Gov. Cooper appoints Adriana Chavela to the Andrea Harris Social, Economic, Environmental, and Health Equity Task Force

Press release from the Office of Governor Roy Cooper:

Today, Governor Roy Cooper named the members of the Andrea Harris Social, Economic, Environmental, and Health Equity Task Force. The Task Force, established by the Governor’s Executive Order 143, will address the social, environmental, economic, and health disparities in communities of color that have been exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic. The first meeting is anticipated in early August.

“Inequities in North Carolina are not new, but COVID-19 is shining a bright light on disparities that have gone unchecked in our health care and economic institutions for communities of color,” said Governor Roy Cooper. “This task force is the right way to address these inequities as we recover from the pandemic so that as we come back from this, we improve access to affordable healthcare and quality economic opportunities.”

“Health inequities are the result of more than individual choice or random occurrence — they are the result of the historic and ongoing interplay of inequitable structures, policies, and norms that shape lives,” said NC Department of Administration Secretary Machelle Sanders. “I am deeply honored to carry Andrea Harris’ torch on this new task force, as we grapple with these complex and critical issues for North Carolina.”

Governor Cooper appointed the following individuals to the Andrea Harris Social, Economic, Environmental, and Health Equity Task Force:

• Secretary Machelle Sanders of Raleigh as the Department of Administration Secretary and as Chair. Sanders was appointed to serve as Secretary of the Department of Administration by Governor Cooper in 2017. She is a seasoned pharmaceutical and biotechnology executive who has held the role as vice president of manufacturing and general manager of Biogen’s largest and most advanced manufacturing facility in Research Triangle Park. Sanders also serves as the chair of the North Carolina Commission on Inclusion and North Carolina Complete Count Commission.
• Rev. Dr. Jonathan Augustine of Durham as a member at-large. Augustine is the Senior Pastor at St. Joseph African Methodist Episcopal Church. Augustine previously worked in several law firms and taught at the Southern University Law Center. Augustine has published over 20 books, law review articles, and bar association journals.
• Walter David Baucom of Charlotte as a member at-large. Baucom is the senior vice president for MAL Entertainment, as well as president and CEO of Baucom Group and Associates. Baucom has been an active member of the Metrolina Native American Association for over 30 years, and currently serves on the Charlotte Business Inclusion Advisory Committee and the North Carolina Commission of Indian Affairs.
• Dr. Cedric Bright of Greenville as a member at-large. Bright currently serves as the associate dean for admissions for the Brody School of Medicine at East Carolina University. Previously, Bright served as the associate dean for inclusive excellence at the University of North Carolina School of Medicine. Bright also served as the President of the National Medical Association.
• Lynn Bottone of Cary as a member at-large. Bottone is the Vice President of Biotech Operations at Pfizer. Bottone has over 30 years of manufacturing and quality experience in the biotechnology, pharmaceutical and dietary supplement industries.
• Dr. Rhett Brown of Charlotte as a member at-large. Brown is a family physician for Novant Health and was recently named their Medical Director for LGBTQ+ Health Services. Brown previously served as president of the North Carolina Academy of Family Physicians and is a member of their Foundation Board.
• Dr. Lenora Campbell of Greensboro as a North Carolina Historically Black College or University Representative. Campbell is the Dean of the College of Health and Human Services at North Carolina A&T University. Campbell has over 30 years of experience in Higher Education. Campbell also serves as a member of the Board of Trustees for the Moses Cone Health System.
• Adriana Chavela of Arden as a member at-large. Chavela currently serves as the executive director of Hola Community Arts in Hendersonville. Chavela also founded Hola Carolina Magazine. The publication has won several awards such as an EMMY for Community/Public Service.
• Dr. Giselle Corbie-Smith of Chapel Hill as a member at-large. Corbie-Smith is a Kenan Distinguished Professor of Social Medicine, Director of the Center for Health Equity Research, and a Professor of Internal Medicine for the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill School of Medicine.
