19th Annual Community Health Worker Conference

9 am

Welcome: Kaley Petersen, MS, OTR, RYT, Senior Director, Office of Community Health Impact and Belonging, Corewell Health

9:10 to 10:10 am

Keynote: Understanding the Value of Community Health Workers in Community-Level Health Services, Ella Greene-Moton, Administrator, Community Based Organization Partners (CBOP) - Community Ethics Review Board (CERB) 

10:10 to 10:20 am

Transition to Workshop 1

10:20 to 11:20 am – Session 1 Workshops

• 1A: Cutting Through the Noise: Understanding Misinformation About Autism & Finding Evidence-Based Answers - Paul Doher, MA, BCBA, LBA, Stefanie Beattie, MS, BCBA, LBA, and Grace Sylvester, MA, BCBA, LBA
• 1B: CHWs as Essential Infrastructure: Powering Michigan’s Next Chapter of Whole-Person Care - Kareem J. Baig, MBA, GC-Public Health, LSSBB, Executive Director, Michigan Community Health Worker Alliance (MiCHWA)
• 1C: Hoarding Disorder Through the Lens of Trauma - Molly I. Perez, LMSW, Kent County Health Department
• 1D: I am a Community Health Worker, You Need Me and I am Here - Leticia De La Paz, Corewell Health
• 1E: Community Health Worker Referrals to Address Social Needs in Bariatric Surgery - Tahrima Khanom, MSW, MSHIELD
• 1F: Community Health Worker Integration to Improve Equity (CITIE): Strengthening Michigan’s CHW Workforce to Advance Health Equity - Shannon Patrick and Wesli Turner, MDHHS

11:20 am to 12:20 pm

Lunch

12:20 to 1:20 pm – Session 2 Workshops

• 2A: Supporting the Workforce Behind the Work: Developing High-Functioning CHW Teams - Sarah Pentoney, LMSW, Corewell Health
• 2B: Reducing Barriers in Our Community - Stephanie Gonzalez, BA, CHASS Center, Inc.
• 2C: H.E.L.L.O: The Most Radical Movement is Connection - Steph Thornton, MSW, BS, CHW, Priority Health
• 2D: Increasing Access to Care and Coverage Through Community-Based Organizations – Jason Helman, CHW, and Jennifer Mason, CHW, McLaren Health Plan
• 2E: From Referral to Response in 24 Hours: CHW Lessons from a Community-Based Emergency Food Response - Samantha Cornell, JD, Chief Operating Officer, Hillery Ross, BS, CCHW, Community Program Manager, and Tamea Williams, CCHW, Community Health Worker, Access Health

1:20 to 1:30 pm

Transition to Session 2

1:30 to 2:20 pm

Afternoon Keynote: - How You Do The Impossible, Daily, Tricia L. Baird, MD, FAAFP, MBA, Vice President, Care Coordination, Corewell Health

2:20 to 2:50 pm

CHW Extraordinary Team Award and Mosley Ally Award presentations

2:50 to 3 pm

Closing

3 to 3:30 pm

Optional virtual networking

• Explain how CHWs support holistic health and well-being by addressing critical social needs such as housing, food access, and transportation
• Describe the value of integrating CHWs in organizations, policies, and systems
• Discuss how CHWs transform and reimagine the delivery of health care services
• Assess the ways CHWs strengthen and uplift communities through home-visiting support

Team Award for Extraordinary Community Health Worker Service and The Mosley Ally Award

Do you know an Extraordinary CHW Services Team or CHW Ally?

Nominate them today (PDF)

Submissions due by Friday, July 17, 2026

Please let us know if you need special accommodations due to the conference being virtual and we will do our best to provide the accommodation.

Please email chweducation@corewellhealth.org with requests.

Kaley Peterson, Senior Director, Healthier Communities Office of Community Health Impact and Belonging, Corewell Health 

Understanding the Value of Community Health Workers in Community-Level Health Services

Ella Greene-Moton, Administrator, Community Based Organization Partners (CBOP) - Community Ethics Review Board (CERB)

This presentation provides an overview of the critical role that Community Health Workers (CHWs) play in strengthening community-level health services and improving population health outcomes. It examines how CHWs serve as trusted links between health care systems and communities by promoting health education, facilitating access to care, supporting disease prevention and management, and addressing social determinants of health.

