Rise

Cesar Armendariz, EML Senior Director, Community Health

Inland Empire Health Plan

Cesar Armendariz serves as the Senior Director of Community Health at Inland Empire Health Plan (IEHP). Armendariz’s innovative programs and community partnerships are addressing the Social Determinants of Health of the region, including food insecurity by organizing large scale food distributions across various sites throughout Riverside and San Bernardino Counties. He is leveraging existing and new partnerships with community partners, civic leaders, universities, and faith-based organizations, to build capacity and infrastructure to improve health outcomes and enhance the lives of members and the community-at-large. Understanding that the physical built environment is key to community wellbeing, a strategic initiative he devised is transforming the existing Community Resource Centers into large scale Community Wellness Centers that will anchor future collaborative, multi-sector Wellness Villages. Concurrently, Armendariz also serves on the boards of various community organizations, including being a founding board member of End Homelessness California, which operates Shower of Hope, California’s largest mobile shower provider for the homeless, and Hope Housing for Students, serving the housing needs of homeless college students. 

Prior to joining IEHP, Armendariz was the Community Relations Executive at Adventist Health White Memorial (2019 Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award Recipient) in Los Angeles, California. In this role, he led the hospital’s Community Health Integration initiatives, oversaw its Community Wellbeing Council, Community Information Center, Community Garden, fostered strategic collaborations with key community stakeholders/partners, and launched numerous, innovative, health and educational initiatives. Previously, he served as the Associate Vice President for Marketing & Communications and Community & Public Relations, where he oversaw the marketing and promotional efforts of the hospital and served as its public spokesperson.  

Prior to his time at White Memorial, Armendariz served as the Executive Director for Community Partnerships at the USC Health Sciences Campus (HSC), where he oversaw university-wide community outreach programs, projects, and initiatives to develop and foster positive, collaborative relations between the university and the local communities surrounding the HSC. While at USC, he also was the university-wide Spanish language media spokesperson, an advisor on strategies for Latin America to the USC Office of Global Initiatives, and a member of the USC Government Relations Council. Previously, he served USC as the Director for Master Plan Communications at the University Park Campus.  

Before working at USC, Armendariz was the Director of Executive Offices at TELACU (The East Los Angeles Community Union), the nation’s largest community and economic development corporation. His role was to manage and oversee all the activities relating to the Chairman, President and CEO, including business development, and public, corporate and governmental relations.   

Armendariz previously served as the Executive Director of the International Business Center (IBC) of Orange County in the City of Santa Ana, California. He was responsible for coordinating the trade promotion efforts among the various public and private stakeholders of the center, attracting new international trade partners, and maintaining focus on the core mission of assisting small-to-medium-sized California companies expand their current customer base by seeking new export markets. The IBC partnered with federal, state and local government agencies, universities, and served as host of the Mexico Trade Center, Nacional Financiera (Mexico’s largest development bank), and the Japan External Trade Organization (JETRO) Senior Trade Advisor for the Southwest United States.   

Prior to leading the IBC, Armendariz was the International Trade Advisor and Director of the Los Angeles Office to former California Lieutenant Governor Cruz M. Bustamante. His responsibilities included opening and overseeing the Los Angeles Office and its operations, outreach to the Latino community, and addressing trade issues with Mexico and Asia. Mr. Armendariz coordinated a trade delegation to Mexico for public and private sector leaders to participate in Former President Vicente Fox’s inauguration, successfully meeting with five members of President Fox’s cabinet to foster stronger relations between Mexico and California.  

Armendariz also assisted former California Senate Majority Leader Richard G. Polanco, as his Advisor on the Senate Subcommittee on the Americas. This subcommittee was responsible for promoting and addressing trade opportunities between California and Latin America. As a result of Armendariz’s work for Senator Polanco, legislation was addressed in the state senate to explore greater opportunities, and better utilization of state resources for trade and exports, thus creating a California Trade Office in Buenos Aires, Argentina to serve the Mercosur market. 

A strong advocate of international trade and cross-border relations, Armendariz spent four years in Mexico City working for the California Office of Trade and Investment as a Trade Specialist in the areas of Consumer Goods, Real Estate, Tourism and Entertainment. Armendariz coordinated official visits and projects for the State of California governmental leadership, the California World Trade Commission, Universal Studios Hollywood and Florida, and the University of Southern California. 

Cesar Armendariz currently resides in the Inland Empire, is a native of Los Angeles County, and is an alumnus of the University of Southern California (‘94 & ‘12), where he is also an Adjunct-Professor at the USC Marshall School of Business, Department of Business Communication. He is bilingual (Spanish), bicultural (Latin American protocol), and enjoys spending his free time traveling with his two adult children, Zaira and Aramis.   

