Advisory Board

Brandi Blessett, Ph.D. is an associate professor and inaugural director of the Masters of Public Administration Social Justice (MPA SJ) program at the University of Cincinnati (UC). The MPA SJ program at UC is the only program in the country that has a social justice focus. Her research focuses on administrative responsibility, disenfranchisement, and social equity. Much of her recent work acknowledges the disproportionate effects the criminal legal system has on people and communities of color. Specifically, she offers insight into the effects of institutional injustice and their implications for underrepresented communities. Dr. Blessett’s research agenda advocates for ethical practices, professional standards, and accountability measures to promote equity, justice, and fairness to all factions of U.S. society.

Theodore J. Davis, Jr., (Ph. D. Florida State University) is an associate professor in the Department of Political Science and International Relations at the University of Delaware. He has a joint appointment in the Department of Black American Studies. His research and teaching interests include urban politics, governance and inequality (especially as it relates to African Americans and people of African heritage). He regularly teach courses related to public policy, urban politics, race and politics, and the politics of poverty. He has occasionally taught courses in public administration and research methods.

Dr. Davis current research focus includes: 1) urban politics and community development (with a focus on inner city communities), 2) educational achievement gap, 3) the politics of inequality, and 4) governance and poverty reduction in Sub-Saharan Africa. He is the author of the book Black Politics Today: The Era of Socioeconomic Transition (Routledge 2012). Dr. Davis is currently working on a book project tentatively titled The Politics and Perils of Racial Disparities and Inequality: The Pace of Blacks’ Educational Progress. Dr. Davis is also working on several projects that examines the relationship between good governance, poverty reduction and human development in Sub-Saharan Africa.

Karyn Onyeneho, M.S., holds a Master of Science degree in health informatics from George Mason University and a Bachelor of Science degree, magna cum laude, in health sciences and management, from Howard University, where she is currently pursuing a Doctorate degree in Nutritional Sciences, with a concentration in Nutrigenomics. Her dissertation will focus on examining gene-expressions in the pathophysiology of Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus (T2DM) in African-Americans and Africans, who are disproportionately affected by the disease compared to other minority ethnic groups. She aspires to develop sustainable, patient-centered, comprehensive nutrition interventions to combat T2DM and empower at-risk diabetics to adopt healthy dietary patterns while promoting health literacy.

Karyn has been a public service professional in the US federal workforce for almost a decade and was appointed to her current position, Genomics Scientific Administrator at the National Institutes of Health, Precision Medicine Initiative, All of Us Research Program in 2019—a national research program established under President Obama’s administration to revolutionize how we improve health and treat disease. In this role, she supports partnerships between All of Us and research participants, including communication of research findings with participants and participant communities. Her work is critical to the core value of the program in supporting efforts to ensure research participants have access to their genomic results and the program’s Genetic Counseling Resource for responsible return of results. Prior to joining the Genomics Team, Karyn spent her first year at All of Us supporting establishment of the Resource Access Board (RAB) and developing policy guidelines for the RAB to promote researcher engagement while contributing to development of the genomics platform.

In June 2019, Karyn co-authored a paper, Barriers to Participation in Genomic Health Research by African-American and Other Minority Populations: A Systematic Literature Review, published with the American Society of Nutrition, to understand genomic health research participation barriers among groups known to be historically underrepresented in biomedical research and to promote effective strategies to address research recruitment challenges. In June 2018, Karyn visited the University of Botswana to present a research paper, “Globalization and Nutrition in Botswana to Combat Malnutrition and Diabetes Mellitus,” in support of her Ph.D. studies. Karyn’s aspirations are to develop sustainable, patient-centered, comprehensive nutrition interventions to combat T2DM and promote health literacy.

Karyn has presented her research at national and international conferences including: George Mason University Capstone Presentations (2014), Functional Requirements of a Web-based Solution to Engage Diabetic Patients; CIMPAD US conference (2016), Africa’s Secret Weapon—The Diaspora: The Implementation and Utilization of eHealth Technologies to Improve Health Outcomes; CIMPAD Botswana conference (2018), Globalization and Nutrition in Botswana to Combat Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus; and the National Association of Health Services Executives (NAHSE) 33rd Educational Conference (2018) where she served as a panelist discussing matters and the importance of inclusion, diversity, and equity in the health services workforce during a panel segment, Racism and Health: Defining a New Paradigm. Karyn’s research has been published in peer-reviewed chapters with the American Society of Nutrition, the Journal of Mason Graduate Research of George Mason University, and CIMPAD international conference proceedings.

