Danielle Turnipseed is Chief Public Policy Officer at the Association of American Medical Colleges (AAMC). In this role, Danielle leads the AAMC advocacy team’s efforts before the Administration and Congress on important issues impacting medical education and the nation’s future doctors including Medicare, Medicaid, graduate medical education slots, important NIH research funding, and workforce issues. Previously, Danielle was Associate Director in the Division of Federal Affairs in the Advocacy Department at the American Medical Association (AMA) and Vice President at America’s Health Insurance Plans (AHIP). An attorney, Danielle began her career in Washington, DC as legislative assistant and policy advisor to two United States Senators, and also had a federal clerkship for the US Court of Federal Claims. Danielle maintains her admissions to the highest courts in the District of Columbia, New York, and Maryland. She is also admitted to the US Supreme Court, the US District Court for the District of Columbia, and the US Court of Federal Claims. Danielle received her undergraduate degree from Duke University, her law degree from the University of Maryland, and her public policy and public health dual degrees from the University of Michigan at Ann Arbor. She currently resides in Silver Spring, Maryland.

Lanessa Owens-Chaplin is a civil rights attorney and movement leader dedicated to advancing racial, environmental, and economic justice. She serves as Director of the Racial Justice Center at the New York Civil Liberties Union, where she leads statewide litigation, policy advocacy, and community-driven campaigns addressing systemic racism and structural inequities embedded in New York’s legal and governmental systems.

Her work focuses on environmental justice, reparations, Indigenous rights, housing equity & land use laws, and the intersection of constitutional law and racial justice. She has played a leading role in high-impact advocacy related to lead contamination, infrastructure harm, and the enforcement of New York’s constitutional environmental rights. Owens-Chaplin regularly collaborates with community partners, legal advocates, and policymakers to translate lived experiences into durable legal and policy change.

She is widely recognized for her strategic leadership, narrative advocacy, and commitment to centering historically marginalized communities in civil rights work.

Laurie Black is the Community Education Director at the United Way of CNY, working on education policy and overseeing the Book Buddies program in partnership with the Syracuse City School District. Laurie’s thirty-year career has been focused on education, starting in Maryland and New York State government, and then working at the local level in Central New York.

Laurie worked for fourteen years at SYRACUSE 20/20, a unique civic leadership Board working to improve the quality of life in Syracuse and throughout the region. She became passionate about early literacy and early childhood policy and worked with local leaders to launch the Early Childhood Alliance in 2015, becoming its first Director in 2016. She spent seven years growing the early childhood infrastructure and support available to children and families in Onondaga County. In 2022, Laurie became the Community Education Director at the United Way where she coordinates the Book Buddies program, overseeing 600 volunteers serving as early literacy tutors in six elementary schools in the Syracuse City School District.

Laurie is grateful that her career has provided her with the unique opportunity to work at the intersection of schools and community, working to improve outcomes for students and families.

David F. Lehmann, SUNY Distinguished Service Professor, is an internist and clinical pharmacologist at Upstate Medical University. He co-founded Housecalls for the Homeless-Upstate with Mia Ruiz-Salvador in 2018, providing free medical care to people experiencing homelessness on the streets and in shelters of Syracuse, NY. Dr. Lehmann has held numerous academic and clinical leadership roles at Upstate and has been deeply involved in medical education, patient safety, and medication stewardship at the state and national levels. His career also includes international clinical, educational, and humanitarian service across Africa, Asia, the Pacific, and the Americas.

Dr. George Stanley is a Syracuse native and a proud graduate of local Syracuse high schools. He graduated from Nottingham High School, received a degree in neuroscience from Colgate university, and received his M.D. degree here at SUNY Upstate Medical University. He stayed on at Upstate for his OB/GYN residency, and he has been in practice since 1998. Dr. Stanley is board-certified by the American Board of OB/GYN. In the past, he has worked in private practice and Syracuse Community Health Center. He joined Upstate’s faculty part-time in 2016 and full-time in 2017. He became the OB/GYN Associate Clerkship Director in 2019, and the official Clerkship Director in 2022. He is also an assistant professor of OB/GYN. Dr. Stanley and his wife, Galyn Murphy-Stanley, have three amazing children that they are very proud of! As a fun fact, Dr. Stanley is a horror fan!

Dr. Şerife Tekin is an Associate Professor at the Center for Bioethics and Humanities, at SUNY Upstate Medical University in Syracuse, NY. Her work in philosophy of psychiatry takes place at the cusp of philosophy of science, philosophy of mind and bioethics. She wrote on topics spanning the place for the self in science, the role of patient narratives in psychiatric research and mental healthcare, ethical issues arising in medical applications of artificial intelligence, and the value of medical humanities education for health professionals. She coedited The Handbook of Psychiatric Ethics (Oxford University Press, 2021), The Bloomsbury Companion to Philosophy and Psychiatry (Bloomsbury, 2019), and Extraordinary Science and Psychiatry: Responses to the Crisis in Mental Health Research (MIT Press, 2017). Her articles appeared in Philosophy of Science; Synthese; Philosophical Psychology; American Journal of Bioethics, and elsewhere. Her latest book, Reclaiming the Self in Psychiatry: Centering Personal Narratives for a Humanist Science(Routledge), was published in 2025.