• Dr. Charlene Green of Greensboro as a member at-large. Green is an anesthesiologist at Cone Health. Dr. Green serves as the President of the Old North State Medical Society and is a member of the American Society of Anesthesiologists and the North Carolina Medical Society.
• Andres Henao of Chapel Hill as a Hispanic/Latino Affairs Advisory Council Member. Henao currently serves as the insurance and billing manager at the Triangle Implant Center and formerly worked at the UNC Dental School. Henao was also a member of Leadership Triangle’s Transforming Leaders Program.
• Rep. Yvonne Holley of Raleigh as a member at-large. Holley currently serves as a NC House Representative from District 38, which represents part of Wake county. Holley previously worked in state government for 25 years.
• Dale Jenkins of Raleigh as a member at-large. Jenkins is the Chief Executive Officer at Curi Holdings, Inc., a position he has held since 1995. Jenkins is also a member of the University of North Carolina Health Care System’s Board of Directors. Jenkins was awarded WakeMed’s Vernon Malone Friend of Education Award.
• Dr. James H. Johnson, Jr. of Chapel Hill as a member at-large. Johnson currently serves as the William R. Kenan Distinguished Professor of Strategy and Entrepreneurship and Director of the Urban Investment Strategies Center at the UNC Kenan-Flagler Business School. Johnson co-authored The Economic Impact of the African American Population on the State of North Carolina.
• Rep. Donny Lambeth of Winston-Salem as a member at-large. Lambeth serves as a North Carolina Representative for District 75, which represents part of Forsyth county. Lambeth retired from Wake Forest Baptist Health in 2012 as President of the Lexington Medical Center and Davie Hospital.
• C.C. Lambeth of Greensboro as a member at-large. Lambeth is the owner and CEO of C2 Contractors, LLC. Lambeth currently serves as a member of the Executive Board of the Greensboro Chamber of Commerce and is a member of Governor Cooper’s Advisory Council on Historically Underutilized Businesses for North Carolina. Lambeth is a founder of NC A&T State University’s Board of Visitors and is a primary business partner at ICE Securities, LLC.
• Pat Martinez of Charlotte as a member at-large. Martinez is the President and CEO of Leadership in the Clouds, a management and corporate consulting firm. Martinez has over 25 years of expertise in leadership, business development, organizational transformation, and nonprofit management. Martinez also serves on the Governor’s Commission on Inclusion and is a recurring mentor at Stanford University’s business upscaling program, entitled Latino Business Action Network.
• Dr. Viviana Martinez-Bianchi of Durham as a member at-large. Martinez-Bianchi currently serves as an associate professor of family medicine and community health at Duke University. At Duke, Martinez-Bianchi focuses her work on health disparities, access to health care, women’s health, Latino health care, chronic disease management, socioeconomic determinants of health, and population health.
• Stephanie McGarrah of Durham as a member of the North Carolina Pandemic Recovery Office. McGarrah is the Executive Director of the North Carolina Pandemic Recovery Office. McGarrah most recently worked with the North Carolina Area Health Education Centers. McGarrah also served as the Vice President of Policy at the North Carolina Healthcare Association and as an Assistant Secretary at the North Carolina Department of Commerce.
• Benjamin Money of Raleigh as the Department of Health and Human Services Secretary’s designee. Money serves as the Deputy Secretary for Health Services. Money previously served as the President and Chief Executive Officer of the North Carolina Community Health Center Association. In this role, he served as a member of several boards for organizations such as the NC Institute of Medicine and the NC Health Care Quality Alliance.
• Kevin J. Price of Durham as a member at-large. Price is the President and CEO of the North Carolina Institute of Minority Economic Development. Price previously worked at Novant Health for over ten years and is an Army veteran.
• Trey Rabon of Raleigh as a member at-large. Rabon currently serves as the President of AT&T North Carolina, where he supports AT&T’s content and distribution business in the state. Rabon has worked in the field since 1999, where he started with BellSouth, AT&T’s predecessor company. Rabon is a member of the Board of Directors of the NC Business Committee for Education and the NC Chamber of Commerce.
