Background & Bio
Ben started his career as an educational equity advocate and community organizer in Baltimore. Since then, he has amassed more than a decade of experience in developing and strengthening national-level programming to align values, processes, and human outcomes within health and related systems. Immediately prior to AMCHP, he was the administrative and programmatic lead for a HRSA-funded resource center at the Association of University Centers on Disabilities (AUCD) charged with providing comprehensive technical assistance to a $30 million portfolio of more than 60 training programs based at universities and children’s hospitals. This included implementing a range of strategies to help programs develop and sustain partnerships with state/territorial Title V agencies, increase the relevancy of pre-service training to current and anticipated workforce and population needs, address the degree to which public health policies and initiatives are grounded in evidence derived from lived experience, and ensure that MCH professionals from all disciplines can work within/across systems and bend them toward justice. Ben earned a Master of Social Work degree with a concentration in management and community organizing from the University of Maryland and a Bachelor of Arts degree in sociology from the University of Michigan.
My Current Work
Ben leads a dynamic staff team that is accountable for the development, implementation, and evaluation of program activities aligned with the “Maternal and Child Health Talent” core area of AMCHP’s strategic plan. This includes intensive, individualized leadership development for current and aspiring professionals, focused capacity building with Title V programs and their agency/community partners, and the creation/dissemination of products to meet real-time workforce needs. The team regularly analyzes multiple forms of evidence from diverse sources to identify and report on workforce strengths, needs, and trends. They also collaborate with partners at all levels of the socioecological model (including the CDC) to ensure that women, children, and families are planned for in the event of public health emergencies, recognizing workforce preparedness as a key driver of systems-level response outcomes.
Ask Me About
Workforce development, Capacity building, Leadership, Emergency preparedness and response, Hiking, Breakfast foods
