Meet the Speakers
(In order of appearance)
Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA)
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Nick joined the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services in Denver in 1989. He served as lead regional analyst for Medicaid managed care programs until 1997. Since joining the HRSA regional office, Nick has served as project officer for federally qualified health centers, regional operations director leading performance reviews of HRSA-funded programs, and since 2015, regional administrator. Nick leads a team of clinical professionals and is responsible for the coordination and professional well-being of all HRSA regional staff. In the last ten years, Nick has led over 80 projects facilitating collaboration between state, local, tribal, private health care organizations, universities, and HRSA grantees to strengthen the safety net for the underserved in HHS Region 8. |
U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS)
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Sharon has been with HRSA since 2004. She is responsible for leading HRSA’s external and intergovernmental affairs, regional operations, strategic partnerships, tribal engagement, and surveillance activities for the region, along with many HRSA IEA workgroups and cross-cutting priority initiatives. She provides leadership in the advancement and promotion of HRSA’s mission and priorities across regions, states, tribes, territories, and local communities. Sharon conducts outreach to expand knowledge of HRSA’s programs to advance agency and Department priorities. Sharon exercises management authority for general administration of HRSA Region 10. Sharon has a passion for serving vulnerable and underserved populations and has over 30 years’ experience working in public health and human services. Prior to her current role, Sharon served as the deputy regional administrator for the Kansas City Regional Division of HRSA IEA. In addition to her experience with HRSA, Ms. Turner has worked with Kansas City, Missouri’s leading universities and hospitals such as The University of Kansas, The University of Missouri-Kansas City, Children’s Mercy Hospital, and Truman Medical Centers. She is an advanced degreed social worker, with dual masters degrees in social work from the University of Missouri-Kansas City and public administration from Park University. She is a certified professional coach and mediator. |
HRSA Bureau of Health Workforce (BHW)
 Sheila Pradia-Williams, RPh, MBA, Deputy Associate Administrator, Bureau of Health Workforce, HRSA
Sheila Pradia-Williams provides overarching leadership alongside the BHW Associate Administrator. Before assuming her role in June 2022, Ms. Pradia-Williams was the Director for BHW’s Office of Strategy, Programs, and Partnerships, where she led implementation of strategic priorities and programs funded through the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act and the American Rescue Plan (ARP) Act. Ms. Pradia-Williams has a passion for HRSA’s mission to improve health and achieve health equity through access to quality services, a skilled health workforce, and innovative programs. She previously served in leadership roles within BHW and its predecessor bureaus and with HRSA’s HIV/AIDS bureau. Over the span of her 28-year career as an officer in the U. S. Public Health Service, Ms. Pradia-Williams served in positions across the Department. She helped to coordinate and plan the confirmations of the Assistant Secretary of Health and Surgeon General, and managed the regulatory process for blood and biological products within the Center for Biologics Evaluation and Review at the Food and Drug Administration. Before joining the federal workforce, Ms. Pradia-Williams was a hospital pharmacist at George Washington University Hospital. She holds degrees in biochemistry and pharmacy from Xavier University of New Orleans and an MBA from the University of Maryland, Robert H. Smith School of Business. |
 Michele Farris, MPH, Special Assistant to the Associate Administrator, Office of the Associate Administrator, Bureau of Health Workforce, HRSA
Michele has over 18 years of federal government experience and serves as a key advisor with the responsibility for managing cross cutting initiatives within BHW and HRSA. She plays an integral role in strategy, policy/program planning, development, evaluation, and regional programmatic efforts for the BHW Office of the Associate Administrator (OAA). She is a regular contributor in coordinating matters with the office of the HRSA Administrator. Michele’s portfolio includes the National Health Service Corps program and other cross cutting activities around health workforce. She is the BHW OAA lead for the Regional Workforce Workshop effort. Her leadership positions at HRSA have ranged from being senior advisor, acting supervisor, team lead, and SWAT scholar. She has won numerous awards for her contributions to HRSA. Prior to HRSA, Michele was a regional coordinator for the Louisiana State Office of Public Health. |
Tracey Smith, MSc, MPH, Senior Advisor, Division of Nursing and Public Health
Tracey Smith has been a public health analyst with HRSA since 2015. Her first position was with BHW’s Division of Medicine and Dentistry. For five years she worked on grants and cooperative agreements that trained medical and dental residents in rural and underserved areas, established new residencies in rural areas, and conducted research into the rural health workforce.