Danielle Cameron, MPH CalOptima Health

Danielle Cameron, MPH, is Director of Program Development for CalOptima Health where she manages a portfolio of significant community investments related to California’s Medi-Cal transformation efforts to make health care more encompassing of the whole person. For the past two years she has led a team of professionals with expertise in the social determinants of health and community-based organizations well-positioned to impact people’s health outcomes through partnerships between the social service and healthcare sectors. Prior to this position, Ms. Cameron was Chief Strategy Officer for National Health Foundation (NHF) where she was responsible for developing and executing strategies to achieve NHF’s mission, communicate with its stakeholders and maintain funding streams to support its efforts. Ms. Cameron was with NHF for 14 years and prior to assuming that position, held positions in the child care and senior services fields focused on both program management and fund development. During these positions, she managed multi-million dollar grant portfolios, led numerous community-based programs, and provided consultative work in strategic planning, fund development and operations/infrastructure design. Ms. Cameron received her Master of Public Health degree from the University of California at Los Angeles.  She also holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Psychology from Loyola University Chicago. 

Ellen Fink-Samnick DBH, MSW, LCSW, ACSW, CCM, CCTP, CRP

EFS Supervision Strategies, LLC

Dr. Ellen Fink-Samnick is an award-winning industry entrepreneur who empowers healthcare's interprofessional workforce. She is a subject matter expert on Ethics, Health Equity and Quality, Integrated Care, Interprofessional Teams, Professional Case Management, and Trauma-informed Leadership. Her latest books include The Essential Guide to Interprofessional Ethics for Healthcare Case Management 1^st edition, The Social Determinants of Health: Case Management's Next Frontier, End of Life Care for Case Management, and upcoming Social Determinants of Mental Health: Advancing Wholistic Practice Excellence.

Dr. Fink-Samnick has a Doctorate in Behavioral Health with specialization in Health Equity, Integrated Care, Quality, Leadership, and Trauma-Informed Practice, She is a Licensed Clinical Social Worker, Board-certified Case Manager, and Certified Clinical Trauma Professional, as well as a member of the academic honor society, Delta Epsilon Tau.

Dr. Fink-Samnick serves the industry through a variety of roles with academic appointments at Cummings Graduate Institute of Behavioral Health Studies, George Mason University’s College of Public Health, and the University of Buffalo School of Social Work. She is a clinical supervision trainer and instructor for the National Association of Social Workers of Virginia and Metro DC, lead for Rise Association’s Social Determinants of Health Community, moderator of Ellen’s Ethical Lens^TM on LinkedIn, and author of the blog, Ellen’s Interprofessional Insights. She is also a consultant for the Case Management Institute and moderator of their Case Managers Community.

Dr. Fink-Samnick is known for her fierce professional voice. Along with leadership and committee roles across credentialing entities and professional associations, she has served on the Gravity Project and the National Coalition for Social Work and Health. She is a board consultant to the American Association of Doctors of Behavioral Health, and editorial board member for the Professional Case Management Journal, and Case Management Monthly. Further information is available on her LinkedIn Profile.

Rachel Landauer, J.D., MPH Clinical Instructor

Center for Health Law and Policy Innovation of Harvard Law School

Rachel Landauer (she/her) is a Clinical Instructor at the Center for Health Law and Policy Innovation of Harvard Law School, where she works with partners to advocate for health care policy and practice reform. In particular, Rachel focuses on the Center’s Whole Person Care, reproductive justice, and specialty care initiatives; her projects address pressing issues including health care regulatory compliance for social care interventions, information sharing and data privacy, and the diffusion of innovative care models that promote health equity.    As part of the Health Law Lab, Rachel is especially passionate about building the capacity of organizations, through resource development, trainings, and other tools, to break down silos between the health care and social services sectors. 

Beck Moore CEO

Community Action Association of Pennsylvania

Beck Moore serves as CEO at Community Action Association of Pennsylvania (CAAP), working with the 43 Community Action Agencies across the Commonwealth. Having a deep-rooted appreciation stemming from personal experiences, Beck is devoted to examining intersectionality of the social determinants of health and identity to the correlation of poverty in Pennsylvania.  Beck has served in nonprofit leadership roles over the past 20 years and has a passion for values-based leadership. Beck’s experience shines in member-based organizations, with expertise in membership growth and program development. He served in various roles across multiple Girl Scout councils, leaving an impact of membership stabilization and growth through creating valuable programs, gaining national recognition. He holds a bachelor’s degree in Secondary Education from Penn State and a master’s degree in human resources from the University of Scranton. Beck serves on various boards and committees with United Way of PA, County Commissioners Association of Pennsylvania, Pennsylvania Association of Nonprofit Organizations, Weatherization Advisory Committee, LIHEAP Advisory Committee, Interstate Renewable Energy Council WAP Enhancement and Innovation Committee, Parents as Teachers Advisory Committee, and others. 

