Suzanne Smith is a CHW-C and the Director of Network Services for HCC Network.  She has worked diligently to develop the HCC Network for the past seven years and has engaged more than 75 organizations to cooperate and collaborate in the HCC Network. She has a strong leadership development background, having spent 18 years with the YMCA in Saline County as the CEO. Suzanne currently oversees the Network and has helped to develop the Community Health Worker Program, has expanded the network programs to include 20 Project Connect events that have taken place, has put together a resource guide for each county that is served, and started a warehouse to address the Social Determinants of Health Needs of our patients and network clients.  She also helped to implement the HCC Rides transportation initiative.  Suzanne is also the lead facilitator on the CHW HUB ECHO team through the Missouri Telehealth Network and has served on the CHW Advisory Committee and has been board member for the CHW Association for the State of Missouri since 2019.  Suzanne is excited to serve as the new Board Chair for the CHWAM Association. 

Suzanne has been married to her husband David for 32 years and they have two sons and two daughter-in-laws:  Andrew & Alicia and Alex and Ally.  Suzanne and her family like to camp at the lake, fish, and be in the outdoors!

Ciearra Walker serves as Project Coordinator with St. Louis Integrated Health Network’s Community Health Worker Workforce Partnership.

Her notable achievements and steadfast dedication throughout her undergraduate career gained her national recognition by President Barack Obama during his commencement address to the 2016 Howard University graduating class. Since the presidential recognition, Ciearra has been featured live on CNN, Detroit Deadline, Teen Vogue, the front page of the Detroit Free Press and was named Youth of the Year by Essence. Ciearra decided to expand her love for public health through a different lens, focusing now on the environmental influences of a youth’s upbringing. Using mentorship, academic empowerment and professional development as the main vehicles of service, Ciearra started her own initiative entitled, Cjs Corner.

Ciearra is on a mission to serve as a vehicle of opportunity for millennial’s and eager to get involved with those in her community. Ciearra received her Master’s in Public Health with a concentration in Prevention Science from Emory University’s Executive Master’s of Public Health program. She is happily married to her long-term partner, Michael.

Wendy Smith, new member to the CHWAM board, is a CHW-C.  She is continuing her two-year employment at Madison County Health Department.  When she finished her CHW class through State Fair college she received the highest honors certificate.  Wendy is also certified in Asthma ready communities along with CPR/First Aid.  Currently she serves Madison and Iron counties and is actively trying to bridge the gap we have in the more rural communities and hopes to continue and be a voice for those who cannot. She hopes to be a voice for all our CHW’s in our region.     

Ryan Smith was raised in a single parent household within the city of St. Louis. Ryan learned as a young teen that equity in resources and opportunity for success varied widely amongst geographical locations, race and socioeconomic status. This was evident as he participated in a new “desegregation” program for a high school in Clayton, MO. He was bused to another community, outside of the city, and it was then that his passion to foster positive impact into communities that resembled his own ignited.

Ryan earned a bachelor’s in social work recognizing that most of the people attempting to help didn’t look like him, yet most of the people who needed help did.  To date, Ryan has dedicated more than 25 years to social services. He charged himself to bridge community gaps through increased health literacy and community inclusion. Ryan currently works for St. Louis Integrated Health Network, connecting patients and people justice involved to medical and social service resources, as appropriate, to assist with system navigation and work on strategy that creates access and improved utilization of care/services.

In 2016, Ryan received his CHW Certificate through St. Louis Community College and has been instrumental in the CHW Workforce within the region, serving as a founding member of the STL CHW Coalition. As a member of the STL CHW Board of Leaders, Ryan provides voice to state departments, guiding strategy around CHW credentialing and sustainability.

In his downtime, Ryan enjoys spending time with his son and watching football. In 1997, Ryan started an adult flag football team founded on the values of fellowship, mentoring and healthy activity; this team continued to operate until 2019 impacting several generations of young men. Ryan is also the founder of Marsha’s Moms, an organization created in the memory of his mother to assist single moms enrolled in school.

