Caroline E. Owens, Ph.D.
Food is Medicine Institute, Friedman School of Nutrition Science and Policy
Tufts University
Dr. Caroline E. Owens is an anthropologist and Research Assistant Professor at the Food is Medicine Institute at Tufts University. Her research examines the multifaceted significance of food for human well-being and identifies pathways to advance health equity through Food is Medicine (FIM). Dr. Owens' work on FIM encompasses diverse program models and communities, with a particular emphasis on implementation in rural and medically underserved areas.
https://tuftsfoodismedicine.org/
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Food is Medicine Institute, Friedman School of Nutrition Science and Policy
Tufts University
Bess O'Brien
Director/Producer
Kingdom County Productions
Bess O’Brien is currently touring Just Getting By - a sweeping, and yet intimate look at the lives of Vermonters who are struggling with food and housing insecurity. Kingdom County Productions (KCP) was established in May 1991 by arts activists Jay Craven and Bess O’Brien. O’Brien had worked as a producer at Catamount and she led Middlebury’s Vermont Ensemble Theater (1985-88) where she produced, among others, acclaimed environmental theater productions of Thornton Wilder’s Our Town and Federico Fellini’s La Strada. Producer Bess O’Brien has produced the award-winning films Here today focused on families struggling with the heroin epidemic of the early 2000’s, Where is Stephanie? about a young girl’s murder and how her family copes with the aftermath, The Hungry Heart a film focused on the lives of Vermonters grappling with the opiate epidemic, Ask Us Who We Are about the foster care system, All of Me about body image and eating disorders, Coming Home focused on folks coming out of prison and entering into the innovative COSA program, and I am From Here highlighting stories of BIPOC youth talking about their experiences in VT schools. In addition Bess has produced two state wide theatre projects based on the lives of Vermont teens, The Voices Project in 2005 and The Listen Up Musical in 2021. Both these projects are available in film versions. O’Brien also produced and directed the feature film Shout it Out --the screenplay adaptation of The Voices Project.
https://kingdomcounty.org/
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Director/Producer
Kingdom County Productions
Kari White
Director, Community Health Equity
Northern Counties Health Care, Inc.
Kari White is the Director of Community Health Equity at Northern Counties Health Care in the Northeast Kingdom (NEK) of VT where she has worked in a variety of roles for the past 12 years. Kari serves as the leader of two Collective Impact Accountable Health Communities (NEK Prosper! and Vibrant ONE), and as the Co-founder and Chair of the NEK’s Long-Term Recovery Group, Kingdom United Resilience & Recovery Effort. Kari brings 15+ years of system transformation leadership working with partners at the national, state, and local level to center identity and context expertise, equitable practice and power sharing through creative engagement and aligned action. Kari holds credentials in Results-Based Accountability + Facilitation, Advanced Systems Thinking and Complex Facilitation, and as a Building Flourishing Communities Resilience Coach.
https://www.nchcvt.org/
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Director, Community Health Equity
Northern Counties Health Care, Inc.
Kristen Bigelow-Talbert, MSHM, CPHQ
Senior Program Manager, Health Quality Food Access and Health Care Network Director
Bi-State Primary Care Association
Kristen Bigelow-Talbert, with Bi-State since 2008, became Senior Program Manager, Health Quality in 2022. Previously Community Health Quality Manager, she led quality initiatives and managed grants. She holds a Master’s in Healthcare Management, Graduate Certificates in Healthcare Quality Improvement and Information Systems, and is pursuing a PhD in Health Quality. Kristen received the Emerging Leader award in 2017.
https://www.bistatepca.org
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Senior Program Manager, Health Quality Food Access and Health Care Network Director
Bi-State Primary Care Association
Annie Christoni
Outreach & Recruitment Specialist/Program Manager
Northeast Kingdom Learning Services, VT
Annie Christoni has worked in the human services realm for 22 years in the Northeast Kingdom. As a native Vermonter and growing up in the Northeast Kingdom, she has seen how poverty affects how people think and act. Her experiences with families, children, and others living in poverty has been instrumental in her continued passion to help heal trauma and offer new ways of looking at resilience. Annie works in Adult Education and continues to support families as they strive to thrive.
https://www.vsac.org/resources/northeast-kingdom-learning-services
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Outreach & Recruitment Specialist/Program Manager
Northeast Kingdom Learning Services, VT
Carrie Chooljian, BSW
Director of Outreach and Care Coordination
Lamprey Health Care, NH
Carrie Chooljian, BSW, has been Director of Outreach and Care Coordination at Lamprey Health Care since 2005. With over 30 years as a social worker, she leads the Care Coordinator and Community Health Worker teams, manages the NH Healthy Lives Wisewoman program, and assists with mobile health services. She completed the Leadership Development Program in 2017.
https://www.lampreyhealth.org
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Director of Outreach and Care Coordination
Lamprey Health Care, NH
Lisa Corman, MS, RD, LD
NSHC Health Coach
NH Dept. of Health & Human Services, DPHS, Chronic Disease Section
Lisa Corman is the WISEWOMAN Program Coordinator for the State of New Hampshire. Her experience includes clinical nutrition in the hospital and long-term care setting, nutrition counseling through her former private practice, and served as the assistant director of the UNH Dietetic Internship program for 12 years.
https://www.dhhs.nh.gov/about-dhhs/dhhs-organization
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NSHC Health Coach
NH Dept. of Health & Human Services, DPHS, Chronic Disease Section
Adam Greenlee, MD
Interim Chief Medical Officer, Medical Director of Psychiatry and Mental Health
Community Health Centers
Adam Greenlee grew up in rural Southwestern Pennsylvania and became interested in medicine in that environment of limited resources. In recognizing the specific lack of mental health resources and supports in the rural primary care settings in which he trained, he pursued a dual residency in family medicine and psychiatry. For the past 9 years, he has been a practicing primary care provider and psychiatrist at the Community Health Centers, in Burlington, Vermont.
https://www.chcb.org/
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Interim Chief Medical Officer, Medical Director of Psychiatry and Mental Health
Community Health Centers
Patrilie Hernandez, MS
Principal & Founder
Embody Lib, LLC
Patrilie Hernandez (they/she) is a public health consultant, educator, and advocate with over 15 years of experience serving organizations and institutions committed to improving the health & wellbeing of systemically marginalized communities. They leverage their academic background, professional experience, and lived experience to disrupt the status quo of public health, advocating for a weight-inclusive, interdisciplinary, and multi-dimensional paradigm.
https://www.embodylib.com/
About Patrilie Hernandez, MS
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Principal & Founder
Embody Lib, LLC
Esther Tambe, MS, RDN, CDN, CDCES
Owner & Registered Dietician
Esther Tambe Nutrition, LLC
Esther Tambe (she/her) is a New York-based Registered Dietitian and Certified Diabetes Care and Education Specialist. She offers weight-inclusive nutrition care that prioritizes health and well-being through culturally sensitive, respectful approaches. Esther is committed to providing compassionate care for people of all body sizes.
About Esther Tambe, MS, RDN, CDN, CDCES
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Owner & Registered Dietician
Esther Tambe Nutrition, LLC
