Advisory Group

The Center for Sharing Public Health Services relies on our Advisory Group, made up of public health practice and applied research experts, when making strategic decisions.

About the Advisory Group

Each member was invited to participate based on their professional skills and knowledge as well as their previous and current organizational affiliations. They represent a broad spectrum of viewpoints, looking at cross-jurisdictional sharing from different perspectives and bringing new vision and new ideas to the process.

The Center’s Advisory Group expands the horizon of our understanding of collaboration and cross-jurisdictional sharing in public health through their collaborative knowledge. They also provide a key personal means of connecting and communicating about the Center and its resources with the various organizations the members are affiliated with.

Advisory Group Members

Priscilla Barnes, Ph.D, M.P.H

Dr. Priscilla Barnes is an Associate Professor in the Department of Applied Health Science at Indiana University (IU) Bloomington School of Public Health. Her work focuses on how partnership-related factors influence strategic health goals/priorities of public and private organizations. She applies partnership models in studying community and organizational networks. Priscilla examines factors leading to the development or maintenance of these partnerships and their impact on health outcomes of participants in these networks. Priscilla is an Affiliated Faculty Member of the IU Center for Rural Engagement, the Diabetes Translational Research Center, and the Indiana Alzheimer Research Disease Center. She is also a liaison for the Indiana Clinical and Translational Science Institute’s Community Health Partnership Program.

Susan E. Bockrath, M.P.H., C.H.E.S.

Susan E. Bockrath, M.P.H., C.H.E.S., is the Executive Director of the Nebraska Association of Local Health Directors (NALHD) where she applies her experience in public health practice, project management, evaluation and adult education to amplifying local health departments’ efforts to make “the good life” a healthy one for all Nebraskans. NALHD leverages strategic and/or funding opportunities and provides a range of technical assistance to all 19 local health departments (LHDs) in Nebraska. Since 2013, Ms. Bockrath has overseen a ten-fold growth in NALHD’s scope of work and budget—all in support of health departments in their roles as regional Chief Health Strategists. Specific program areas include whole community well-being/mental health prevention, healthy school environments, LHD planning and assessment support, organizational health literacy, and preparing communities to be set to serve veterans and their families (the unique VetSET program). Ms. Bockrath is a longtime advocate for improving health care and educational opportunities for individuals and communities of diverse backgrounds. Much of her early career was devoted to applying health literacy principles as tools for addressing equity for language-minority individuals and communities. Ms. Bockrath holds a master’s degree in public health from the Emory University Rollins School of Public Health and is a certified health education specialist.

Liza Corso, M.P.A.

Liza Corso, M.P.A., is Senior Advisor for Public Health Practice and Accreditation with the Center for State, Tribal, Local and Territorial Support, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. She has more than 25 years of experience working in federal, national and local organizations. She has been involved in numerous public health infrastructure initiatives and has played leadership roles in the development and support of the national accreditation program for public health departments and national public health performance standards. In a previous position with the National Association of County and City Health Officials, she was responsible for overseeing the development and support of community assessment and planning tools including the Mobilizing for Action through Planning and Partnerships (MAPP) tool and the Assessment Protocol for Excellence in Public Health (APEXPH).

Ms. Corso was awarded the 2015 CDC / ATSDR Award for Excellence in Public Health Practice for her work in leading CDC efforts to advance national accreditation. She has a bachelor’s degree from the University of Richmond and a master’s degree in public administration from the Maxwell School at Syracuse University.

Cory Fleming

Cory Fleming is a Senior Technical Specialist with the International City/County Management Association (ICMA). She has written extensively about the use of data and technology for improved local government service delivery and performance measurement in various capacities. Among her responsibilities, Ms. Fleming works with ICMA’s Smart Communities Advisory Board, comprised of 25 ICMA members from across the U.S. and Canada who work to enable local government professionals to build “smart communities” through the use of data and technology. The board helps guide and participate in ICMA’s emerging smart community research, education and outreach activities.

Michael Fraser, Ph.D., C.A.E., F.C.P.P.

Michael Fraser, Ph.D., C.A.E., F.C.P.P., is Chief Executive Officer of the Association of State and Territorial Health Officials (ASTHO), the national nonprofit organization representing the public health agencies of the United States, the U.S. territories and freely associated states, and Washington, D.C.

Dr. Fraser has been advancing ASTHO’s mission as an advocate, voice and resource for state and territorial public health since August 2016. Prior to joining ASTHO, he served many leadership positions including Executive Vice President and CEO of the Pennsylvania Medical Society, CEO of the Association of Maternal and Child Health Programs, and Deputy Executive Director of the National Association of County and City Health Officials. He also served in several capacities at the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.

Dr. Fraser received his doctorate and master’s degrees in sociology from the University of Massachusetts at Amherst and a master’s in management with a concentration on management, strategy, and leadership from the Eli Broad School of Management at Michigan State University.

He was nominated for a 2018 CEO of the Year Award from CEOUpdate Magazine by his colleagues. He is collaborating editor and author of a Public Health Guide to Ending the Opioid Crisis, published by the Oxford University Press in 2019. Throughout his 20-year career, Dr. Fraser has been an educator, innovator, and distinguished leader in public health.

