Prossy Muyingo and Dr. Madeleine Ballard

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In this episode the conversation will focus on the role of Community Health Workers across sub-Saharan Africa who are responsible for delivering care to approximately 40% of the continent’s population – that’s 916,000 active Community Health Workers treating over 400 million people across 24 different countries. Though they are often not formally recognized as professionals, Community Health Workers may be responsible for at least a dozen different types of preventive, promotional, and curative services depending on the country and local context. 

Ewerton Nunes

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This episode focuses on the role of Community Health Workers in Brazil, also known as Community Health Agents. Unlike some other countries, community healthcare is a verified and formalized field of work in Brazil, thanks to an initiative called the Family Health Strategy that legally recognized Community Health Agents in 2002. Paul’s guest is Ewerton Nunes, Global Community Impact Manager for Johnson & Johnson. Ewerton has led social impact work at Johnson & Johnson for 8 years, working to uplift the stories and voices of Community Health Agents to better represent the full picture of what community health work looks like in Brazil. He is also the co-creator of A Casa, an organization designed to provide resources, support, and spaces for knowledge-sharing to Community Health Agents throughout Brazil.

Corey Feist and Stefanie Simmons

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In this episode Paul is joined by Corey Feist and Stefanie Simmons.Corey is a healthcare executive with over 20 years of experience and is the co-Founder of the Dr. Lorna Breen Heroes’ Foundation. He also served as the Chief Executive Officer of the University of Virginia Physicians Group, a medical group of more than 1,200 physicians and advanced practice providers. Corey has authored numerous publications on the need to support the well-being of the healthcare workforce.   Dr. Stefanie Simmons is a board-certified emergency medicine physician with over 15 years of clinical practice. She focuses on the research, development and implementation of programs designed to strengthen the relational skills of clinicians, enhance professional well-being among clinicians, and engage teams in the practice of medicine.

Denise Octavia Smith and Maria Lemus

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In this episode the conversation Paul is joined by Denise Octavia Smith, the founding Executive Director of the National Association of Community Health Workers, and Maria Lemus is the Executive Director of Visión y Compromiso. As a community health worker and health care administration professional, Denise designs and implements community-centred strategies to achieve equitable, diverse and inclusive partnerships, programmes and environments. In Maria’s role at Visión y Compromiso she is helping to transform the role of “promotores” — Community Health Workers specifically focused on meeting the diverse needs of Latinx communities — into a widely accepted profession in the United States as they share the same languages, cultures, and experiences as many native-born and immigrant communities.

Shombi Ellis & Millicent Magwa

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In this episode Paul is joined by two inspiring women who play different roles within the organization mothers2mothers. First, by Shombi Ellis. Shombi is both Country Director of mothers2mothers South Africa and Chief of Party for RISE II. Paul’s second guest in this episode is Millicent Magwa. After her own journey with HIV Millicent was motivated to join mothers2mothers two years ago. In her current role, Millicent goes door-to-door in her community, delivering care to prevent and treat HIV in adults and children, and provides additional services to identify and manage non-communicable diseases, which are a growing health issue for those living with HIV.