Tracey then moved to HRSA’s Bureau of Primary Healthcare (BPHC). During the three years with BPHC she initially was lead on the pre-award phase of the Health Center Controlled Networks program, which strengthens health information technology utilization at health centers. She then managed a portfolio of health centers supported with CARES and ARP funding to conduct a wide range of COVID-19 response activities.
Tracey returned to BHW in December 2022 as a Senior Advisor to support leadership and program activities in the Division of Nursing and Public Health. Before joining HRSA, Tracey was with the Office of the Assistant Secretary for Response, Office of Emergency Management, supporting the public health preparedness and response efforts of the Medical Reserve Corps program. Her federal service began as a CDC Disease Intervention Specialist assigned to DC Department of Health.
Curi Kim, CAPT, MD, MPH, Senior Advisor, Division of Medicine and Dentistry
CAPT Kim is a career medical officer in the Commissioned Corps of the U.S. Public Health Service. She is the Designated Federal Officer for the Council on Graduate Medical Education, which provides advice and recommendations to the HHS Secretary and Congress on medical education and the physician workforce. Prior to joining HRSA in 2022, she was the Director for the Division of Refugee Health (DRH) at the Office of Refugee Resettlement (ORR) within HHS’ Administration for Children and Families, where she was the first career medical officer in the agency, the first medical director of ORR’s DRH, and the founder of ORR’s Division of Health for Unaccompanied Children. Her previous federal service also includes many roles within HHS’ Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s Division of Global Migration and Quarantine. CAPT Kim received her degrees in bachelors of science and master of public health from the University of Michigan and her MD from Wayne State University. She completed residencies in family medicine and preventive medicine at the University of Michigan and is board-certified in each specialty. She sees patients as a volunteer physician at the Arlington Free Clinic in Virginia.
Malissa Lewis, LLB, LLM, Director, Division of Health Careers and Financial Support
Malissa Lewis has over twelve years of experience at HRSA. She is recognized for effectively administering several new and emerging public health programs to support the advancement of the health care workforce. Malissa currently serves as the Acting Director for Division of Health Careers and Financial Support, overseeing twelve national health workforce programs that support students, nurses, health care professionals, academic institutions, and community-based organizations, through loan repayment, scholarships, revolving loans, health professions training and pipeline programs.
Malissa has a master of laws in comparative legal studies, from Elisabeth Haub School of Law.
Israil Ali, MPA, Director, Division of National Health Service Corps
Israil Ali leads federal programs that connect the primary care health workforce to vulnerable communities. To date, there are over 20,000 NHSC primary medical, dental, and behavioral health providers, caring for over 21 million patients across the nation that are supported by his programs.
Over the past two decades, Mr. Ali has assumed various federal roles including deputy director of BHW’s Division of Health Careers and Financial Support; chief of the Nurse Corps loan repayment program. Prior to federal service, Mr. Ali served as community relations director at United Nursing Service, a home health agency in Kalamazoo, Michigan. He has dedicated his career to improving health outcomes in underserved communities by optimizing access to a quality health workforce.
In 2014, Israil was recognized as an outstanding alumni by his alma mater, Western Michigan University, for “outstanding contributions to public health and workforce development at the national level.” Mr. Ali has received the HRSA Administrator’s Special Citation Award twice. He received this award in 2015 for “outstanding contributions to the management of the Nurse Corps Loan Repayment Program activities” and in 2022 for “outstanding leadership of the NHSC during the nation’s public health emergency.”
Israil is a native of Detroit, Michigan, and received both his bachelor’s degree in interdisciplinary health services and master’s degree in public administration from Western Michigan University. Israil has also served as an adjunct professor, for the last 13 years, in the School of Community Health and Policy at Morgan State University.
Colorado Community Health Network (CCHN)
 Sarah Macrander, MPH, Senior Health Center Operations Manager
Sarah joined CCHN in 2013. Her primary responsibilities are to help guide and implement CCHN’s training and technical assistance efforts, oversee workforce initiatives, and manage CCHN’s group purchasing program. She holds a master’s in public health degree from the University of Colorado, Denver. During her time at the university, Sarah was involved with several community participatory research projects based in Denver and abroad. |
Suzanne Smith, Director of the Health Centers Operations Division
Suzanne joined CCHN in 2008. Her primary responsibilities are to help health centers sustain and strengthen existing operations and workforce, and to help expand the health center model across Colorado. Specifically, Suzanne manages and supports division staff around CCHN’s community development, workforce development, operations assistance, and training and technical assistance programs. Suzanne is the lead for the Workforce Committee and the Colorado Operations Directors Advisory Network (CODAN) and co-leads the Pharmacy Peer Group.
