Dr. Damon Tweedy is an associate professor of psychiatry at Duke University School of Medicine and a staff psychiatrist within the Durham Veteran Affairs Health Care System. He completed both medical school and his specialty training at Duke. He also graduated from Yale Law School. He is the author of the book Black Man in a White Coat: A Doctor’s Reflections, which examines the complex ways in which both black doctors and patients must navigate the difficult and often contradictory terrain of race and medicine.

Dr. LaTonya Summers is an award-winning assistant professor of clinical mental health counseling at Jacksonville University. She is the author of Multicultural Counseling: Responding with Cultural Humility, Empathy, and Advocacy. She founded the national annual Black Mental Health Symposium, a conference aimed to equip mental health professionals with culturally-specific skills to improve mental health wellness in Black communities. She serves as the President of the Florida Association for Multicultural Counseling and Development.

Tim Wise is among the most prominent anti-racist writers and educators in the United States. He has spent the past 25 years speaking to audiences in all 50 states, on over 1500 college and high school campuses, at hundreds of professional and academic conferences, and to community groups across the country.
Wise has also trained corporate, government, entertainment, media, law enforcement, military, and medical industry professionals on methods for dismantling racial inequity in their institutions, and has provided anti-racism training to educators and administrators nationwide and internationally, in Canada and Bermuda.

Dr. Roland J. Thorpe, Jr. is an associate professor in the Department of Health, Behavior, and Society, the Founding Director of the Program for Research on Men’s Health in the Johns Hopkins Center for Health Disparities Solutions, and Deputy Director of the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health. Among other positions, he holds a joint appointment in the Johns Hopkins School of Medicine, Department of Medicine, Division of Geriatric medicine and Gerontology, the Department of Neuroscience, and in the Undergraduate Program in Public Health Studies Program in the Johns Hopkins Krieger School of Arts & Sciences.

Dr. Thorpe is a social epidemiologist and gerontologist whose research focuses on understanding how key social determinants of health such as race, socioeconomic status, and segregation affect health and functional outcomes across the life course.

Dr. Crystal Cene’ is an associate professor of medicine and cardiovascular epidemiologist at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill’s Department of Medicine and the Division of General Medicine and Clinical Epidemiology. She is also the System Executive Director for Health Equity for UNC Health Sciences, and Director of the Program on Health Disparities at the Cecil G. Sheps Center for Health Services Research. Her pursuit of health equity is a unifying theme for her research, teaching, and leadership roles. She is an accomplished, nationally and internationally recognized health services and health disparities researcher. Her work has focused on the contribution of social determinants of risk outcomes - particularly race, ethnicity, and social networks - to health.

Dr. Cedric Bright, physician and patient advocate, is Associate Dean for Admissions at East Carolina University, Director of Special Programs, and Associate Professor of Medicine for the Department of Medical Education at the UNC School of Medicine. He served as the 112th President of the National Medical Association. He was previously Associate Clinical Professor of Internal Medicine and Community and Family Medicine at Duke University, and a staff physician at the VA Medical Center in Durham, North Carolina. He also served on the North Carolina Medical Society Patient Safety Task force, chaired the Board of Directors at the Lincoln Community Health Center, has spoken about health disparities before the Congressional Black Caucus, was a medical ambassador in Ghana, and has served as a mentor for the Student National Medical Association. He is a dedicated leader in delivering patient equity through broader access, and is a staunch proponent of healthcare reform.

Dr. Andrea Sullivan is a Doctor of Neuropathic Medicine. She earned her degree from Bastyr University in Seattle, Washington. After graduating from the four year accredited program, she took advanced courses in Homeopathic medicine in the United States, India and Europe. She continues to study with Homeopathic physicians from Mumbai (Bombay), India and is a diplomat with the Homeopathic Academy of Naturopathic Physicians. She has a private practice, Dr. Andrea Sullivan Center for Natural Healing, located in Washington, DC. Dr. Sullivan was the first African American to receive a PhD from the University of Pennsylvania in Sociology/Criminology. She taught at Howard University, American University, and the University of Maryland, and was subsequently appointed Assistant Director of Justice for the National Urban League in New York City. She later worked as special assistant for urban policy to Patricia Roberts Harris, the US Secretary of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) during the Carter administration.

