OFFICE OF HEALTH EQUITY

Advisory Committee Member Bios

The OHE-AC consists of a broad range of experts, advocates, health clinicians, public health professionals, and consumers who understand the importance of the health and mental health disparities and inequities of historically vulnerable, marginalized, underserved, and underrepresented communities.

Iliana Soto Welty

Advisory Committee Co-Chair

Iliana Soto Welty has been an advocate for ending disparities and catalyst for systems change for over 25 years. She is passionate about strengthening communities to have a voice in the systems that impact their lives, and she advocates for improved access, quality, and equity of services for communities of color. Iliana is Co-Chair for the County of Orange Behavioral Health Equity Committee, the CalOptima Health Member Advisory Committee representing behavioral health, Equity Advisor with Public Health Advocates, and participates in collaboratives at the local and state levels. Her previous roles included Executive Director at the Multi-Ethnic Collaborative of Community Agencies and director positions at First5LA and OC Human Relations. She consults with public and private agencies on policy, programs and planning and works on Healthy Equity and Community Partnerships at Mind OC leading the Equity and Healing work for the Be Well OC Network of Care.

Aaron Gardner

Aaron Gardner is an epidemiologist and program evaluator for the Riverside County Department of Public Health. Aaron's 20 years of social science and epidemiological research experience includes 14 years investigating infectious and chronic disease in Riverside County with a focus on social epidemiology. His past research topics included novel substance abuse treatment models for gay and bisexual men and African Americans. In the last decade, his research focus shifted to health equity and the social and environmental determinants of health and its impact on the chronic and communicable disease burden and life expectancy in minority populations and women. Aaron is on the forefront in research and policy development in his local health department coordinating the development, implementation, and evaluation of an innovative public health workforce training series and producing many of the county's first health reports on specific populations including the LGBT and transgender community.

Angela M. Vázquez

Angela M. Vázquez spent the last decade in education and child welfare public policy, working as a Policy Analyst at Advancement Project and the Associate Director for FosterEd California. Through these positions, she convened local and statewide education and child welfare stakeholders and facilitated policy development and implementation discussions for children in foster care. In 2020, she was appointed to California's Citizens Redistricting Commission, an independent body tasked with redrawing California's elections boundaries. In March 2020, Angela became ill with COVID-19 and developed Long COVID. As the President of Body Politic, an all-volunteer grassroots organization at the forefront of Long COVID patient advocacy, Angela is leading intersectional children's well-being advocacy with and for other patients of color with chronic conditions and disabilities. Currently, Angela is a Policy Director at The Children's Partnership, covering a portfolio that includes mental health and child welfare. Angela received her master’s degree in social work from the University of Southern California and her bachelor’s degree in psychology from Claremont McKenna College.

Dannie Ceseña

Dannie Cesena Dannie Ceseña (he/they) is a transgender, two-spirit descendant of the Chichimeca tribe and is the LGBTQ Program Manager for the California LGBTQ Health and Human Services Network. He has over 15 years of experience working with non-profits in program development and advocacy. Ceseña utilizes upstream interventions and addresses the root causes of lack of access to Transgender, Gender Nonconforming (TGNC) affirming healthcare. He also assisted in the creation of two TGNC community health care clinics and a monthly TGNC legal clinic in Orange County. Dannie is a trusted leader in LGBTQ health among partners in the California Tobacco Control Program. He is responsible for building We Breathe: Supporting Tobacco-Free LGBTQ Communities from the ground-up, and established the program as an innovator statewide, nationally, and even internationally.  He is a graduate of CSU Long Beach with bachelor's degrees in English and political science and is a graduate of National University with a Master of Public Health degree.

Esperanza Macias

Esperanza Macias is the Director of Development and Strategic Communications at Instituto Familiar de la Raza (IFR) where she works to raise awareness and support the mental and behavioral health needs of the Latino community of San Francisco. Prior to her work at IFR over the past twelve years, she served as Executive Director of Health Initiatives for Youth and the San Francisco Women’s Building. As a Chicana lesbian, Esperanza was a past Advisory Board Member of the Dimensions Clinic in San Francisco. She is the current Chair of the Chicano/Latino/Indigena Health Equity Coalition which is comprised of various health-related Latino-serving organizations. She is also a member of the San Francisco Health Improvement Partnership (SFHIP) where she participated in developing the past two San Francisco Community Health Needs Assessments and serves as the current SFHIP Co-Chair. The focus of Esperanza’s policy work is Latino health equity with an eye towards increasing culturally-based practices, values and intersections in the public health system.