Community Health Association of Mountain/ Plains States (CHAMPS)
 Andrea Martin, Workforce Development and Member Services Director, Community Health Association of Mountain/Plains States (CHAMPS)
Andrea has spent the past 19 years serving the needs of Region VIII community, migrant, and homeless health centers. Her work supports these organizations in attracting and retaining a talented and dedicated workforce, including developing, coordinating, and occasionally presenting educational events on highly needed topics. She oversees the collection and analysis of a wide variety of workforce metrics so health centers and their supporting organizations are better able to assess and respond to the changing regional environment. Andrea holds a bachelor of arts degree in art, music, and museum studies from Luther College in Decorah, Iowa. Prior to joining CHAMPS, Andrea provided educational programing for a variety of non-profit and for-profit cultural institutions in the Denver area. |
RiverStone Health Clinic Montana
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Christopher is originally from Allentown, Pennsylvania and is a graduate of Temple University School of Medicine. He graduated from the Montana Family Medicine Residency (MFMR) based at RiverStone Health Clinic in Billings, one of the original 11 teaching health centers and one of the largest federally qualified health centers in Montana. After graduation, he spent eight years practicing broad spectrum family medicine with obstetrics as one of MFMR’s residency faculty, and in 2022, Christopher became medical director at RiverStone Health Clinic. He has been active in rural and primary care workforce advocacy on behalf of community health centers and teaching health centers, including with the American Academy of Family Physicians and Montana Academy of Family Physicians, the Montana Primary Care Association, the Montana Medical Association, the GME Initiative, the NACHC Health Professions Education in Health Centers Task Force, and with Montana state legislators in Helena and Montana’s congressional delegation in Washington, DC. |
Northwest Regional Primary Care Association (NWRPCA)
Kelly Volkmann, MPH, Project Director of the Community Health Worker Institute
Kelly is committed to advancing and advocating for Community Health Worker (CHW) programs in primary health care. She has provided direct care as a registered nurse in California and Oregon, and as a program manager for a team of CHWs at the Community Health Centers of Benton and Linn Counties in Corvallis, Oregon. Kelly was a charter member of the Traditional Health Workers Commission in Oregon, and co-chaired the Scope of Practice Subcommittee. She has delivered presentations nationally about the value of CHWs in primary care and how to successfully integrate them into care teams. Kelly’s experience working with CHWs, direct patient care, and public health has given her a deep appreciation of the unique qualities and value that CHWs bring to health care systems, and the importance of building sustainable programs to support them.
Robyn Weiss, PT, MEd, Director of Workforce Development
As a part of her role for NWRPCA, Robyn runs the Education Health Center Initiative (EHCI) and the national Primary Care Association Peer Learning Network. Prior to joining NWRPCA, Robyn worked for the northwest region of catastrophic and complex care at Rehab Without Walls, NeuroSolutions. She also spent eight years as an assistant professor of clinical physical therapy in the El Paso, TX area. There she helped to build the ‘grow our own’ models of physiotherapists, registered nurses, and pharmacy. Robyn sat on the board of the new medical school, The Paul Foster School of Medicine. She has delivered lectures nationally on complex care models and training needs in underserved populations and is a national resource in the neuro brain injury and spinal cord CAT transitional team approach.
Washington Association for Community Health
 Alyssa Burgess, Director of Career Pathways
Over the past five years, Alyssa has worked to increase the value, expansion, and sustainability of WACH’s InReach Career Pathways programs. She works with her team to ensure InReach produces high-quality students to reduce the workforce shortage in primary healthcare. Alyssa brings a wealth of knowledge to the table about healthcare apprenticeships, and she has worked with several other primary care associations to help them establish programs similar to the Health Professions Education and Training Initiative. |
HRSA Bureau of Health Workforce
Stacey Martinez, IT Specialist & Data Analyst, Project and Data Management Branch, Division of Business Operations Stacey Martinez has 21 years of experience in information technology (IT) within the federal government. Her work includes developing web applications, leading enterprise-wide Section 508 efforts, managing an agency-wide cloud infrastructure, IT project management, and leading and supporting data analysis and visualization efforts. Stacey has a bachelor of science in mathematics and computer science from the Colorado School of Mines. Her experience also includes leading enterprise-wide web solutions, leading and supporting cyber security initiatives, and defining and maintaining agency-wide business processes. Stacey is a native Coloradan, a former collegiate athlete, and an avid sports fan. |
Nicholas Zucconi, MS
Sharon Turner, Regional Administrator, (Region X), Office of Intergovernmental and External Affairs, HRSA
Christopher Baumert, MD, Medical Director