Victor Armstrong joined North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services as the NC Division of Mental Health, Developmental Disabilities, Substance Abuse Services in March of 2020, with responsibility and oversight of the public community-based mental health, intellectual and other developmental disabilities, substance use, and traumatic brain injury system in North Carolina. Victor currently serves on the board of directors of American Foundation for Suicide Prevention (AFSP) NC. He is also former board chair of NAMI NC, and a member of American Association of Suicidology (AAS), and NASW-NC.

Sharon Kelly West is a registered nurse, international speaker and published author focusing on healthcare disparities and culturally appropriate approaches to medical care inclusive of the topic of cultural humility. She has been the keynote speaker within faith communities addressing various health topics. She is currently Nurse Manager of Women Veteran Services at the Veterans Administration Medical Center Asheville, and a freelance columnist for the Asheville Citizen Times on various health topics. Dr. West serves on the NC Commission of Public Health in the registered nurse seat as well as the North Carolina Minority Health Advisory Council.

Dr. Brian Asbill is originally from Columbia, South Carolina. He graduated cum laude from Davidson College in 1990with a BS (Biology major), and received his MD degree from the Medical University of South Carolina (valedictorian) in 1994. He completed his internship and residency in Internal Medicine (and met his wife) at the University of Virginia in 1997. He completed his Cardiology Fellowship training at MUSC in 2001 and subsequently joined Asheville Cardiology Associates (ACA) where he served as an invasive, non-interventional Cardiologist until 2020.
Dr. Asbill co-founded Ruckus Health in 2020, whose vision is to support people holistically in uncovering their innate ability to live in physical, mental, emotional and spiritual balance. He also serves as Medical Director of the Cardiac Rehabilitation Program for Mission Health, the North Carolina Division of HCA.

Dr. Donya D. Wallace is a graduate of the counselor education program at the University of South Carolina, holds a Ph.D. in Counselor Education and Supervision, a Master’s Degree in counseling from Webster University, and a B.S. in experimental psychology from the University of South Carolina. She is licensed as a professional counselor, a professional counselor supervisor and a national certified counselor. In 2018 she received recognition for her work with underserved communities by being named a 2018-19 National Board for Counselor Certification (BNCC) Minority Fellow and in 2018 as a Southern Association for Counselor Educators and Supervisors (SACES) Emerging Leader.

Dr. Wallace’s scholarly areas of interest include wellness among African American women, the Strong Black Woman archetype and mental health disparities in the African American community. She has presented her work on effective treatment of African American women and families, implicit bias in healthcare and the strong Black woman archetype in state, regional and national conferences. Her most recent work Culturally Adapted Cognitive Behavioral Therapy in the Treatment of Panic Episodes and Depression in an African American Woman: A Clinical Case Illustration (in press) demonstrates the efficacy of cultural adaptations to an evidenced based treatment to dismantle cognitive distortions associated with panic and depression in African American women.

Joseph T. Hackett is a social scientist and has been an ordained Elder for 22 years, pastoring for 16 years. The Founder of Leviticus International Network leading a network of 35 pastors and churches as well as founder Leviticus Community Education Center in Nairobi, Kenya. He is pastor of New Mt. Olive Missionary Baptist Church and author of 13 books including “Where is God when I’m Mad”, “Why did He leave me like this”, and “Spiritual History and Mapping”. He was educated at UNC-Asheville, Duke University, University of Ghana-Legon, Lenoir-Rhyne University, and Eli College & Seminary.
As a returning citizen, he uses education and life experience as Executive Director of Jordan Peer Recovery.

