Meet the Team

Regan.johnson@unmc.edu

Regan Johnson has been involved in perinatal HIV prevention work since the start of her public health career in 2015. Ms. Johnson has expertise in the implementation of the FIMR/HIV Methodology, has provided technical support to local sites across the country, and currently maintains the FIMR/HIV National Resource Center. Ms. Johnson is well-connected to experts across the fields of perinatal HIV, HIV and Maternal and Child and has six years of experience with convening these groups around the common goal of the elimination of perinatal HIV in the United States. In addition to her work in perinatal HIV prevention, Ms. Johnson has completed training around racial biases, creating racially just spaces, and health equity. She also brings knowledge and expertise in women’s health issues and works to integrate reproductive health, rights and justice into the MCH field. Ms. Johnson weaves this knowledge & expertise into each project she works on at CityMatCH.

Ashleigh Sutphen is the Project Coordinator for the pHIV Taskforce at CityMatCH. She assists our Women’s Health Manager to lead, coordinate, and organize the pHIV Taskforce, four workgroups (including the Roadmap Workgroup) and additional sub-groups towards the elimination of perinatal HIV transmission.

Ashleigh.sutphen@unmc.edu 

Denise Pecha serves as CityMatCH’s Deputy Executive Director, providing direction and oversight. She a social worker and licensed mental health practitioner who brings experience and a passion for program development and talent management to CityMatCH. Denise is also a Nebraska Master Naturalist and competes in barn hunting with her Border Collie. She is recently a Grandma and will be happy to show you pictures.

Denise.pecha@unmc.edu

Health outcomes in the United States are nowhere near where they should be. A myriad of key health indicators, such as infant and maternal mortality, life expectancy, cancer survival rates, AIDS diagnoses, and more, reveal marked differences based on personal identity (e.g., race, ethnicity, sexual identity). These health inequities hurt us all, reducing our collective well-being and limiting our human potential.

Chad Abresch, along with a host of great colleagues, holds a vision for a better future and is working to make that vision a reality. For over two decades, Dr. Abresch has been a leader of CityMatCH, the national organization for maternal and child health equity. Here, he has led development of innovative public health equity programs in partnership with community, local health departments, and federal agencies. These programs have been implemented in dozens of communities, improving systems and health outcomes.

Today, Dr. Abresch serves as Chair for the Department of Health Promotion for the University of Nebraska Medical Center’s College of Public Health. The department is dedicated to genuine partnership with communities to address and improve health for all populations.

Cabresch@unmc.edu

Krista Martel is the executive director of The Well Project, a nonprofit organization founded in 2002 whose mission is to change the course of the HIV/AIDS pandemic through a unique and comprehensive focus on women and girls. Since joining the organization in 2009, Krista has witnessed the profound impact that access to information and an online community of support can have on the lives of women living with HIV and is working to further expand the organization’s reach and network across the globe. She is also committed to building leadership to ensure women living with HIV are represented at every level of the decision-making processes that affect their lives. Krista began working in HIV education in 1995, shortly after her sister was diagnosed with AIDS.

Kmartel@thewellproject.org

ccovin@thewellproject.org

Ciarra “Ci Ci” Covin is an international maternal and family wellness expert dedicated to advancing the right to bodily autonomy for women living with HIV and their families as they navigate the lives they envision for themselves. As a woman living with HIV who has birthed two children (and breastfed one) who are HIV-negative while living in the United States, Ci Ci has become a respected and highly sought after advocate, speaker, expert, and facilitator in the HIV community and beyond. 

Ieshia Scott is a public and motivational speaker, health educator, mentor, peer, and support group facilitator based in Broward County, Florida. Ieshia became interested in HIV advocacy to help people living with HIV overcome barriers, access services, and find support in others living with HIV after being outed in 2014 publicly on Twitter. Through the support and opportunities made possible from that moment, Ieshia found passion from her lifelong secret. She went on to create and facilitate trainings and content for youth, young adults, and HIV service organizations. Notably; “ABC’s of HIV,” “Dating and Disclosure,” and capacity-building services in client service, program development, program implementation, and community engagement as a consultant.

Since 2015, Ieshia has partnered with various organizations and public agencies to bring awareness to HIV/AIDS, uplift, and advocate for women living with HIV seeking sisterhood and support. Former UCF Knight, Ieshia received her Bachelor of Science in Health Services Administration and a Masters in Philanthropy and Nonprofit Management from Nova Southeastern University in August 2022. Ieshia currently serves as the Finance and Operations Manager for Positive Women’s Network USA.

Ieshia@pwn-usa.org

Ashley Is a young motivated African American Woman, who’s also an HIV Long term survivor, and founding CEO of Her Voice LLC. She has been an advocate for HIV/AIDS for over a decade. Being diagnosed with HIV at 15 Years Old really changed Ashley’s outlook on life. She believes God has a purpose on her life to help others. She started using her journey as an HIV positive woman to motivate and encourage her community. For this reason, Ashley made it her goal to educate and bring awareness to this epidemic. She is currently in three National Campaigns such as the Ending the HIV Epidemic Campaign, HIV Stigma Campaign, and the “I am A Work of Art” Campaign. She has appeared in several commercials, webinars, panels, and conferences. Ashley is striving to go above and beyond as she is determined to be an inspiration to others in her community. She created Her Voice to provide a safe platform for women and men to support and motivate their peers through sharing their personal experiences while strengthening their self-confidence and developing a positive self-image. Ashley is deliberately striving to establish an environment where the community can support one another by being educated and considerate of one’s status.