Speaker Bio: Ella Greene-Moton has an extensive background in public health advocacy, public health policy, community-based participatory research (CBPR), and programming, spanning over the past forty plus years in Flint and its surrounding areas. In addition, specific efforts in public health ethics have focused on providing an awareness at the community level, developing, and elevating the community voice and advocating for community inclusiveness at the state and national levels. Her areas of expertise include facilitating community/academic/practice partnership building and sustainability; developing, managing, and evaluating community-based projects; and training programs for graduate students, community members, as well as middle and high school students partnering with community-based organizations, schools, and public health agencies.

How You Do The Impossible, Daily

Tricia L. Baird, MD, FAAFP, MBA , Vice President, Care Coordination, Corewell Health

Speaker Bio: Dr. Tricia Baird leads care coordination at Corewell Health, a Michigan based, not for profit health system. Her state-wide team is composed of nurse care managers, social workers, community health workers (CHWs), and physicians who support people with complex health needs.

Her recognition of how health is shaped by the social determinants of health — housing, food, transportation, access to care, behavioral health, and social supports — has prompted her to build a strategic team that helps patients navigate health care, connect to community resources, decrease length of hospital stays, reduce readmission rates, manage chronic disease, and support successful health outcomes once patients are back at home.

Dr. Baird values CHWs as essential partners in building trust, improving health understanding, accessing community-based supportive services, and turning care plans into real life solutions. She also has experience on the payer side of health care, overseeing health plan quality, HEDIS teams, PPACA clinical management, and value program design. She leads research in mental health, patient centered cancer and heart care, and enjoys speaking about equitable, community driven innovation within the health care system.

Presenters:

Stefanie Beattie, MS, BCBA, LBA , Outpatient Services Director , Great Lakes Center for Autism (GLC), + MiBAP

Grace Sylvester, MA, BCBA, LBA , Doctoral student in Behavior Analysis at Western Michigan University , WMU + MiBAP

Paul Doher, MA, BCBA, LBA , National Director of Clinical Quality, Acorn Health +  MiBAP

Objectives:

• Understanding common ASD myths
• Learn to evaluate info critically
• Promote evidence-based advocacy

Speaker bios:

Stefanie Beattie, MS, BCBA, LBA, is the Outpatient Services Director at the Great Lakes Center for Autism, an organization that provides outpatient ABA therapy to individuals with autism in West Michigan. A bBoard Certified Behavior Analyst (BCBA) since 2013, she joined the Great Lakes Center in 2016. Throughout her career, she has been committed to evidence-based practice, interdisciplinary collaboration, and community education. She is passionate about promoting accurate, inclusive understandings of autism that go beyond stereotypes, and advocate for accessible, high-quality support for individuals across the spectrum.

Grace Sylvester, MA, BCBA, LBA, is a doctoral student in Behavior Analysis at Western Michigan University, where she conducts research under the mentorship of Dr. Stephanie Peterson. She is a clinical supervisor at the Kalamazoo Autism Center (KAC) and program coordinator of severe behavior consultation where she provides clinical oversight for individuals who have complex behavioral needs. Her professional interests involve the assessment and treatment of severe challenging behavior and, specifically, the role of choice-making procedures in the assessment of challenging behavior.

Paul Doher, MA, BCBA, LBA, is the director of clinical quality at Acorn Health. He has been a behavior analyst since 2016 and prior to working in the field of ABA, he taught special education in public schools for five years. He believes everyone deserves access to high quality care and in his current role focuses on training clinicians on how to design and deliver therapy for individuals who are significantly impacted by their disability, in addition to developing quality assurance tools and processes that ensure quality.

