Speakers

Speaker Bio: Dr. Pamela Koch is the Mary Swartz Rose Associate Professor of Nutrition and Education Health Studies & Applied Educational Psychology Department. She is the faculty director of the Laurie M. Tisch Center for Food, Education & Policy and Co-Director of the Center for Sustainable Futures. Pam conducts research with schools and communities to give people power to demand healthy, just, sustainable food. She translates her research into curricula for school teachers, recommendations for policy makers, and resources for advocates. Her work contributes to increased access to nutritious, delicious, equitable, and sustainable food for all.

Speaker Bio:  Dr. Martz is Research Assistant Professor at the University of Michigan Addiction Center within the Department of Psychiatry. Her research focuses on psychosocial and neural factors associated with substance use risk and resilience among adolescents and young adults. Using multidisciplinary methods, Dr. Martz has examined both population-level survey data from the Monitoring the Future study and is currently working with fMRI data from the Michigan Longitudinal Study and the Adolescent Brain Cognitive Development Study.

Speaker Bio: Alfredo Hernandez is the current DEI Director for the Michigan Department of Civil Rights. Hernandez came to MDCR with a deep knowledge and understanding of racial equity. Previously, Hernandez served as the program director for the Lakeshore Ethnic Diversity Alliance, located in Holland, Michigan, which led him to develop and present training programs and consulting strategies to thousands of participants across the state and nationally. In 2016, Hernandez was part of the W.K. Kellogg Foundation-led national economy team, Truth, Racial Healing & Transformation (TRHT) enterprise, a multi-year national and community-based effort to engage multiple sectors across the United States in racial healing and addressing present-day inequities.

He holds a Masters of Art in Comparative Religion from Western Michigan University and a Bachelor’s Degree in liberal arts from Grand Valley State University.

Speaker Bio: Penelope is a fourth-year PhD student at the University of Michigan within the School of Kinesiology. She attended Michigan State University for her undergraduate degree in Kinesiology and Indiana University-Bloomington for her Masters of Public Health. Before starting her PhD, she served as the Childhood Obesity Prevention Coordinator for the Indiana Department of Health focusing on school and early childhood education wellness initiatives to child health. Her long-term goal is improving the quality and quantity of physical activity opportunities for school-aged children through policies, systems and environmental approaches.

Speaker Bio:  Wendy is a dedicated wellness coordinator for MHealthy and an exercise physiologist at Michigan Medicine’s Non-Pharma Program at the Back and Pain Center. Since 2000, she has been teaching yoga and meditation, passionately committing her career to empowering individuals to achieve their healthy lifestyle goals despite various barriers. Wendy emphasizes the importance of the mind/body/energy connection, helping others uncover their innate healing abilities and fostering a holistic approach to wellness.