Nicoleanr92@gmail.com

barb@pwn-usa.org

Barb Cardell is an educator, activist, and advocate.  Barb has been a part of PWN since joining the Steering Committee in 2009.  In 2013, when PWN created its Board of Directors Barb joined the board and served as the Board Chair for 6 years.  Stepped down early in 2019. Barb joined PWN USA staff as the Training and Technical Advising Director becoming their Program Director in 2023. Barb is Engaged in local, statewide, national and global HIV issues and currently serving as a Governor appointed representative to the statewide Colorado Alliance for HIV Prevention and Education.  Barb co- founded PWN USA CO, a Colorado based advocacy group for ALL self identified women living with HIV in the state of Colorado. Barb is a founding member and served as the Vice-chair of the US Persons Living with HIV Caucus (USPLHIV Caucus), now in an Emeritus role. Barb is the Legislative Chair of the Colorado Organizations Responding to AIDS (CORA) and led HIV criminalization reform which modernized HIV statutes and repealed two criminal statutes that targeted people living with HIV. They are currently working on grassroots mobilization, electoral organizing, meaningful involvement of people living with HIV and Denver Principles, collaborating to support a Racial Justice framework in HIV advocacy and the People Organizing Positively project. 

Octavia is an Activist, Advocate, Humanitarian, Mother & Scholar.  She is the Chief Advocacy & Policy Officer at Destination Tomorrow.  Octavia is a Proud African American Woman of Transgender Experience living & thriving with HIV.  She understands the various intersectionalities and nuances of her multidimensional identity and uses her platform to fight for Equality & Equity for all those who identify or align themselves with the LGBTQIA+ communities.  She is a founding National Advisory Board Member of Positively Trans and Board Member of Positive Women’s Network USA.

Oylewis81@gmail.com

Katie Willingham is a two spirit woman of transgender experience from rural north Alabama. She is an HIV advocate affiliated with The Well Project, The Positive Women’s Network USA, and The 6:52 Project Foundation.

Pinkphoenix315@yahoo.com

Anne is a public health specialist with over thirty years’ experience in public health, polio eradication, childhood immunization and HIV/STD treatment and prevention. She has been with the Mother and Child Alliance, MACA since its inception in 2000, where she helped to develop the Illinois Safety Net of Perinatal HIV Prevention that includes the Illinois 24/7 Perinatal HIV Hotline, Perinatal Enhanced Case Management for women living with HIV and support to Illinois maternity hospitals for implementation of repeat third trimester testing at Labor and Delivery. Ms. Statton has also helped develop and implement prenatal classes for women living with HIV and training programs for case managers working with pregnant women living with HIV. Ms. Statton also serves as a National Partner on the CDC’s Elimination of Maternal Child Transmission of HIV Stakeholders group.

Anne@maca-us.org

emmiller@wihri.org

Alexis Henderson is a Public Health Analyst supporting the CDC’s Perinatal, Maternal and Infant Health activity team in the HIV Surveillance Branch. Alexis is an Atlanta native with more than five years of experience in science educational instruction, clinical, and public health research. Her professional experience includes conducting, reviewing, and analyzing biomedical and epidemiological studies for surveillance, prevention, and intervention purposes. Her passion for public health sparked from her desire to address the significant health disparities and social determinants affecting various communities and improve populations’ long-term quality of health. Her skills include data analysis and interpretation, project management, written and oral communication, and the use of various data systems, such as electronical medical records, Microsoft Office, and SAS-based reports and formats. She is very exceptional with organizing information from literature reviews, extracting relevant findings, and disseminating information through reports and presentations.

As a graduate of The Florida State University, Alexis received her Bachelor of Science in Family and Child Sciences with minors in Biology and Chemistry. She continued her education, earning her Master of Science in Biomedical Science and Public and Population Health from Philadelphia College of Osteopathic Medicine. In her spare time, Alexis enjoys painting, visiting new restaurants, and walks in the park with her dog Kobe. She is an ambitious and dependable force in the workplace and uses her optimistic attitude and contagious energy to encourage others to work hard and succeed.

Dázon Dixon Diallo is Founder and President of SisterLove, Inc, established in 1989, the first women’s HIV, Sexual and Reproductive Justice organization in the southeastern United States.

Dázon is a recognized visionary and advocate in the struggle for human rights, sexual and reproductive justice, and the fight against HIV with, and on behalf of, communities of women and girls living with HIV and those at risk for HIV and STIs.

She is a proud member of In Our Own Voice: National Black Women’s Reproductive Justice Agenda Partnership, where she advocates for sexual and reproductive health, rights and justice in public health and prevention policies and programs.

ddiallo@sisterlove.org

Ms. Simone is trained as a certified pediatric nurse practitioner and joined the FXB Center at the Rutgers School of Nursing as an Education Specialist in 2012. She has led state and national projects working to promote the care of women living with HIV and improve systems to optimize health and wellness.

phillijm@sn.rutgers.edu