Kimberly Prendergast, RDN, MPP VP, Policy

Community Care Cooperative

Kim Prendergast is Vice President for Policy for Community Care Cooperative (C3). a Federally Qualified Health Center-led Accountable Care Organization (ACO). In this role, she leads the ACO’s strategic and policy initiatives to support FQHCs across six states and the District of Columbia to leverage value-based payments and address social drivers of health to improve health equity and health outcomes.  Kim joined the organization in 2019 and has been the architect of C3’s work to identify and address health-related social needs through partnerships across the healthcare and social services sectors. She designed and implemented C3’s $25M Medicaid-funded Flexible Services program in Massachusetts which improves health outcomes and reduces health care costs. Kim is passionate about sharing these successful approaches to value-based care, partnerships and social health programs to expand primary care to advance health equity.  

Prior to joining C3, Kim spent two decades addressing food insecurity and health with Feeding America through roles in public policy, nutrition programs, and healthcare partnership consulting. Kim is a Registered Dietitian Nutritionist with a BS in Dietetics from Purdue University and has a Master of Public Policy from the University of Chicago.  She lives in the Boston area.  

Celina Sullivan, JD, BSHCM Regional Director, Medicaid

Kaiser Permanente

Celina M. Sullivan, JD, BSHCM, has over 24 years of healthcare leadership experience. She has led highly successful and thriving Quality Programs, Population Management, Chronic Conditions, and Outpatient Service Lines teams across California, with a focus on Medicaid patient populations. 

Recently, she successfully established clinics and sustainable workflows focusing on health equity, specifically, increasing the rate of controlled hypertension for Black & African American patients, and diabetes control for Latinx patients. 

Celina’s volunteer work centers around helping women and children access resources to rebuild their lives. She has volunteered at Building Futures, a shelter committed to providing safe refuge for women and children. Celina also volunteered at La Casa De Las Madres, an organization committed to helping domestic violence survivors, and providing crisis response. 

Rick Whitted CEO

US Hunger

Rick Whitted is the President & Chief Executive Officer at U.S. Hunger, a global
nonprofit whose mission is feeding families today and uniting them to a healthier tomorrow.
In total, U.S. Hunger (USH) has provided over 150 million meals to families in need. Before his
appointment as CEO in March 2020, Rick served on USH’s board of directors.
Rick has overseen the launch of several of the organization’s initiatives: expanding home
delivery of fresh produce into its supply chain; aligning its Full Cart® program with the
Centers for Medicare/Medicaid Services’ (CMS) health equity framework; and, developing a
cloud based SaaS solution that uses A.I. and Machine Learning to identify root causes of food
insecurity in the U.S. and provide real-time actionable intelligence on social determinants of
health (SDOH).
Rick is a graduate of Stetson University and Nova Southern University where he
received a BA in Political Sciences/American Studies, and an MBA, Business
Administration and Management, respectively. Prior to joining USH, he spent 27
multi-faceted years in banking; focusing on small business, government and non-profit
banking. He is also an accomplished author and speaker with expertise in leadership,
workplace culture and individual and team development.
Affiliations/Membership: U.S. Global Leadership Coalition, Google Refresh Working Group,
City of Orlando Mayor's Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Commission, Aligning for Health Advisory
Board

Brandon Wilson COO

Asheville Buncombe Community Christian Ministry

Aviva Woog Directory of Health Equity & Drivers of Health

Centene

Aviva Woog is the Director of Community Engagement and Impact at WellCare of NJ. In her role she is responsible for the execution of the Community Connections program focusing on connecting the community to sustainable social services and supporting community-based organizations to participate in healthcare delivery for government sponsored beneficiaries. Her work also focuses on community engagement and innovation, developing and implementing collaborative partnerships with external stakeholders to support the social drivers of health that impact health outcomes of communities. She also championed, created and chairs WellCare NJ’s internal Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Council leading internal committees focused on Cultural Competency in Healthcare Delivery, Provider Diversity, Stakeholder Engagement, and Employee Inclusion. She chairs Centene corporation’s Employee Inclusion Group ABILITY, for persons with disabilities, caregivers, and allies. She continues to demonstrate her commitment to the needs of the community. Before joining WellCare, Ms. Woog has held community relations positions at Healthfirst NJ and Amerigroup. 

Prior to her fifteen years in Healthcare, Ms. Woog worked in community programs supporting initiatives for youth as Program Officer for Supplemental Education Services after school programs throughout New York City through the White House “No Child Left Behind” initiative and at the Boys and Girls Clubs of Newark, as the Director of Prevention Programs where she was integral in creating gang awareness, prevention, and intervention programs for Newark families and the Boys and Girls Clubs movement.   

Ms. Woog has received recognitions and awards for her dedication to the communities she serves. Aviva is a graduate of Loyola University, holds a certificate for DEI Practices from Cornell University continuing education, and completed the McKinsey Accelerated Management Program. She serves on the Board of Directors for the Raritan Bay Area YMCA.