Marilyn Johnson, MBA (she/her/hers) excels at leveraging her business mindset with public health passion to drive successful programs, positively impact the local community, and address healthcare inequities. Before joining the CityMatCH team as the Director of Operations, Marilyn worked at the Mississippi State Department of Health (13 years) where she led the development of insightful, innovative projects to…
Ellen “El” Kerns (she/her/hers) joined CityMatCH in 2021 as a member of the faculty. She has a BS in Biology from the University of Missouri-Kansas City, as well as an MPH in Epidemiology from the University of Illinois at Chicago. She also has a Ph.D. in Biomedical Informatics from the University of Nebraska Medical Center. Her research focuses on…
Caitlin Ray (she/her/hers) joined CityMatCH in 2022 as the Grants Writer/Administrative Coordinator. She has a BA in English and Theatre from Hamline University, as well as an MA in English from the University of Nebraska at Omaha. She is currently a Ph.D. Candidate in Rhetoric and Composition at the University of Louisville. Her dissertation focuses on the rhetoric of…
Nishka Bommareddy, MPH (she/her/hers) serves as a Public Health Project Coordinator for CityMatCH. She is also completing a three-year fellowship that started at the end of 2020 and is partnered with Saint Louis University, where she received her MPH with concentrations in Global Health and Maternal and Child Health. Nishka also has a Bachelor of Science in Biochemistry from…
Ashleigh Sutphen, MPH (she/her/hers) serves as a Public Health Project Coordinator for CityMatCH. She first joined the team in 2019 as a Graduate Project Assistant and recently was awarded her MPH in Maternal and Child Health from the University of Nebraska Medical Center. Ashleigh also has a Bachelor of Science in Public Administration, which serves as a strong foundation for her…
DeAnna Young (she/her/hers), serves as CityMatCH‘s Communications Coordinator. DeAnna joined the CityMatCH team in 2018, bringing with her a vast knowledge of administrative strategies, project documentation, and organizational problem-solving. She is passionate about doing her part to create a world where everyone can feel loved and belong. DeAnna graduated with her Bachelor of Multidisciplinary Studies with…
Chad Abresch, PhD (he/him/his) has been with CityMatCH since 2002 and was appointed to the position of Executive Director in 2010. Under his leadership, the organization has been recipient of the Maternal and Child Health Bureau’s Director’s Award and the American Public Health Association’s Martha May Eliot Award for Effective Practice. Chad completed his PhD in public administration, where his…
Carol Gilbert, Ph.D., MS (she/her/hers) has been with CityMatCH since 2004. Carol enjoys working with local MCH practitioners to help them make data useful for their communities. She is interested in data sources, methods, and training needs for local communities working on reducing health disparities. She has a Masters in Applied Mathematical Statistics, and a Ph.D. in Medical…
Regan Johnson, MPH (she/her/hers) serves as CityMatCH‘s Women’s Health Manager. Her primary focus is leading the Well Woman, Well Communities project and co-leading the portfolio of work addressing perinatal HIV transmission. She also oversees the Women First reception at the annual CityMatCH conference. She joined the organization in 2014 as a graduate assistant, leading the reconvening of the Select Panel on Preconception…
Denise Pecha, LCSW (she/her/hers) serves as CityMatCH‘s Executive Director. Prior to that, she served as CityMatCH‘s Director of Programs for nearly a decade, providing direction and oversight to the education and training programs at CityMatCH. Denise has a strong background in children’s welfare, most recently serving as the Director of Children’s Services at Lutheran Family Services of Nebraska. She…
Join us for the 2023 CityMatCH Maternal and Child Health Leadership Conference, in New Orleans, LA.