Presenter:

Kareem J. Baig, MBA, GC-Public Health, LSSBB, Executive Director, Michigan Community Health Worker Alliance (MiCHWA)

Workshop description:

This workshop will provide a statewide update on Michigan’s Community Health Worker workforce at a pivotal moment for the field. As CHW recognition, Medicaid reimbursement, credentialing and registry infrastructure, training pathways, microcredentials, and employer readiness efforts continue to evolve, Michigan is moving from asking whether CHWs are valuable to building the systems needed to support, protect, and sustain them.

Participants will learn how these developments affect CHWs, family support workers, outreach workers, patient navigators, promotoras, community advocates, mental health aides, and allied workforce partners across Michigan. The session will highlight MiCHWA’s role in advancing workforce infrastructure, sustainability, training, and implementation support while centering a core message: CHWs are not a workaround for fragmented systems. They are essential infrastructure for whole-person, community-centered care.

Speaker bio:

Kareem J. Baig, MBA, GC-Public Health, LSSBB, is a health and human services systems executive and the Executive Director of the Michigan Community Health Worker Alliance (MiCHWA), where he leads statewide workforce infrastructure, Medicaid-aligned implementation strategy, credentialing systems, employer readiness, and cross-sector partnerships supporting Community Health Workers across Michigan.

His work focuses on translating policy, funding, and system priorities into operational models that strengthen access, care navigation, workforce capacity, and whole-person service delivery across health care, behavioral health, public health, and community-based systems. Kareem brings more than 15 years of experience across publicly funded health and human services, including frontline behavioral health, CMH service delivery, multi-site Medicaid-funded operations, workforce development, and statewide infrastructure leadership.

Under his leadership, MiCHWA is advancing the systems needed to prepare, support, and sustain CHWs through registry implementation, microcredential pathways, workforce financing, training infrastructure, and employer implementation support. His leadership is grounded in building health and human services systems that are operationally sustainable, community-rooted, and fundamentally human.

Presenter:

Molly I. Perez, LMSW, Kent County Health Department

Workshop description:

This presentation explores hoarding disorder through a trauma-informed lens, helping Community Health Workers better understand the multiple factors that contribute to hoarding behaviors. Participants will learn how hoarding is often connected to loss, attachment, and mental health. Practical strategies for respectful engagement will be discussed. This session emphasizes that hoarding is a complex condition requiring person-centered support.

Speaker bio:

Molly Perez is a clinical master’s-level social worker with more than 20 years of experience across child welfare, mental health, and public health, with much of her work centered in home visiting as a director, home visitor, and supervisor. She is passionate about encouraging critical thinking, offering fresh perspectives, and providing relevant, engaging education, while staying connected to direct practice through her work as an outpatient mental health therapist. Personally, her journey as a teenage mother and later as a foster parent continues to fuel her commitment to family well-being and joy, especially through time spent with her granddaughter.

More information coming soon

Presenter:

Tahrima Khanom, MSW, MSHIELD

Workshop description:

Social drivers of health are known to significantly influence outcomes in bariatric surgery including post-operative complications and reduced weight loss. Community-clinical partnerships are integral in promoting whole health for all people, but uptake of social needs screening and referral process has been slow in specialty care settings. This session will highlight the impact of a collaboration between MSHIELD, Henry Ford Health, the Michigan Bariatric Surgery Collaborative, and the Southeastern Michigan Health Association (SEMHA), where evidence-based social needs screening processes were implemented at two bariatric surgery clinics in Detroit and Macomb, with direct referrals to Community Health Workers at SEMHA for patients requiring support to address their needs.

Speaker bio:

Tahrima Khanom is a social worker and public health professional with extensive experience developing and leading programs and projects to improve health outcomes for all people. Tahrima has worked in a variety of settings including federally qualified health centers, health systems, community-based organizations, and health departments. Tahrima currently leads MSHIELD’s community-clinical linkage work and facilitates the development, implementation, and evaluation of social needs screening and referral interventions. Tahrima received her MSW from the University of Michigan and her BA in Psychology from Wayne State University. With a career that spans both direct care work and management and leadership, Tahrima is passionate about data-driven, community-led solutions to society’s most pressing problems.