SeQuoia Kemp is a Black feminist community-based birth worker and health justice advocate from Syracuse, NY. As Founder of Doula 4 a Queen and Founding Member of Sankofa Reproductive Health and Healing Center, she combines ancestral wisdom and tenets of healing justice with evidence-based practices to advance maternal health equity. With degrees in Public Health (B.A.) and Nursing (B.S.N.) from the University of Rochester, SeQuoia reduces racial disparities in maternal and infant health through community-based care, community collaboration, and innovative efforts. She serves as co-president of NY Certified Professional Midwives Inc. (NY CPM Inc.), advocating for Certified Professional Midwife licensure in New York, and sits on Crouse Health's Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and Belonging Advisory Board.

Her impact in our community is felt through her work as childbirth educator, lactation educator, maternal mental health support specialist, community-based doula trainer, and health justice advocate. As an aspiring Certified Nurse Midwife and recent initiate of Zeta Phi Beta Sorority Inc.'s Kaptivating Kappa Xi Zeta Chapter, she continues to advance reproductive justice through culturally-congruent care and advocacy.

Darrell Buckingham is a Senior Program Officer at the Central New York Community Foundation, where he advances racial, social, and economic equity through community-driven philanthropy. He leads and supports strategic initiatives focused on lead poisoning prevention, literacy, and the Black Equity & Excellence Fund, working alongside nonprofit partners, residents, and funders to shift resources toward communities that have been historically excluded. His work emphasizes shared leadership, trust-based partnerships, and measurable community impact. Previously, Darrell served as Personnel Officer for the Onondaga County Public Library System, where he helped advance workforce diversity and inclusive practices, and as a Workforce Development Specialist with the Onondaga County Workforce Development Center. Darrell holds an MBA in Leadership from Le Moyne College. He has served in several civic and nonprofit leadership roles, including Board Trustee and Chair of the Equity and Engagement Committee for the Everson Museum, Second Vice President of the Board for Vera House, Inc., and as a member of the New York Health Foundation’s Food Equity Advisory Committee. Grounded in relationship-building and accountability, Darrell is committed to strengthening communities by aligning systems, resources, and people around equity and justice.

Kiara Van Brackle is a public health justice advocate, policy strategist, and clinical neuroscientist whose work brings a practitioner-scholar perspective to advancing equitable neurologic care and population health. She translates clinical insight, data, and lived experience into community-engaged research and policy-driven action addressing health disparities.

A Syracuse University alumna, Kiara holds a Bachelor’s degree in Health and Exercise Science and a Master’s degree in Biomedical and Forensic Sciences with advanced training in neurophysiology, rural medicine, and public health. Her scholarship and advocacy focus on racialized environmental exposures, and structural barriers to equitable neurologic care and the right to health.

Through her public health consulting practice, Wilhelmina Health Solutions, and her leadership with community-based organizations and legislative coalitions, Kiara supports policy development, community-driven advocacy, and system-level interventions addressing environmental injustice and neurologic health disparities. Grounded in cross-sector collaboration and community-engaged research and advocacy, her work bridges academic scholarship, grassroots organizing, and public health practice to elevate community voices and drive structural change.

Kiara is deeply committed to providing patient- and family-centered care as well as mentoring future generations of medical and public health professionals. She is dedicated to strengthening relationships between healthcare providers, academic institutions, and the communities they serve, advancing health justice through collaboration, civic engagement, and care.

Emet Oden is a Limited Permit Marriage and Family Therapist specializing in gender-affirming care. He earned his master’s degree in Marriage and Family Therapy from Syracuse University in May 2025. While in graduate school he served as President of the department’s Gender Affirmative Support Team, supporting education, advocacy, and affirming clinical practices. 

Emet currently works in private practice at Cultivate Connection where he provides therapy to individuals, couples, and families with a strong focus on working with trans and gender-diverse clients. His work is grounded in a commitment to affirming care that honors clients’ identities, relationships, and lived experience.

Rev Andrea Stoeckel has had an eclectic background. Being on of the last graduates of Miss Farmer's School of Cooking in 1977, Stoeckel was a professional cook, holds a Bachelors in Social Work and 3 Masters. Ordained in the United Church of Christ in 1989,Rev. Stoeckel has served all over the US, settling in Upstate NY for the latter part of her career where she has worked as an ecumenical transitional minister.