Nancy Rodriguez

Nancy Rodriguez is a Health Program Analyst with Community and Field Services at the Los Angeles County Department of Public Health South Bay Regional Health Office. She conducts the planning, implementation, and evaluation of programs that promote authentic community engagement. Nancy serves as co-lead of the South LA/South Bay African American Infant and Maternal Mortality Community Action Team, a government-community partnership to address the alarming racial disparities in birth outcomes endured by African Americans in Los Angeles County. Her priority is to ensure that the voices of community members play a central role when planning and implementing community initiatives. Nancy is a first-generation college graduate from a Mexican immigrant family. She completed her undergraduate education in Public Health Policy at the University of California, Irvine, and obtained her Master of Public Health with an emphasis in Health Communication from the University of Southern California. Nancy is also a Certified Health Education Specialist and a Certified Healthcare Interpreter.

Rashon Lane

Rashon Lane is a Senior Health Equity Scientist at Sutter Health. Rashon served as a Senior Health Scientist/Behavioral Scientist at the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) for 15 years and led the development of health equity indicators in cardiovascular disease project for the Division for Heart Disease and Stroke Prevention. She also served as the Principal Investigator (PI) for the Grady Hospital Heart Failure Program evaluation where she assessed the integration of social determinants of health measures into electronic health records to provide health equity interventions and reduce heart failure readmissions. In 2020, during the CDC's COVID-19 response, was lead for the Minority and Rural Health and Monitoring and Evaluation teams. Most recently, she was PI for behavioral and epidemiological studies on long-COVID and the team lead for the Ending the HIV Epidemic Initiative. Rashon completed her doctorate in medical sociology at the University of California San Francisco, master's in social psychology and evaluation from Claremont Graduate University, and bachelor's from Tuskegee University in psychology.

Angela Ball

Angela Ball has been the Director of the Division of Public Health Nursing for the Alameda County Public Health Department for 10 years and serves as the COVID-19 Deputy Safety Officer. She is responsible for planning, organizing, and directing public health nursing programs, including the Older Adults/Healthy Results, In-Home Supportive Services, Adult Protective Services, Foster Care Assessment Center, Community Outreach and Pre-Eligibility Units. Angela works towards improving access to and quality of care for incarcerated and detained individuals at the city and county holding cells, jails, and juvenile detention facilities through her management of the annual Title 15 jail inspections. At the Breast and Cervical Cancer Early Detection Program, Angela was responsible for ensuring the provision of high-quality breast and cervical cancer screening services to low-income, underserved women in Alameda County. She has strong partnerships with organizations such as, First 5 Alameda County, academic institutions, CBOs, local hospitals, and professional organizations.

Angelina Woodberry

Angelina Woodberry is currently a Consumer Advocate Liaison with Cal Voices in Sacramento County and brings 20 years of front line nonprofit social services experiences. Angelina has been involved in community based advisory boards for 14 years. She serves as a Peer Action League Member with the California Association of Mental Health Peer Run Organizations and is a member on their Cultural, Racial Ethnic Equity Committee. She is also the Chair Sacramento County Children's Coalition. With her roles on these boards, she provides the unique perspective of a woman of color who came from the foster care system. She is both a consumer of mental health services and the parent of a child with a physical disability and mental health challenges. Angelina previously worked as a mental health patients' rights advocate, representing people with lived mental health challenges in administrative hearings to help them fight for voluntary outpatient treatment.

Chris Miller

Dr. Chris Miller is a religious studies teacher at a Catholic high school in the San Francisco Bay Area. He also serves as co-chair of the Pastoral Care and Mental Wellness Ministry Network through the National Federation for Catholic Youth Ministry and is a member of the California State Mental Health Policy Workgroup, the NAMI National FaithNet Steering Committee, and the National Action Alliance for Suicide Prevention’s Faith Communities Task Force. He most recently worked for Catholic Charities Santa Clara County supporting the Community Action Poverty Simulation program and served as the youth and young adult coordinator at a 5,000-family parish. Miller graduated from Santa Clara University with a bachelor's degree in history, California Teaching Credential, and master’s degrees in education and pastoral ministries and a doctorate in education from the University of San Francisco. Most recently, he received a master’s degree in clinical psychology from Notre Dame de Namur University. Chris is currently enrolled in a post-master’s Certificate in Spiritual Formation at Boston College.

