Speakers

Sarah Davis is the Associate Director for the Rocky Mountain Public Health Training Center, housed within the Center for Public Health Practice at the Colorado School of Public Health. The Rocky Mountain Public Health Training Center is one of 10 HRSA-designated regional public health training centers. Mrs. Davis leads a team of instructional design, evaluation, and training implementation specialists to provide high-quality, primarily distance-based training to professionals addressing public health issues throughout the Region VIII states of Colorado, Montana, North and South Dakota, Utah, and Wyoming. She also supports national workforce development efforts as part of the Public Health Training center Network and through projects funded by the National Network of Public Health Institutes, the Centers for Disease Control and the National Association of Chronic Disease Directors.

Sarah holds a Masters in Nonprofit Management and has spent the past 20 years in the public health field, working as a project and team leader; a facilitator and trainer; and a grant writer and manager. She has a strong background in program planning and implementation; integrating program and policy initiatives and working with coalitions. Sarah lives in Denver with her husband, teen daughter, and two dogs. In her free time, Sarah is a TRX and fitness dance instructor, avid reader, fair-weather skier, and craft beer enjoyer.

Laura Gudgeon is the Chronic Disease Epidemiologist with the South Dakota Department of Health. She has previous hospital experience at Avera and Sanford Health in Quality Risk Management, Coding, and the Cancer Registry. She graduated from The College of St. Scholastica with a Master of Science degree in Health Information Management. Laura enjoys studying trends in data among populations with chronic diseases in South Dakota and utilizing the data in Public Health.

Marcy Harder is Community Services &Volunteer Coordinator with SDSU Extension. She supports community services by being a Leader for the Better Choices, Better Health SD suite of Chronic Disease Self-Management workshops and recruits new leaders for workshops. She walks new volunteers through the enrollment process and sees that all volunteers have the resources needed to do their work. Marcy’s passion is health and wellness and volunteering offers the opportunity to do improve both for all involved. Marcy has her Bachelor of Science in Nursing and previously worked in a variety of direct patient care areas.

Megan Jacobson works for SDSU Extension and serves as Health Promotion Specialist for Better Choices, Better Health® SD. In 2014she obtained certification as a Chronic Disease Self-Management Program Master Trainer and to date has reached over 200 adults though facilitation of community workshops and lay leader trainings. Megan enjoys working with a variety of local, state, and national partners on initiatives focused on disease prevention and health promotion. Megan lives on a fourth-generation farm in Howard with her husband and their two boys.

Lindsey Karlson serves as the Director of Quality Improvement for Community Healthcare Association of the Dakotas (CHAD) – the primary care association for health centers in North Dakota and South Dakota. In her role at CHAD, Lindsey is responsible for developing strategy and initiatives, facilitating and managing clinically related networks, supporting quality improvement, clinical measurement, and serving as the clinical partner with the Great Plains Health Data Network. Prior to joining CHAD, Lindsey spent eight years working for Horizon Health Care, the largest Federally Qualified Health Center (FQHC) in South Dakota. There, she first served as director of the Prairie Health Information Technology (HIT) Network, a collaboration of three FQHCs in South Dakota focused on IT support and HIT adoption. Under her leadership, the Prairie HIT Network secured rural health network funds to develop and implement the “IT’s a HIT! Training Program” to build HIT expertise among rural health care staff. Lindsey transitioned to the role of director of quality improvement at Horizon in 2016. In that role, she developed and led Horizon’s quality program, including attaining patient-centered medical home (PCMH) recognition at nine clinic sites. For more than 15 years, Lindsey has been an advocate for rural places and what they need to thrive. She began her career working to support economic development within rural communities and leverages that experience to continue supporting rural health care services. Lindsey holds a bachelor’s degree from Augustana University in economics and sociology. She is a graduate of the IHI Improvement Coach program. She lives on a farm near Madison, SD, with her family.

Janet Kittams is currently the Chief Executive Officer of the Helpline Center. She has been with agency for over 25 years in a variety of leadership roles. She received her Bachelor’s Degree in Psychology from the University of South Dakota and her Master’s Degree in Counseling from the University of North Dakota and is a licensed professional counselor.

Her experience has includes serving as a leader in statewide efforts surrounding suicide prevention, expanding the 211 system to become statewide in 2020, and building the Helpline Center to work as a collaborative partner on a variety social service and health care issues.

Julie Klinger, Community Outreach Coordinator, began her professional career as a Social Worker with the South Dakota Department of Social Services in Child Protection and then worked at Lutheran Social Services in the Adoption program as a Social Worker. After several years at LSS, Julie pursued her master’s degree in Social Work from Iowa State University and then became the adoption program director at LSS. Julie also has worked in the field of human trafficking as the Director of Operations and Grants Manager at Call to Freedom prior to joining the Community Health Worker Collaborative team. Julie works with community-based organizations regarding CHW program development.

Kris is originally from Rapid City and has lived in Martin with her husband and 4 children for 23 years. Kris is involved in her local community in many ways. She is a member of the Martin Wellness Coalition, served as SDSU Extension Summer Program Leader during the summer of 2022 and also helps with the Kids in the Kitchen program. Kris is also an SDSU Extension Master Gardener and a Master Food Preserver.