Dr. Bill Gist was born and raised on the South Side of Chicago. He attended the University of Illinois in Champaign and received a BS in Computer Engineering. He then worked for Procter and Gamble as a Computer Engineer in Process Control where he lead the support for all 14 North American Tide Towers and worked on batching systems for Crest, Duncan Hines, Era, Jif and Crisco Oil. While at Procter and Gamble, he fulfilled his premed requirements in Biology and Organic Chemistry and obtained his MD from the University of Cincinnati. After residency in OB/GYN at North Oakland Medical Center, he was in private practice in Indiana, Tennessee and Georgia with his wife, a Certified Nurse Midwife. In 2012, he joined the faculty at the University of Tennessee in Chattanooga, and became the Program Director in 2013.
Dr. Gist joined Mountain Area Healthcare Education Center (MAHEC) in June of 2019 as Residency Program Director of the OB/GYN Department.

Felicia Hipp, MSN, RN, CNE is the Chief of Clinical Operations and Director of Nursing at MAHEC. She also serves as a mentor and healthcare strategic advisor for Engage2Uplift where she partners with healthcare organizations on workforce development planning and implementation as well as establishing mentoring and coaching programs. She has over twenty years’ experience working in clinical leadership and caring for others. In her career, Felicia has spent time as an RN in the hospital setting, worked in Public Health, and helped found and served as Vice President for a worksite wellness program. These experiences have afforded her the opportunity to be well equipped in fostering strong collaborative relationships with patients and colleagues.
Felicia earned her Bachelor’s degree in Nursing from North Carolina Agricultural and Technical State University and her Masters in Nursing Administration with a Certificate in Nursing Education from the University of North Carolina at Charlotte. She has a degree in Dietetics and is currently working to complete her Doctorate in Nursing Leadership.

Dr. Frayne is the President of Mountain Area Health Education Center (MAHEC). He joined the MAHEC Department of Family Medicine in 2006 and held several leadership positions including Clinical Director, Medical Director, and Assistant Residency Director. He attended Boston University and the University of California at Irvine College of Medicine, and completed a Family Medicine Residency at Lancaster General Hospital in Lancaster, PA. He then spent four years as a primary care physician in Linville, North Carolina.
Dr. Frayne is an Associate Professor of Family Medicine with UNC-Chapel Hill School of Medicine.
Interconception health and advocating for women’s health and improved birth outcomes is an area of great interest to Dr. Frayne. He has been involved in grant-funded collaborations to expand the IMPLICIT ICC model and state and federal preconception COIIN projects. He has also served as a member of the NC State Preconception Health Strategic Planning Team since 2016.

Leslie is the Marketing and Sales Manager for the Department of Continuing Professional Development at MAHEC. She is a current board member of the Western Carolina Medical Society, and serves on the Steering Committee of the Medical Minority Mentoring Program at MAHEC. She is the previous President of the Board of Asheville Buncombe Institute of Parity Achievement (ABIPA), and previously served on the Women’s Commission of Buncombe County. She owns and operates a local nonprofit called My Sistah Taught Me That, an organization that is dedicated to mentor and support young girls growing up in single parent homes. Leslie Council Lake is a native of Asheville, North Carolina. She is a young professional who has worked in healthcare administration for over 17 years. While in this role, she has furthered her education in health equity and become a consultant that is committed to dismantling racism in healthcare. Her expertise in event planning and marketing skills have afforded her opportunities to work with nationally recognized providers across the country.

Lourdes Lorenz-Miller is a proven leader with experience in the strategic visioning and integration of the Healing Integrative Health Care Model and inspired a team of holistic practitioners to provide and serve patients and staff with holistic interventions and compassionate care. Overall, her motivation is to produce positive impact on health creation for communities. She has demonstrated leadership skills as a VP of Wellness at Heartland Health, administrator for a large cardiology practice, nationally recognized leadership in integrative health programs, critical care services, and regional programs to improve population health. She is passionate about creating a healing environment for patients and family members.
Lourdes is a well-known national speaker who promotes Holistic Nursing, Wellness, Integrative Health, stress resiliency, leadership training, self-care, and evidence-based complementary modalities for managing pain.. She is currently the Project ECHO Manager for the Department of Continuing Professional Development at MAHEC.