Eddie Hu

Eddie Hu currently serves as a Program Director at Asian Resources, Inc. Eddie accumulated extensive experience as a health advocate, working with individuals across various age groups and linguistic backgrounds to address health disparities. With over seven years of experience in public health, Eddie leads a network of community-based organizations and clinics that primarily serve Asian Americans, Native Hawaiians, and Pacific Islanders. Eddie advocates for health care and oral health access, culturally and linguistically appropriate care, quality of care, and social determinants of health at the local, state, and national levels. As a first-generation immigrant and member of the LGBTQIA+ community, Eddie is passionate about advocating for equitable social change and participates in several coalitions and committees focusing on healthcare access, data equity, oral health access, and cultural and linguistic access. Eddie holds a Master of Public Health and a Master of Social Work from the University of Southern California. Eddie is also a native speaker of Cantonese and Mandarin.

Héctor Manuel Ramírez

Héctor Manuel Ramírez (he/them/they) is an Apache and Mexican Two Spirits person occupying space in Yaanga, Tongva-Los Angeles, CA -- the ancestral lands of the Fernandeño Tataviam Band of Mission Indians. He is an Autistic person with a psychiatric disability, is hard of hearing, and is a lifelong disability rights advocate focusing on the intersections that impact disabled people, families, and communities. He is a formerly institutionalized person and a consumer of the largest public mental health system in the country -- Los Angeles County Department of Mental Health, where he chairs the Latino UsCC. He is the first openly gay person ever appointed to the Los Angeles County Mental Health Commission, a board member of Disability Rights California, and the National Disability Rights Network. He has been appointed to California's Governor Gavin Newsom's Behavioral Health Task Force to address the urgent mental health and substance use disorder needs across California and to the Los Angeles County Measure J Reimagine LA Advisory Committee.

Lark Doolan

Lark Doolan is currently the Executive Director of Queer Humboldt. He works to ensure 2S/LGBTQIA+ people have equitable access to support and services. He holds a special education teaching credential with an emphasis on moderate/severe disabilities, and a school administrator credential, with 6 years of experience as a superintendent of a public school district. Additionally, he earned a master’s degree in clinical psychology and is a practicing Marriage and Family Therapist, specializing in serving 2S/LGBTQIA+ youth, adults, couples, and families. In his work as a professional trainer and group facilitator, he uses an anti-racist lens to support systems change in mental health, education, and community settings so that all community members, including queer people, have equitable access to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness on the Pacific North Coast of California and beyond.

Robin Carter

Robin Carter is the Interim Dean of the College of Health & Human Services at Sacramento State University. Robin has over 25 years of experience as a social work professor and administrator. As a clinical social worker, she worked with the elderly, those with chronic health and disabling conditions, and people at the end of their lives. Her scholarly and community work focuses on mental health assessment and treatment, gerontology, and equity and inclusion. She has been the principal investigator in several large grants and contracts serving students and totaling over $2 million. She held board membership in multiple professional organizations, including the Sacramento Family Justice Center, Cal Post Doc Advisory Board and the National Association of Diversity Officers in Higher Education. Robin is one of the founding members of the MLK Center at Sacramento State and was previously tasked with developing the Office of Equity, Diversity and Inclusion at Sacramento State Interim Executive Director of Diversity.

Terra Russell-Slavin

Terra Russell-Slavin, Esq. is the Director of Policy and Community Building at the Los Angeles LGBT Center, which she has been a part of for 15 years. Terra's policy work focuses on advocating for health and mental health services for the LGBTQ community, including HIV, STD and LBTQ women's health; domestic, sexual violence, and hate crime services; and homeless youth and senior services. Terra works in coalitions at the local, state, and national level with other community-based service providers representing LGBTQ community groups, larger community non-profits, and governmental entities. Terra is Chair of the LGBTQ Subject Matter Committee for the National Task Force to End Sexual and Domestic Violence. Terra received the Los Angeles County Betty Fisher Award for Phenomenal Leadership in the field of domestic violence and has been recognized by the National LGBT Bar Association as a Best Attorney Under 40. Terra is a graduate of Pitzer College and Northeastern University School of Law.