Sydney Lanning is the Coordinator for Communities That Care of Mitchell, SD. Sydney comes from Madison, SD with her husband and four children. Moving in June of 2022 to Mitchell. Prior to Communities That Care, she was a Nationally Credentialed Victim Advocate working with domestic violence victims and sexual assault victims. Still fulfilling that role, she is also currently the Executive Director for a nonprofit based out of Sioux Falls that helps victims gain access to resources as well as case management. Consulting on the side for DV victims. She also worked at the Madison Regional Hospital as a Paramedic where she served her community alongside her husband who worked for the Lake County Sheriff's office as the Patrol Sargent and K9 handler. Helping the community has been a passion of Sydney's and remains so through this program focused on youth prevention. Having been at the forefront of mental health crises through EMS and advocacy, mental health is extremely important to the wellbeing of everyone in our community. Which is why she is also in school full time for Psychology. If that is not enough of a case load, she also was appointed as President for Mitchell Area Networking Association in August which helps connect resources with other resources for clients who may need them.

Erica Lessman earned her Bachelor of Science in Social Work at the University of Sioux Falls. Currently she is a Cancer Education and Outreach Coordinator with Sanford Health where for the past 12 years she has worked specifically with refugee and non-English speaking populations in the Sioux Falls area. Prior to working at Sanford, she worked eight years as a Cultural Liaison at the Multi-Cultural Center of Sioux Falls using her social work background to create and build a women’s health program for refugee and immigrant women. Erica’s love for her job stems from the platform her position provides. She goes into homes with an interpreter and meets each client where they are, identifying their specific health barriers and needs, and getting to know them on a personal level. She is able to interact with different cultures to help them navigate through complex medical terminology and systems. Sometimes she navigates them through a difficult cancer diagnosis with compassion so they do not feel alone or overwhelmed.

Brooke Lusk is the Director of the Division of Health and Human Services for Black Hills Special Services, a position she has held since 2004. Brooke is a Registered Nurse and has a Bachelor of Science degree in Biology from USD. She has 26 years of experience in health and human services programs, six of those years with the SD Department of Health and twenty with Black Hills Special Services. In her position at BHSSC, Brooke provides nurse consultant services for the Colorectal Cancer Control Program, Bright Start Home Visiting Program and Chronic Disease Partners coalition. Brooke oversees several other public health programs and programs that provide services and training to people with disabilities.

Liz Marso is the Healthy Communities Coordinator with the South Dakota Department of Health. Liz is a Registered Dietitian by background but has a passion for overall wellness. Liz has the opportunity to work with many community-based grants in her work including Good & Healthy Communities, Communities That Care, Community-based Self Measured Blood Pressure, Breastfeeding Friendly Businesses and Harvest of the Month.

Liz is speaking on behalf of Live Well Black Hills.

Jordan Mounga works as the Brown County Communities that Care coordinator in Aberdeen SD at Avera Addiction Care Center. Brown County CTC began as one of the pilot communities to introduce the community change model in South Dakota. Their community board was formed in May of 2021 and currently has 25 active members. Currently in Phase 3, BCCTC is working toward community assessment and action planning along with recruitment of youth for their board. Brown County CTC can be followed browncountyctc on social media platforms.

Josh Ohrtman is a clinical services pharmacist at The Medicine Shoppe in Rapid City. He serves as Network Director for the South Dakota Community Pharmacy Enhanced Services Network (CPESN SD). He has united community pharmacies across SD to increase quality, offer enhanced services that benefit patients, and improve healthcare in SD. Josh has formed partnerships with South Dakota Department of Health, South Dakota Foundation for Medical Care, and South Dakota State University College of Pharmacy. Josh enjoys spending time with his wife and three children in the Black Hills, training Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu, and is active in the Black Hawk Community Church.

Mindi Smith, BSN, BA is an RN Care Manager at Sanford Health in Mitchell, SD. She received her education in Wellness Management at Black Hills State University and in Nursing at South Dakota State University. Her role includes working directly with patients in an ambulatory care setting in effort to improve overall health and wellness through chronic disease self-management. She assists with management of disease registries, quality improvement, and serves as a liaison between the patient and the discovery of resources to assist in health improvement.

Ben Tiensvold has served as the lead contact for the CHWSD since its inception in January 2020. He has led the CHWSD through significant growth over the first two years, in part due to the CDC Health Disparities Grant funding the SD Department of Health received in June of 2021. For the past seven years, Ben served as the Coordinator for the South Dakota Diabetes Coalition (SDDC) through his work as a Communications Specialist and now Project Coordinator with Sage Project Consultants. Ben is passionate about the CHW profession and works to be an ally for all CHWs in South Dakota and across the country. Ben previously worked with the SD Department of Health in 2015 and 2016 on Community Health Worker-related introductory projects. This work led to key recommendations for CHWs (which the South Dakota Department of Social Services then used to develop CHW reimbursement). Ben has Bachelor of Arts degrees in Communication Studies and Public Relations from Southwest Minnesota State University and is currently pursuing his Master of Public Health degree from New Mexico State University.

Vickie Venhuizen is the Grants Manager for the Boys and Girls Club of the Sioux Empire in Sioux Falls. Vickie will be starting her 6th year with them in September. Vickie has a background in Elementary education and administration and Educational Service Agency School Improvement Specialist. Her dedication in the last 22 years of work has been as an Elementary Principal, where she was responsible for the Title I, Part A, REAP and School Improvement grants where she wrote and received Title 1, Part B & Title 1, Part D grants. This work has now led her current position at Boys and Girls Club of the Sioux Empire, where they have a 21st Century grant and work with a variety of foundations and agencies for funding.