Active in justice issues most of her adult life, Stoeckel has a broad background in elder care, working with homeless, LGB+TQIA2S issues, disability awareness and political issues. She is currently a member at Plymouth Congregational UCC downtown and sings second soprano with SGLC. She is active in interfaith and ecumenical issues within the community and sits on the Tenants Association Board at McCarthy Manor.

Kaytlyn Flansburgh grew up in Syracuse and has been a registered nurse since 2006, working most of that time at St. Joseph's Hospital in the PACU. She graduated in her pajamas from Upstate as a nurse practitioner in 2020. Afterwards, she completed an urgent care fellowship while working at WellNow. During graduate school she enjoyed doing a clinical rotation at Inclusive Health Services and was fortunate to start working there in 2023. Within her practice at IHS, she treats and prevents HIV, Hepatitis, and STIs. She provides gender affirming and LGBTQ+ care. Additionally, she serves as primary care provider for many of those patients. She has four children and tries to go hiking whenever possible.

Sarah Bowers LCSW-R (she/her/hers) is presently the Behavioral Health Team Lead at Upstate’s Inclusive Health Services and a Team Lead within the Upstate Department of Social Work. She has been in her current role as a clinician providing and an administrator supporting gender-affirming mental health care for the past 5 years. This includes providing letters of support for GAMST and nuanced ongoing care for patients within the LGBTQ+ community. Prior to working at Upstate, she worked as a mental health clinician at a variety of practice settings including community clinics, juvenile justice, chronic pain management, and private practice since completing her Masters in Social Work in 2010. She is an avid reader, dislikes cooking, and is obsessed with dogs.

Angana Mahapatra is a primary care physician and Clinical Assistant Professor practicing at SUNY Upstate’s Inclusive Health Services, a New York State Department of Health AIDS Institute Designated Center of Excellence in HIV Care, providing outpatient medical care for patients living with HIV and affected persons from the 15 county Central New York region. Though with modern therapy, HIV-positive individuals are living long and healthy lives, they continue to experience stigma in accessing medical care, and they remain at elevated risk for cardiovascular disease, malignancy, depression, anxiety, and substance use disorders. There, she has had the opportunity to work with leaders in the field and dedicated professionals who have been providing care to and working with the community since the beginning of the epidemic. The clinic also offers pre-exposure prophylaxis, post-exposure prophylaxis (occupational and non-occupational), primary care for patients who identify as LGBTQIA as well as affirming medical therapy for patients who identify as gender diverse.

Oceanna Fair is a passionate civic leader and lifelong resident of Syracuse’s Southside. As Chair of Families for Lead Freedom Now!, she leads a grassroots coalition of families directly impacted by childhood lead poisoning, advocating for justice, accountability, and systemic change.

A retired nurse, devoted mother, and proud grandmother, Mrs. Fair brings both personal and professional insight to her advocacy. Her own family’s experience with lead poisoning fuels her unwavering commitment to ending this preventable crisis and protecting future generations.

Mrs. Fair serves on several key boards and committees, including the Governor’s Lead Advisory Council, the Greater Syracuse Land Bank Board, and the I-81 Big Table’s Occupational and Environmental Health and Safety Committee. Her leadership is marked by compassion, tenacity, and a deep-rooted dedication to community health and equity.

Travis Hobart, MD, MPH is a pediatrician and preventive medicine physician at SUNY Upstate Medical University. Dr. Hobart works as a general outpatient pediatrician in Liverpool, NY. In addition, he is the medical director of the Central New York Regional Lead Resource Center and Central New York Children’s Environmental Health Center, both located at SUNY Upstate. Through these Centers, he and the team work to prevent and treat childhood exposure to lead and other environmental hazards. He is also actively involved in medical education, directing the Population Health curriculum at Upstate.

Sarah Matt, MD, MBA, is a surgeon turned health technology strategist, national best selling author, and speaker. Her work focuses on how digital tools, from remote surgery to telemedicine to AI, can expand access to healthcare and eliminate the traditional boundaries that separate patients from care. 

With over two decades of experience at the intersection of medicine and innovation, Dr. Matt has held leadership roles at Oracle Health, NextGen, and multiple health tech startups. She has designed and deployed systems that reach patients around the world, including hard-to-serve and underserved populations.

A practicing physician, Dr. Matt continues to treat patients in rural and charity-based settings, keeping her closely connected to the human side of healthcare access. She speaks widely at healthcare and technology conferences and has appeared on national panels about artificial intelligence, care delivery reform, and digital transformation.

A graduate of Cornell University, SUNY Upstate Medical University and UT Austin’s McCombs School of Business, she blends clinical acumen with deep technical knowledge to challenge the status quo and to reimagine what healthcare can look like when geography no longer dictates your care.