The Impact of Vaccination on Lives and Livelihoods: A People’s Dialogue – A collaboration with The Center for Practical Bioethics and Health Forward Foundation

Join American Public Square at Jewell, The Center for Practical Bioethics, and the Health Forward Foundation as we host a peoples dialogue. We will explore people’s perspectives on the Covid 19 vaccine and how that may affect their lives and livelihoods. What might the long-term implications be for communities who choose or refuse to get vaccinated and what does and should that mean for all of us? Join us for this conversation on April 1st at 6PM via Zoom webinar.

Moderator

Erika Blacksher was appointed the John B. Francis Chair in Bioethics on September 1, 2020. Dr. Blacksher studies ethical and policy questions raised by health inequalities in the United States. Her current work focuses on issues of justice raised by white mortality trends, related roles of early life adversity and whiteness, and deliberative democratic engagement as a tool for advancing health and social equity via developing population policy and civic connection. Dr. Blacksher has masters and doctoral degrees from the University of Virginia’s bioethics program. Dr. Blacksher was also a co-investigator on numerous studies funded by the National Institutes of Health, leading the development and implementation of participatory and deliberative processes to engage minority and marginalized communities on ethical questions of health research and policy. She is also a consultant to the Center for the Ethics of Indigenous Genomics Research, a NIH Center of Excellence, working with partners to translate deliberative democratic principles into practical deliberative forums that can effectively and equitably elicit the views of tribal communities on ethical questions about genomic research, biobanks, and data stewardship. Dr. Blacksher publishes regularly in bioethics, public health, health policy, medical, and deliberation journals, such as the American Journal of Bioethics, American Journal of Public Health, Hastings Center Report, JAMA, and Journal of Public Deliberation. She also lectures frequently and widely, giving invited talks to professional and academic entities, most recently to the National Academies of Science Committee on Rising Midlife Mortality Rates and Socioeconomic Disparities, The Hastings Center’s Project on Reconstructing Common Purpose and Civic Innovation for a Democracy in Crisis, The Johns Hopkins University Center for Health Disparities Solutions, Interdisciplinary Association for Population Health Science, the American College of Medical Genetics, and the Society for Pediatric Anesthesia.

Panelists

Andrea Perdomo-Morales is a native of Guatemala, relocating to the United States when she was four years old, and now living in Wyandotte County, Kansas with her family. She holds Bachelor and Master degrees of Social Work from the University of Kansas. She is a First-Generation Latina and her family’s first college graduate. For two decades, she has helped improve the lives of low income and underserved children and adults, creating and enhancing programs for the Latinx community and other vulnerable populations. She is the Chief Program Officer for Vibrant Health, a federally qualified health center providing medical, behavioral health and dental care at clinic sites and schools in Wyandotte County. Andrea enjoys building successful partnerships and collaborations; spear-heading complex initiatives; and mobilizing and connecting resources to improve the health and well-being of individuals and communities.

D. Rashaan Gilmore is a serial entrepreneur, community connector, organizer and collaborator. He is particularly passionate about making a difference and has found a home for his voice in service of marginalized communities where he brings his candor, intelligence and wit to empower individuals to assert their right to be visible and thrive. He is the founder and president/CEO of BlaqOut, a grassroots organization which seeks to organize and mobilize the Black LGBTQ community in Kansas City (Missouri) and develop a leadership core. Previously, he directed multiple significantly-sized SAMHSA and CDC-funded HIV prevention grants for a Federally Qualified Health Center. Gilmore’s keen insight and vast professional experience establish him as a sought after cultural and political analyst and commentator on television, online and on the radio where he is host and executive producer of the live broadcast public affairs radio show, “Unbossed and Unbothered with D. Rashaan.”

Toniann Richard is CEO of the Health Care Collaborative (HCC) of Rural Missouri. With help from her staff, executive board and partners, HCC is one of the country’s foremost rural health networks. The nonprofit also owns and operates four federally qualified health centers (FQHCs) in Buckner, Carrollton, Concordia and Waverly. HCC and its Live Well Community Health Centers are supported by multiple state and federal funds, regional foundations, various partners and investments. Toniann, who began her journey at HCC in 2007, has raised close to $20 million in grant funding that directly fuels programs that close access barriers to care for the underserved. In less than a decade, Toniann has managed to grow her staff from 2 FTEs to almost 100 FTEs.