Implementing Institutional Policies to Address Inequities in Public Health
Olutosin “Tosin” Ojugbele M.D., M.P.H
Olutosin “Tosin” Ojugbele (she/her) is the medical director of community health & equity and environmental health at the Rhode Island Department of Health and an assistant professor of Pediatrics at Alpert Medical School of Brown University. Dr. Ojugbele completed her MD and an MPH in community health science at SUNY Downstate; pediatric residency in a global health concentration at Northwell Health in NY; and a post-doctoral fellowship in primary care research at Dartmouth in NH. She formerly served as the director of Hasbro Children’s Fostering Health Clinic, a medical home to pediatric patients involved in the child welfare system in Rhode Island and continues to teach trainees and see patients at Hasbro. Her main academic interests are in social medicine and pediatric healthcare delivery services as it pertains to advancing health equity.
Dr. Makaila Mariel Lemonik Arthur
Job title or function
Professor of Sociology Mikaila Mariel Lemonik Arthur earned her B.A. in sociology from Mount Holyoke College and her M.A. and Ph.D. in sociology from New York University. She teaches courses in law and society, research methods, and education that serve the sociology and justice studies programs here at Rhode Island College, and has also developed a general education course on higher education. Before coming to Rhode Island College, she taught at New York University, Queens College of the City University of New York, and Hamilton College.
Professor Arthur has published three books, Law and Justice Around the World (University of California 2020), Student Activism and Curricular Change in Higher Education (Ashgate 2011), and Social Change (Volume 7 in the Student Handbook to Sociology, Facts on File 2012), as well as a number of research articles and policy briefs on issues related to higher education. Professor Arthur is an active participant in the American Sociological Association, including serving as an Area Editor for TRAILS, the Teaching Resources and Innovations Library, for many years and editing several newsletters. Beyond the College, Professor Arthur likes to spend her time reading speculative fiction and visiting local farmers' markets and vegetarian restaurants.
Kilah Walters-Clinton
Job title or function
Director of Race, Equity and Community Engagement
RI Executive Office of Health & Human Services
https://www.linkedin.com/in/kilahwalters/
Carrie Bridges-Feliz
Job title or function
Vice President of Community Health and Equity
Lifespan
Bridges Feliz joined Lifespan in 2015 as the Director of the Lifespan Community Health Institute. Under her leadership, the Institute became a regionally recognized leader in public health affairs, establishing new health promotion and disease prevention programs and partnerships, anchoring community health workers in the Lifespan system, and scaling the Connect for Health program that annually screens more than 3,000 low-income pediatric and adult patients for health-related social needs and helps them access care and supports that improve household stability.
“Carrie’s commitment to meeting and serving the community where they are with critical support is undeniable,” said Lisa Abbott, senior vice president human resources and community affairs. “The day-to-day work and effort put forth by Carrie and her team to help create healthy conditions for the community really typifies our Lifespan core values.”
Bridges Feliz serves on the board of directors of numerous non-profit organizations including the Rhode Island Foundation, City Year Providence, Greenwood Credit Union and the Rhode Island Free Clinic, where she is vice president of the board. She also serves as vice chair of the board of trustees of the Paul Cuffee School. Bridges Feliz holds a bachelor’s degree in biology from Duke University and a master’s degree in public health from Boston University.