Presenters:

Shannon Patrick, MPH

Wesli Turner, MSc., PMP , MDHHS

Workshop description:

Michigan’s Department of Health and Human Services (MDHHS) is advancing a statewide strategy to better integrate Community Health Workers (CHWs) into health and social care systems through the Community Health Worker Integration to Improve Equity (CITIE) initiative. This workshop will explore how CITIE strengthens CHW workforce capacity, enhances care coordination, and addresses key social determinants of health such as food access, housing stability, insurance enrollment, and chronic disease management.

Participants will learn about the results of MDHHS’ FY25 mini grant pilot projects, which demonstrated measurable impact through thousands of community connections, expanded training opportunities, and strengthened CHW integration across diverse settings. Presenters will share lessons learned, effective implementation strategies, and how pilot findings are shaping Michigan’s next phase of CHW workforce expansion. Attendees will leave with practical insights for supporting CHWs, improving health equity, and adopting scalable, community rooted approaches within their own organizations.

Speaker bios:

Shannon Patrick, MPH, is a public health professional with over 11 years of experience working to improve social and structural conditions of health, support whole-person care, and access to positive health outcomes for all. Shannon has supported CHW programs at the local, national and state levels. In her current role within MDHHS' Policy and Planning Bureau, Shannon supports the Health Access and Innovation Division as a Section Manager leading CHW workforce initiatives and funding opportunities, food security initiatives, Health in All Policies, and strategic alignment.

Wesli Turner, MSc, PMP, is a public health professional with over eight years of experience leading programs that address the social drivers of health, strengthen workforce systems, and expand access to equitable care. Her career spans government, academia, nonprofit, and international sectors, including roles focused on Community Health Worker workforce development, HIV program evaluation, and humanitarian crisis analysis. Wesli currently serves as a Social Determinants of Health Policy Analyst at the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services, where she manages state-funded CHW initiatives and supports CHW workforce integration efforts.

Presenter:

Sarah Pentoney

Workshop description:

This workshop will explore practical strategies for strengthening Community Health Worker (CHW) teams through effective supervision, structured onboarding, and ongoing skill development. The session will highlight approaches to supporting CHWs in navigating complex challenges in the field, while maintaining quality, compassion, and consistency. In addition, the workshop will address strategies to promote well-being, prevent burnout, and sustain workforce engagement.

Speaker bio:

Sarah Pentoney, LMSW, serves as the director of Care Management, Transitions of Care, at Corewell Health, where she brings nearly twenty years of expertise in care management to her role. Since 2007, Sarah has been dedicated to advancing patient care across both inpatient and ambulatory health care settings. Sarah is a graduate of both Northwestern University and Grand Valley State University. As master's prepared social worker, Sarah is deeply committed to supporting individuals and families as they navigate complex health care systems. Her experience is marked by enthusiasm for innovation in care coordination and development of multidisciplinary teams.

Presenter:

Stephanie Gonzalez, BA, CHASS Center, Inc.

Workshop description:

The workshop will begin with an introduction of CHASS Center and the barriers that our community members/patients face. A brief overview of what CHWs are and how CHWs intercept and help with those barriers. A deeper dive into the language barrier in Southwest Detroit and how bilingual CHWs help to address that barrier. The workshop will end with an overview of a current language barrier project and the progress that has been made to date.

Speaker bio:

Stephanie Gonzalez is the program supervisor and research coordinator at Community Health and Social Services (CHASS) Center, Inc. in Southwest Detroit. She has been with CHASS Center for over seven years, beginning her time at the Center as a research assistant, however she was always doing the work of a community healthcare worker. Four years later, she became certified as a CHW and is glad to have made that decision because she learned just how extraordinary CHWs truly are and the work that they do to help our community. To this day, she is still amazed by how impactful the work that CHWs do and how vital they are to our health care centers.

