Staff
Julia Puebla Fortier
Julia has more than 20 years experience working in the health sector, specializing in linguistic and cultural competence in health care and federal health policy analysis. Through Resources for Cross Cultural Health Care (RCCHC), Julia has spearheaded the development of several key policy tools in this area. She was the principal author of the National Standards for Culturally and Linguistically Appropriate Services (CLAS) in Health Care for the US Department of Health and Human Services. She has consulted with other HHS agencies to develop contracting specifications on cultural competence for managed care organizations, a national research agenda to promote outcomes-related research on cultural and linguistic health care interventions, and a framework for integrating cultural competence in the health care quality improvement agenda. Julia developed and manages the DiversityRx.org website, the ‘Your Voice’ virtual peer education project, and co-produces the National Conference Series on Quality Health Care for Culturally Diverse Populations. She is also active in immigrant health practice and policy dialogues through the European Union, the World Health Organization, and the International Organization for Migration.
Candice Mathew Healy
Candice serves as the project manager for the DiversityRx, coordinating all administrative and grant management aspects of the project. She has worked closely with Julia Puebla Fortier and Dennis Andrulis on the national conference series and related projects since 1998. Candice has served as the Managing Director of the National Conference Series on Quality Health Care for Culturally Diverse Populations since its inception. She holds a Master’s of Public Administration from the Maxwell School of Syracuse University and also has a background in geography.
Gale Petersen
Gale manages the DiversityRx website, contributes content to it, and acts as a tech ombudsman for the project. She has had many years experience as Web designer and manager, including the work of planning site architecture, producing its graphic design, and writing original content. She primarily works with nonprofits to help them use design and technology to address social issues. She has done work for The Benton Foundation, the State of Wisconsin, the University of Wisconsin, the Saving the Sierra website, Grantmakers in Film and Electronic Media, and others.
Brittany Smith
Brittany Smith works as a research assistant in the fields of behavioral health, telehealth, and cultural and linguistic competence in health care. As a member of the DiversityRx Your Voice team she has developed a resource database of tools, websites, and other materials aimed to help professionals in the health care field improve their ability to provide culturally and linguistically competent services to diverse patients. This resource database is a major feature of the new DiversityRx website. She has also helped to coordinate and run the last stages of the Your Voice project’s Communities of Practice and Peer Learning Networks as well as their series of free public webinars.
She currently has two other positions in the health care field, one with the University of Texas Medical Branch, Center for Telehealth Research and Policy, and the other with Change Matrix, Inc. coordinating a Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration funded project, the National Network to Eliminate Disparities in Behavioral Health. She received her Bachelor’s degree in Social Thought from Earlham College in Richmond, Indiana.
Anne Turner
Anne is a medical and research librarian with experience in academic and professional research and practice environments. Her background includes work with educational institutions and non-profit organizations providing services to health care professionals that work with vulnerable and underserved communities. Anne specializes in grant and project management efforts, helping to build strong collaboration efforts using online technologies.She has worked on grant-funded projects with the U.S. Department of Labor, the State of Oregon Department of Human Services (DHS), the State of Washington DHS and Health and Recovery Services Administration (HRSA) divisions, and the Office of Minority Health Region X. Her background also includes collaborative work with community organizations and advocates. She is strongly engaged in issues surrounding the impact of health care information technology on consumers, particularly in vulnerable and underserved communities. She was the Technical Coordinator for the start-up phase of the Your Voice project and continues to work on the project as a consultant.
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Everyone with an interest in cross cultural health issues is welcome to a free membership on the DiversityRx website. Members get additional opportunities to interact on the website and with colleagues in the U.S. and around the world. Learn about all member benefits.