Melissa Smith has worked for HCC Network since December of 2019. Melissa started as the Behavioral Health Coordinator. Since then, she has been promoted to the Director of Population Health where she oversees the Community Health Workers, Peer Recovery Coaches, along with the Health Centers transportation program. Melissa is certified as CPR/First Aid instructor through the American Heart Association and is currently working to become an Adult and Child Mental Health First Aid Instructor.  Melissa lives in Buckner with her significant other, Eric, and her two children, Stetson, and Bryndle. Together they enjoy camping, fishing, hunting and being in the outdoors. 

Kathy Mason, CHW-C: My goal is to help educate the health care system about the value of Community Health Workers (CHW).  I would love to see CHWs reimbursable through insurance companies through billing codes created for Social Determinates of Health.  

I have worked with community agencies and organizations for the past 26 years.  My experiences come from being a home care worker, employee with Head Start / Early Head Start, receptionist at a Psychological Office and a CHW – C for Freeman Health System.   I have implemented and run a Caregiver Support Group in the Joplin area.  My passion for serving can be traced back as far as 1992 when I received Volunteer of the Year Runner-Up for the “Points of Light” Award.   This was presented for organizing an AWANA Club at the Hainerberg Chapel at Wiesbaden, Germany.

One of my favorite personal accomplishments was the privilege of walking alongside a client and watching the growth she made to become her own advocate of her health.

Lorna Miles, CHW, LNHA, MBA, BS Paralegal Studies is currently the Administrator for Meadow Ridge Senior Living. She is a part-time Project Director for the Randolph County Caring Community Partnership Opioid program.  In her spare time, she loves teaching Community Health Worker (CHW) certification classes for the state of Missouri and Kanas.

Lorna currently serves on Advisory and Curriculum board for the State of Missouri Community Health Worker (CHW) certification program.  Within this role both as a board member and a CHW, Lorna advocate on behalf of people to exercise their rights and gain access to resources. Her advocacy work involves supporting individuals and the community by bringing awareness to issues impacting health. Lorna also strives to build capacity, because both advocacy and capacity building go hand-in-hand and can help create conditions and build relationships that lead to better health.

Lorna is the Co-Chairperson for the Northeast Alliance Advisory Coalition for the Missouri Office of Minority Health.  The Statewide Minority Health Alliance; serves as a voice of advocacy and advice for the community in identifying and improving minority health status; serves with the purpose of establishing and maintaining meaningful communication on minority health issues; and to develop and submit specific recommendations to the Department of Health and Senior Services that will have a positive impact on minority health and wellness disparities at the local level and statewide.

Northeast Alliance Goals embodies the following; the “bridge” between minority communities and public health care agencies to provide better access to services and to influence policies impacting minorities, the Alliance offers open dialogue for sharing successes, problems, and barriers within the community and working together to create solutions.

Northeast Alliance Efforts Include: Prioritizing issues of minority communities in rural areas, encouraging minority participation in health programs, advising current community organizations on minority outreach, and identifying new community health partners. As the first minority elected to serve on Moberly Planning & Zoning commission for 2021-2024 term, Lorna leads by example.

Janna Ingram currently serves as Coordinator and Instructor for the Behavioral Health Support Program at North Central Missouri College in Trenton, MO.  Janna has dedicated over a decade working in mental health serving as a mentor, instructor and counselor.  She  enjoys working with youth and families across north Missouri in multiple capacities including case management, school counseling, assessment, mentoring, and volunteering for youth activities in my area. Janna earned a Bachelor of Arts in Psychology from Park University in Parkville, MO and Master of Education in School Counseling from Stephens College in Columbia, MO.  She hold certificates in School Psychological Evaluation and recently began work on, and holds a Provisional License for Professional Counseling (PLPC). 

Janna is looking forward to learning all she can about Community Health Workers while getting a program up and running for the Fall of 2024 at NCMC.  She enjoys spending time with her kids, husband and extended family.  In her spare time, they like to be active in their kids activities and community.  Janna often volunteers to coach her children’s activities and in the summer they love delivering meals for the Senior Center throughout their neighborhood.