August 2, 2022
(Austin) — Central Health is announcing its new class of Community Health Champions for 2022.
Central Health created the Community Health Champions program in 2016 to bring together diverse members of the community from across Travis County to learn about, discuss and collaborate on improving the health of people with low income across Central Texas.
The program involves a five-month workshop series, in which participants learn about the healthcare system for Travis County residents with low income and how Central Health and its partners work together to address health disparities.
“The Community Health Champions program has given Central Health a wonderfully diverse and enthusiastic group of allies who genuinely want to solve health disparity issues in Travis County,” said Mike Geeslin, President & CEO of Central Health. “We look forward to working with this latest class on improving healthcare for Travis County’s most vulnerable residents.”
Health Champions are challenged to think outside of their individual realities to become advocates for healthcare access and equity in their own communities.
Benefits of the program include: networking with local healthcare professionals; becoming an ambassador of Central Health to improve community health; gaining an up-close look at transforming local healthcare; and fostering relationships to collaborate on future health initiatives.
Two current Central Health Board of Managers members, Amit Motwani and Maram Museitif, are alumni of the program.
“I believe what happens on the local level, and my whole concept of affecting global change is act local and global,” Manager Museitif said. “So when I heard about this opportunity, I felt like this was the right place for me to be, to learn about the local health issues and how healthcare is being delivered locally in Austin, Texas.” Musetif is a member of the 2016 Community Health Champions program.
Added Manager Motwani: “I had high expectations, and the experience beat those expectations pretty dramatically. I was surprised at how open and transparent the organization was about its mission, its challenges in achieving its mission and how humble the organization was in addressing the challenges as well as sharing what that road map would be.” Motwani completed the Health Champions program in 2017, and also ran for Austin City Council in 2018.
The 38 new class members for 2022 are: Alejandrina McBride, Alice Navarro, Allie Rudnickas, Amber Lancaster Orozco, Angela Wiser, Arvind Subramanian, Barbara Echols, Brandon Reed, Christopher Mora, Clarissa Pedraza, Courtney Gaskamp, Drew Kotlarczyk, Emily Ibara, Guadalupe Yanez, Guillermo Ramirez, Heissel Herrera, Jairo Leon, Jeanette Monsalve, Jeni Pirtle, Joycelyn Jurado, Juliana Arellano, Katie Nance, Kent Kasischke, Keyanna Evans, Lesley Castillo, Maria Virginia Badillo, Marcela Garcia, Martha Lujan, Michele Washington, Monica Montes, Naomi Caballero, Natalie Goodnow, Raisa Charles, Shaayaan Sayed, Tania Degtoff, Tri Luong, Tricia Moose, and Yvette Lopez.
To learn more about the program, visit the Community Health Champions page.