Karyn is avid in global and community affairs and was also recognized by the Maryland General Assembly in 2017 for her role in community service where she received academic scholarships from both Senator William C. Smith Jr. and Delegate Jheanelle K. Wilkins to support her doctorate studies at Howard University. She also enjoys giving back to her Alma Mater through volunteering as an Alumni Career Mentor at Howard University during the 2016-2017 Junior Experiential Learning (JEL) Program. In this role, she spent a year mentoring young men and women junior undergraduates in College of Nursing and Allied Health pursuing degrees to become future physical therapists, registered nurses, and physician assistants.

Karyn empowered her students in the JEL Program to reach success through scholarship, which she notes is attributed to her parents who instilled education in her at the earliest stages of her life as being the greatest pathway to success. She continues to be active in Howard University alumni relation events and university activities. Her efforts in the JEL Program were recognized in 2017 when she was awarded a Certificate of Recognition for Outstanding Contributions and Continued Support.

Karyn holds a professional memberships with the American Society of Nutrition (2019-present); National Association of Health Services Executives (2018-present), American Medical Informatics Association (2014-2015); American Health Information Management Association (2014-2015); and the Healthcare Information and Management Systems Society (2014-2015).

Pauline Lambou was born raised in Cameroon in Central Africa. she is a woman rights activist and feminist passionate about disabilities rights, women entrepreneurship and leadership, inclusive education, development, equity, inclusive society and Governance in Africa.

As a bilingual Special Education Teacher, she is currently working with the Ministry of Secondary Education of Cameroon. She has experience working on gender issues as a consultant in women’s organizations and councils for local governance.

She is a member of the post-2015 women Coalition, a member of the Women–Major Group that was created as one of the nine major groups after the 1992 UN conference on the environment and development held in Rio. She also works with the Women’s Partners Constituent Group (WPCG) that was created as one of the 14 Partner Constituent Groups (PCGs) of the General Assembly of Partners (GAP) which incorporates the nine major groups, the Habitat Agenda partners, and others. Chair and Co-Chair were selected during the PrepCom2 in Nairobi in April 2015 and serves as Organizing Partners (OPs). The WPCG serves as a collaborative space for advocacy by bringing together a collective women’s voice, policy recommendations, and the concerns and priorities of women and women’s organizations, along the entire spectrum of diversity and the life cycle, regarding urban policies and sustainable urbanization in the HABITAT III processes. Chaired by the Huairou Commission: Women, Homes & Community and Co-Chaired by AFEM (Association Femmes Europe Méridionale). All this are networked voluntary initiatives for SDG 2030.

She holds a BA on bilingual studies and BA in Special Education Studies from Yaoundé University of Cameroon and Pen-School of Education in Parternership with CEFED-Santa. Aside CIMPAD Pauline is the interim deputy Secretary of Africa society of Public Administration, International Observer at Global Organization of Parliamentarians Against Corruption, Africa Forest Forum AFF, CT/ISO International for Standard and Quality Agency as civil society, Medias and stakeholder strategist of Leading Women of Africa-LWA couple with coordination of LWA Cameroon.

Founder of Fondation Espoir et Vie FESVIE, an inclusive complex for children with disabilities and normal children for Education for all, founder of Women for Leadership and entrepreneurship forum – WOLEF, co-founder of the Network of women fighting Against Corruption for Transparency.

Muliokela is African born and raised in Zambia. She extremely passionate about global health and development issues on the African continent, including HIV prevention and gender equity and innovative solutions such as utilizing mobile technology to promote healthy behaviors. She has experience working the United States and in Zambia supporting the implementation of both bilateral and multilateral development projects. She is currently Program Manager for the WHO’s mhealth initative to combat non-communicable diseases- a program based in Zambia’s Ministry of Health.

She graduated with a Master of Public and International Affairs(MPIA) from the University of Pittsburgh’s graduate school of public and international affairs in 2010. Her BA is international relations from Salisbury University in Salisbury, MD.
Aside from CIMPAD, Rosemary is also a member of the Zambia Society for Public Administration( ZSPA).

Tamara Webb is a doctoral candidate in the International & Transcultural Studies department at Teachers College Columbia University. Her research interests focus on cross-cultural understanding, international exchange programs and education reform in historically-disenfranchised and underserved communities in sub-Saharan Africa, Latin America and the Caribbean, and the United States of America. Ms. Webb holds a bachelors degree in interdisciplinary studies from Cornell University, a masters in anthropology from Teachers College Columbia University, and a masters in public administration from the Baruch College School of Public Affairs. She has conducted research in Tanzania, Nigeria, South Africa, Namibia, Belize, and the United States.