• Secretary Michael S. Regan of Raleigh as Secretary of the Department of Environmental Quality. Regan was appointed to serve as Secretary of the Department of Environmental Quality by Governor Cooper in 2017. Regan joined the Cooper administration after more than 18 years of experience on overcoming complex challenges through environmental advocacy and regulation. Most recently, he served as the Associate Vice President of U.S. Climate and Energy and Southeast Regional Director of the Environmental Defense Fund. Regan previously worked with the Environmental Protection Agency’s air quality and energy programs under the Clinton and Bush Administrations.
• Greg Richardson of Raleigh as the Commission of Indian Affairs Representative. Richardson has served as the Executive Director of the Commission on Indian Affairs since 1995. Richardson has also worked for the Federal Department of Housing and Urban Development, working as a special assistant to the Secretary of Public and Indian Housing.
• Dr. Sonyia Richardson of Concord as a member at-large. Richardson is an Assistant Professor at the School of Social Work and is the BSW Program Director at the University of North Carolina at Charlotte. Richardson is also a licensed clinical social worker and certified licensed clinical social worker supervisor.
• Yazmin Garcia Rico of Mebane as a member at-large. Garcia Rico is the Healthy Communities program manager at Alamance Regional Medical Center, and an instructor at Alamance Community College. Garcia Rico also serves on the boards of Medication management Clinic, Open Door Clinic, United Way of Alamance County, and the North Carolina Farmworker Health Program.
• Dr. Carlos Rish of Charlotte as a member at-large. Rish is the owner and medical director of Centro Medico Latino, a family practice clinic with multiple locations in the Charlotte area. Rish has over 30 years of physician experience and is a member the Levine Cancer Institute Minority Cancer Advisory Council.
• Juvencio Rocha-Peralta of Greenville as a member at-large. Rocha-Peralta currently serves as the Executive Director and founder of the Association of Mexicans in North Carolina. Rocha-Peralta also serves on numerous community organizations such as the Eastern North Carolina Latin American Coalition, Martin-Pitt Partnership for Children, and the East Coast Migrant Head Start Project.
• Quinny Sanchez of Waxhaw as a member at-large. Sanchez is a recent graduate of the Master of Social Work Program at the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill. Sanchez spent the last year working with UNC Chapel Hill School of Social Work and the North Carolina Department of Public Safety on efforts to promote Specialty Mental Health Probation.
• Dr. Catherine Harvey Sevier of Greensboro as a member at-large. Sevier currently serves as the managing director at The Generations Study Group, LLC and as an adjunct professor of public health at the University of North Carolina at Greensboro. Sevier also serves as the Co-Chair of the NC Future of Nursing Action Coalition.
• Rev. Dr. Anthony Spearman of Greensboro as a member at-large. Spearman is an ordained minister with the African Methodist Episcopal Zion Church denomination (A.M.E. Zion), and is the current President of the North Carolina NAACP. Spearman was the Third Vice President with NC NAACP from 2011-2017 and won the NC Champion of Equality Award in 2011.
• Annette Taylor of Morrisville as the North Carolina Council for Women Advisory Board Member. Taylor currently serves as the Manager of Minority Business and Community Affairs at the NC Educational Lottery and as an adjunct professor at North Carolina Central University. Prior to her current position, Taylor worked for over 10 years with U.S. Representative G.K. Butterfield as a community outreach director.
• Margaret Weller-Stargell of Wilmington as a member at-large. Weller-Stargell currently serves as the President and CEO of Coastal Horizons Centers, where she has been for over 20 years. Weller-Stargell is also the President of the Willie Stargell Foundation and Chair of the North Carolina Division of Mental Health, Developmental Disabilities and Substance Abuse Services Waiver Advisory Committee.
• Gene Woods of Charlotte as a member at-large. Woods is the President and Chief Executive Officer of Atrium Health. Woods has nearly 30 years of healthcare leadership experience. Woods also serves as a member of Becker’s Healthcare’s Advisory Board and the Wall Street Journal’s CEO Council.
• Cornell Wright of Raleigh as the Director of the NC Office of Minority Health and Health Disparities. Wright currently serves on the Southeastern Health Equity Council as the Co-Chair of the Social Determinants of Health Committee. Wright has received awards from the National Institutes of Health and the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society