Peter L. Holtgrave, M.A., M.P.H.

Peter L. Holtgrave, M.A., M.P.H., is the Senior Director of Public Health Infrastructure and Systems at the National Association of County and City Health Officials (NACCHO), where he oversees the organization’s Performance Improvement, Workforce Development, and Health Equity and Social Justice portfolios. Mr. Holtgrave brings over 20 years of public health experience, including serving as the National Health Manager at the OASIS Institute, a national nonprofit focused on healthy and productive aging, managing the evaluation of the Healthy Kids, Healthy Communities national initiative funded by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, and directing programs for the Boston Public Health Commission.

Jennifer C. Kertanis, M.P.H.

Jennifer C. Kertanis, M.P.H., is Director of Health for the Farmington Valley Health District. Ms. Kertanis was appointed Director of the Farmington Valley Health District in September 2012. The district serves a population of approximately 110,000 in ten towns west of Hartford, Connecticut. Ms. Kertanis has 30 years of public health experience serving in multiple capacities in nonprofit, state and local public health agencies. She also serves as vice president on the 2018-2019 Board of Directors for the National Association of County and City Health Officials (NACCHO).

Kusuma Madamala, Ph.D., M.P.H.

Kusuma Madamala, Ph.D., M.P.H., is a research and evaluation scientist with Program Design and Evaluation Services within both the Oregon Health Authority Public Health Division and Multnomah County Health Department. She is a public health professional with 20 years of experience in public health practice and research with governmental agencies, community-based organizations, academia and nonprofit settings. Dr. Madamala’s work has been primarily focused on the performance of local and state health departments with their system partners to achieve population health improvement. Specific areas of experience and interest have included service delivery in U.S. health departments, cross-jurisdictional sharing, public health quality and performance improvement, national public health policy development and clinical/population health collaborations. She is a member of the Public Health Accreditation Board’s Research Advisory Committee, Science Board member of the American Public Health Association, former chair of the Health Administration Section of the American Public Health Association (APHA) and former Advisory Committee member of AcademyHealth’s Public Health Systems Research Interest Group. She is a member of the DrPH faculty at the University of Illinois at Chicago School of Public Health and affiliate faculty at OHSU-PSU School of Public Health. Dr. Madamala is the recipient of the Alan W. Donaldson Memorial Award, University of Illinois Constituent Leadership Award, W.C. Woodward Award and Chair’s Award from the Health Administration Section of APHA.

Shirley Orr, MHS, APRN, NEA-BC

Shirley Orr is a public health consultant and President of SOCO Consulting. Prior to establishing her consulting practice, she served in staff and leadership roles in local and state health departments in Kansas for over 25 years. Shirley’s consulting practice specializes in public health systems improvement through leadership development, attainment of national public health standards and accreditation, public health workforce development, and organizational management.

Currently, Shirley serves as a Senior Education Specialist for the Public Health Accreditation Board (PHAB) and also consults for the Association of Public Health Nurses (APHN). She also supports COVID-19 response and equity efforts as a consultant for the Kansas COVID-19 Vaccine Advisory Committee (COVAC). Previously, she provided support to the RWJF Future of Public Health Nursing initiative, which included convening of the Forum on the Future of Public Health Nursing and completion of a national public health nursing enumeration.

Through her consulting practice, Shirley has provided assistance to support national public health standards and accreditation in approximately 25 states and the US-Associated Pacific Islands. Her consulting clients have included the Public Health Accreditation Board (PHAB), the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation (RWJF), the Association of Public Health Nurses (APHN), the Association of State and Territorial Health Officials (ASTHO), state and local health departments, public health institutes, foundations, and other health-related organizations.

Shirley is an adjunct faculty member for the Department of Preventive Medicine and Public Health at the University of Kansas School of Medicine-Wichita and a lecturer for the Wichita State University School of Nursing. She is currently a student in the PhD in Leadership and Change Program through Antioch University.

Jessica Solomon Fisher, M.C.P.

Jessica Solomon Fisher is the Vice President for Strategic Initiatives at the Public Health Accreditation Board (PHAB) and Public Health National Center for Innovations (PHNCI).  She joined the organization in December 2015 as the Chief Innovations Officer.  In her current role, she oversees PHNCI and other strategic initiatives, communications & public affairs and education/technical assistance for PHAB.  Jessica also contributes to the leadership of the All In: Data for Community Health collaborative.  Jessica’s previous work experience includes 13 years at the National Association of County and City Health Officials (NACCHO), where she served most recently as the Senior Advisor of Public Health Programs. In this role, she provided leadership and oversight for a large portion of NACCHO’s programmatic portfolio, including Performance Improvement and Accreditation, Public Health Transformation, Workforce Development, Community Health Promotion and Health Equity. Jessica currently serves on Advisory Committees for the Center for Sharing Public Health Services, the Community of Practice for Public Health Improvement Open Forum Planning Committee, and Chart of Accounts work at the University of Washington. She also served as the Interim Communications Director for PHAB during its developmental period.  

 

Ms. Fisher holds a Master in Community Planning from the University of Maryland School of Architecture, Planning and Preservation and a Bachelor of Science in Geography from Ohio University.