Speakers:

Elizabeth Espinosa , News Reporter
KTLA-TV Los Angeles

KTLA-TV in Los Angeles is making it official: Emmy award-winning journalist Elizabeth Espinosa is an Emmy award-winning journalist for local Los Angeles news station KTLA. Her passion for story telling has brought her much recognition. In 2007, the Mexican American Opportunity Foundation bestowed Elizabeth with their top honor: Woman of the Year award.  That same year, Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa and the city council honored Elizabeth for her support and work of Operation Confidence, a committee that helps the disabled population in hurricane ravaged New Orleans rebuild. Espinosa is an advocate for the rights of the disabled and works tirelessly with various community groups and non-profit organizations, such as Ability First and HOLA (Heart of Los Angeles). 

Sarah Olivia Mercer, Senior Program Manager
for Health at Latino Issues Forum (LIF)

Sarah Olivia Mercer is Senior Program Manager for Health at Latino Issues Forum (LIF), a public policy and advocacy organization dedicated to advancing new and innovative public policy solutions for a better, more equitable and prosperous society. As Senior Program Manager, Ms. Mercer oversees program planning and development, fundraising, and policy advocacy efforts to expand quality, affordable health care to Latinos in California.

Thomas L. Johnson, Executive Director
Medicaid Health Plans of America

Thomas L. Johnson has served as executive director of the Medicaid Health Plans of America since September 1, 2004. MHPA is a Washington-DC-based trade association representing Medicaid health plans. Mr. Johnson represents the interests of the Medicaid health plan industry before congress, the executive branch, and state governments. Prior to his tenure with MHPA, he served as Vice President of Compliance and External Affairs for DC Chartered Health Plan, a Medicaid health plan located in Washington, DC.  During his tenure at Chartered, Mr. Johnson also served as chair for two terms of the DC Association of Health Maintenance Organizations, winning the 2003 Leadership Award. Mr. Johnson’s health care lobbying experience also includes serving as president of the DC Hospital Association; and representing the Medical Society of the District of Columbia, which serves as the DC Chapter of the American Medical Association.

Nancy Muller, Executive Director
National Association For Continence

Ms. Muller is the Executive Director of the National Association For Continence (NAFC), whose headquarters is located in Charleston, South Carolina.  Ms. Muller has served in this capacity since 2000 and has been on the Board of Directors since 1996.  Prior to assuming this responsibility, she served as chief operating officer for the state’s largest group of private medical practices focused on nutritional counseling and intervention.  Prior to that stint, she worked for six years as a private consultant in the health care industry and has undertaken projects for such clients as the Mayo Clinic, Baylor College of Medicine, Oregon Health Sciences University, and Cedars-Sinai Medical Center.  Currently, she is a doctoral student in health services research and administration at Virginia Commonwealth University.

Michael O'Leary, Director,
Provision, Johns Hopkins University

Michael O’Leary has over 15 years experience managing public health and public opinion research projects in the United States, Latin America, Africa and Asia and is currently the director of ProVisión, a coalition of local businesses, community-based organizations, clinics, and media that is improving eye health seeking behaviors among Latinos in Baltimore, MD. Previously, he developed and implemented multi-year behavior change communication strategies for HIV/AIDS and maternal and neo-natal health programs in Southern and East Africa. He has conducted market research both domestically and internationally for a variety of corporate clients, such as Texaco/CalTex, Monsanto Corporation, and Procter and Gamble, and polled for political campaigns in the Dominican Republic and the United States. Mr. O’Leary also managed a USAID Child Survival grant in Haiti and developed a national communication strategy to promote coca alternatives in Peru. He holds an M.A. in Communication and International Development and speaks Spanish and a bit of Portuguese.

Thomas L. Oliver,
Executive Director & CEO, The National Hispanic Press Foundation

Thomas Oliver has served as the Executive Director and Chief Executive Officer of the National Hispanic Press Foundation since September of 2001. Most recently he has overseen the development, publishing and distribution of a national wellness campaign in partnership with the Coca-Cola Companies distributing over 160,000 copies of a special wellness supplement in Spanish and English. At the direction of the U.S. Congress and in partnership with the U.S. Department of Education, he orchestrated a higher education campaign to reach over 60,000 aspiring college students with CD, online and print campaigns. During that same period he guided the NAHP & NHP Foundation to their most successful convention and membership drive in the organization’s twenty year history. During his tenure at the Foundation, he has launched scores of new editions of the “Hispanic Scholarship Directory” with a public awareness campaign featuring actor/activist Edward James Olmos and Olympic Gold Medalist Derek Parra, launched the Hispanic publishing industry’s first non-profit bi-lingual news service, and partnered with a score of Hispanic organizations to encourage Hispanic voter registration and voter turn out, among other things.

Cindy Peña, Director of Public Relations
MAYA Advertising & Communications

The district’s most influential Latina reporter Celinda “Cindy” Peña joined MAYA as Director of Public Relations in 2007. Peña’s responsibilities include managing public relations and media. Peña came from Washington, DC’s local WUSA 9 as a general assignment reporter, bringing a wealth of experience in covering local, national and international news. The two-time Emmy nominated reporter has covered catastrophic events including 9/11 and the D.C. Sniper attacks. Peña also covered the heated debate of immigration from Capitol Hill to county council in Northern Virginia.

Luis Vasquez-Ajmac, President and Founder
MAYA Advertising & Communications

President and founder of MAYA, an award-winning national brand-building agency headquartered in Washington, D.C., and with an office in Los Angeles, Luis Vasquez-Ajmac has more than twenty-five years of experience in segment marketing and brand building. Mr. Vasquez-Ajmac is widely recognized within his field as a visionary using advertising, public relations, and coalition building to catapult client issues, products, and services into prominence. Vasquez-Ajmac is organizing the U.S. Health Disparities Forum to share his vast experience in the area of health care communication, and to provide solutions to the underserved members of our community. He has released a DVD on capitalizing on PR trends for senior-level executives and his new book on brand building entitled Inside the Minds is now available nationwide.