Presenter: Steph Thornton, MSW, BS, CHW

Workshop description:

Community Health Workers are often trained to assess needs, navigate systems, and connect people to resources. Yet the most powerful tool we possess is often overlooked: authentic human connection. This interactive presentation introduces the H.E.L.L.O. framework: Humanize, Empathize, Listen, Link, and Organize, as a practical approach to building trust, strengthening communities, and improving outcomes. Through storytelling, lived experience, and real-world examples, participants will explore how meaningful relationships can transform individual lives and systems alike.

Speaker bio:

Steph Thornton is a Community Health Worker, social worker, researcher, educator, and advocate dedicated to advancing health equity through relationship-centered practice. She serves as a Community Health Worker with Priority Health, a research assistant with the University of Michigan, and a CSWE Minority Fellowship Program Fellow. Steph has presented nationally on community health, maternal and infant health, food security, workforce development, and social determinants of health. Drawing from both professional expertise and lived experience, she believes that the most effective interventions begin with a simple but powerful act: saying hello.

Presenters:

Jason Helman, CHW

Jennifer Mason, CHW

Workshop description:

McLaren Health Plan Community Engagement Specialists (CHWs) are transforming Medicaid outreach by bringing services directly into trusted community settings across Michigan. Through partnerships with shelters, transitional housing programs, warming centers, food distribution sites, and other community safe spaces, this initiative reduces barriers for individuals experiencing housing instability, transportation challenges, digital inequities, and other social drivers of health.

Speaker bios:

Jason Helman, a father, husband and active community advocate! Jason connects authentically in the community and with trusted local leaders to bridge gaps in care both professionally as a Community Health Worker and personally by volunteering in Mexico to improve the infrastructure.

Jennifer Mason, a community engager and mother with a passion for improving maternal infant health and rural access points to care. Jennifer is dedicated to outreaching and connecting to make authentic partnerships to improve the health of the communities she lives and work.

Presenters:

Samantha Cornell, JD, Chief Operating Officer, Access Health

Hillery Ross, BS, CCHW, Community Program Manager, Access Health

Tamea Williams, CCHW, Community Health Worker, Access Health

Workshop description:

When urgent food needs cannot wait, what does it take to build a resident-centered response in one week? In West Michigan, Community Health Workers, frontline navigators, 211, the Food Bank Council of Michigan, and Community Information Exchange (CIE) partners co-designed and launched a rapid referral pathway connecting vulnerable households to home-delivered food. The model was built around frontline expertise and resident burden reduction, addressing barriers such as transportation, disability, caregiving responsibilities, and fragmented systems that often force people to repeat their stories across organizations. Presenters will share how CHW and frontline input shaped the workflow, strengthened cross-sector coordination, and supported timely referrals and food fulfillment. Attendees will leave with practical lessons for engaging CHWs in workflow design, improving implementation speed without losing trust or consent, and building community-centered systems that respond effectively to urgent needs

Speaker bios:

Samantha Cornell, JD, is Chief Operating Officer at Access Health and a licensed attorney with more than a decade of experience developing community-centered strategies to address barriers to health. Her work focuses on systems change, cross-sector collaboration, and upstream policy solutions that improve coordination between health care, public health, and community-based organizations. Samantha leads initiatives spanning community information exchange, health care access, social care integration, and resident-driven innovation, with a particular focus on building infrastructure that helps communities respond more effectively to the needs of the people they serve.

Hillery serves as a Community Program Manager at Access Health, where she helps build resident-led solutions that address health equity, community voice, and systems change. With a background spanning education, community health, maternal health, nonprofit leadership, and cross-sector collaboration, Hillery brings deep experience in turning community priorities into actionable programs and partnerships. She also serves her community on many boards and is pursuing her graduate studies in Social Innovation at Grand Valley State University. Hillery’s work is rooted in the belief that communities already hold the wisdom needed to lead change when systems are designed to listen, invest, and respond.

Tamea Williams is a certified community health worker committed to improving health outcomes through advocacy, outreach, and strategic program development. With experience supporting diverse populations across health care and community-based settings, she has dedicated her career to expanding access to resources, fostering community engagement, and addressing barriers to care. Tamea is passionate about advancing health equity and empowering individuals and families to thrive.