-being industry. An accomplished grant writer, Stephanie prides herself in her strong relationship building skills and a passion for helping people live healthier lives. A former school district employee and coordinator for a research, education, and advocacy non-profit organization, Stephanie currently supports school district customers in their wellness programming as it relates to schools and the community. In addition, Stephanie runs the community and employee engagement programming for UnitedHealthcare in Texas. With an array of publications, presentations, and trainings, Stephanie shares her insight into the world and culture of school wellness with a variety of audiences. Stephanie earned her undergraduate degree from Rice University, her master?s from the University of Houston and is currently pursuing her Doctorate in Education at the University of Houston. When not sharing her passion for well-being, Stephanie can be found corralling her two young children and COVID puppy. #myimpact ensure all youth in Texas have equal access to quality health education.

Melissa Fahrenbruch, MEd is the Program and Professional Development Team Lead in the Division of Population Health’s School Health Branch, National Center for Chronic Disease Prevention and Health Promotion, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). Melissa earned a BS in Education from the University of Nebraska, and a master’s in educational leadership from Doane College. She has over 25 years of experience in the education field as a teacher, coach and as a high school principal. Her school health expertise led her to Kansas and was the Director of CDC’s Coordinated School Health Program in the early 2000s. She then moved to Atlanta to serve as a Project Officer of that program which led her to her current position as team lead. Melissa currently oversees two school health cooperative agreements for states and national organizations and is the lead for internal and external professional development events for CDC staff and funded partners.