About the Board
The WIC Community Innovation and Outreach (WIC CIAO) Project Advisory Board reflects the diversity of communities served by WIC and supplements the disciplines and expertise of the Project Team. Advisory Board members have demonstrated deep expertise in sectors complementary to the Project Team, including research, advocacy, childcare, communications, community organizing, healthcare, nutrition/dietetics, philanthropy, racial justice, rural communities, WIC technology, and WIC administration.
The Advisory Board includes individuals from a variety of backgrounds and combines the expertise of nationally recognized experts on WIC innovation and outreach with that of current and former WIC participants.
Meet The Board
Dr. Carolyn Barnes, PhD
Assistant Professor
Duke University
Toni Bolton
Recovery Specialist and Advisor,
Advocates for Children of New Jersey
Christina Chauvenet
Senior Manager, Research & Program Innovation
National WIC Association
Laura Conklin, MPH
Director, Community Health Initiatives
American Academy of Pediatrics
Dr. Kofi Essel, MD, MPH
Pediatrician, Children's National Hospital, and Assistant Professor of Pediatrics, The George Washington University School of Medicine & Health Sciences
Ron Estrada
Chief Executive Officer
Farmworker Justice
Robert Ferguson, MPH
Chief Policy Officer
Jewish Healthcare Foundation
Nicole Garro, MPH
Director, Early Childhood
Health Programs
Child Care Aware of America
Julie Hampton-Lyon, RDN, LD
Registered Dietitian
Dr. Kanika Harris, PhD, MPH
Director of Maternal and Child Health
Black Women's Health Imperative
Alice Lenihan, MPH, RD, LDN
Former Branch Head for
Nutrition Services
North Carolina Division of Public Health
Misha Marvel, MSW
Manager, Early Childhood Nutrition Policy & Engagement
Hunger Solutions New York
Cheri Nemec, RDN, CD, CLS, IBC
WIC Program Director, Great Lakes Inter-Tribal Council, Inc.
Chair, National Indian and Native American WIC Coalition (NINAWC)
Dr. Angela Odoms-Young, PhD
Associate Professor and Director of the Food and Nutrition Education in Communities Program (FNEC) and New York State Expanded Food and Nutrition Education Program (EFNEP), Division of Nutritional Sciences, Cornell University
Tina Sherman
Senior Campaign Director
MomsRising
Diane Sullivan
Co-Founder
Equitable Spaces