Fall 2018

Chief Advocacy and Government Relations Officer, ProMedica

Barbara Petee is the chief advocacy and government relations officer for ProMedica. With a specific emphasis on community relations and redevelopment, she is responsible for connecting organizations and agencies in collaborative work so that the mission of ProMedica — to ensure health and well-being for all citizens — is achieved.

In her government relations role, Petee works with lawmakers at the local, state, and federal level, to ensure ProMedica is consistently involved in helping to shape and provide input on key policy and legislative issues that affect the health system and the communities it serves.

Petee has held numerous roles during her tenure with the organization, most recently as chief communications and public affairs officer. She is a member of the Business Advisory Council for Toledo Public Schools, an advisor to the board of directors of the Toledo Area Humane Society, and a board member of the Alliance to End Hunger, an affiliate of Bread for the World, based in Washington D.C. Barbara is a graduate of Michigan State University with dual degrees in journalism and American literature.

Alicia Guevara Warren joined the Michigan League for Public Policy in 2014 as the Tax Policy Analyst, and became the Kids Count in Michigan Project Director in June 2015. She oversees the project, which includes the collection and analysis of data to make informed policy recommendations to improve child well-being. Alicia has an extensive background advocating for improved outcomes for children and families through her work in the nonprofit sector with Michigan’s Children, Community Economic Development Association of Michigan, and School-Community Health Alliance of Michigan. Additionally, as Democratic Central Staff for the Michigan House of Representatives, she served as the lead analyst on issues affecting children, families, and seniors, along with immigration, women’s health, and regulatory reform. Prior to joining the League, Alicia was with the Office of Economic Development at the Michigan Department of Transportation.

Alicia holds a bachelor’s degree in Political Science and Sociology with a specialization in law, criminology, and deviance from the University of Michigan – Ann Arbor and a master’s of public affairs with a specialization in social and economic policy from the Lyndon B. Johnson School of Public Affairs at the University of Texas at Austin.

Chief Strategy Officer

Paul Elam, PhD serves as MPHI’s Chief Strategy Officer. He is responsible for aligning the priorities of MPHI with national interests as well as diversifying the Institute’s portfolio to address cutting edge issues that affect the health and well-being of our society. His past leadership includes mentoring and training professionals from historically underrepresented groups with evaluation expertise in the areas of child welfare and juvenile justice. His deep understanding of youth violence and prevention, crime and justice, and child maltreatment is nationally recognized. Dr. Elam brings a wealth of knowledge and experience measuring racial and ethnic disproportionality and believes that sound public policy analysis should include an examination of whether all people are being treated fairly and equitably.

Before joining MPHI, Dr. Elam was president of Public Policy Associates, Inc., where he worked closely with government, philanthropic, university, and nonprofit clients, providing strategic consultation to advance public policy decisions in ways that would improve lives, advance social justice and produce equitable outcomes.

Lisa Peacock, MSN, RN, WHNP-BC serves as Health Officer for both the Health Department of Northwest Michigan and the Benzie-Leelanau District Health Department. Before taking up the mantle of Health Officer, she spent most of her 27 year nursing career in the field of public health serving in multiple staff and administrative roles with experience in a wide variety of public health programs. Lisa received both her undergraduate and graduate degrees in nursing from GVSU and is certified as a Nurse Practitioner in Women’s Health. She is currently a Master of Public Health candidate at Michigan State University. Lisa especially enjoys opportunities that involve regional collaboration and innovation. She serves as the vice chair of the Northern Michigan Public Health Alliance which was selected as the Backbone Organization for the Northern Michigan Community Health Innovation Region and has played a leadership role in the development of the Clinical Community Linkages model for the region.

Director, Poverty Solutions at the University of Michigan; Associate Professor, School of Social Work; Associate Professor, Gerald R. Ford School of Public Policy

Dr. Shaefer’s research on poverty and social welfare policy in the United States has been published in top peer-reviewed academic journals such as Journal of Policy Analysis and Management and the American Journal of Public Health, and has been supported by the National Science Foundation, among other sources. Shaefer has presented his research at the White House and before numerous federal agencies, has testified before the U.S. Senate Finance Committee and has consulted with a number of the nation’s largest social service providers as well as numerous community-based agencies. His work has been cited in the New York Times, the Washington Post, National Review, The Atlantic, Vox, the LA Times and Huffington Post and he has been featured on such programs as “Marketplace” and CNBC’s “Nightly Business Report.” His recent book with Kathryn Edin, “$2.00 a Day: Living on Almost Nothing in America,” was named one of the 100 Notable Books of 2015 by the New York Times Book Review and won the Hillman Prize for Book Journalism.

Ph.D. and M.A. University of Chicago; B.A. Oberlin College

Kathy has over 30 years of experience in Michigan’s health care system beginning as a health educator in 1984 with Health Central, a staff-model HMO and then with the Michigan Health and Hospital Association. In 1987, Kathy began her State Civil Service career when she joined the Michigan Department of Public Health as Michigan’s first Adolescent Health Coordinator and one of the first in the county. She then supervised the Prenatal and Infant Care and Adolescent Health Units. From 2003 until 2011, under the Michigan Department of Community Health, she directed the Children’s Special Health Care Services Division. In 2011, Kathy moved to the Medical Services Administration as the Medicaid Managed Care Plan Division Director. She was promoted to Bureau Director of Medicaid Care Management and Quality Assurance in 2013, playing an instrumental role in the implementation of the Michigan’s Medicaid expansion, the Healthy Michigan Plan. In 2015, she served as the acting Medicaid Director for the State of Michigan and is again serving as Michigan’s Acting State Medicaid Director as of November of 2017. Kathy received a BS in Public Health Education and an MA in Hospital Health Education from Central Michigan University.