Advancing Equity and Quality in Healthcare

Meet our team

THE PROMOSALUD'S VISION IS A NATION FREE OF DISPARITIES IN
HEALTH AND HEALTHCARE.

Our goals include:

Supporting a positive transformation of the healthcare system and building a high-value healthcare system that requires insuring the uninsured, making coverage more secure for those who have it, and improving the quality of care for all.
Helping to strengthen the healthcare infrastructure and workforce by addressing the critical shortage of medical personnel, including community health workers.
Advancing the health, safety, and well-being of vulnerable and hard-to-reach populations.

Board of Directors

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Ana Pomar, Board Chair

Ana is the Board Secretary for the PromoSalud. She has taught students ages 4-60 in social programs, public schools, and private colleges in TX, AR, and WV. She has successfully managed professional development programs in the Austin region, supervised novice teachers and teacher trainers. Additionally, edited publications for elementary school students, has served as the Education Coordinator/Teacher for Family in Sanctuary at St. Andrew’s Presbyterian. She has worked as Educational Issues Director, Texas AFT. She coordinated Professional Development for Educators in the state of Texas; worked at the Education Center Director Alliance-AFT Dallas, TX, Teacher Certification Scorer National Evaluation Systems, Austin Pflugerville Police Victim Services Counselor, assisted local Police Officers with cases of domestic abuse, family violence, and sexual crimes. Also, as a Spanish Instructor and Interpreter, she translated for doctors and nurses at the Volunteer Healthcare Clinic, Bilingual Arts and Bilingual Specialist, ESC Region XIII, Staff Representative, Education Austin, Reading Instructor for the Alternative Certification Program, Region 13 and Huston-Tillotson College, Bethany College in Bethany West Virginia as a Spanish Instructor and lately served as the Legislative staff for State Representative, Ana Maria Ramos for 2019 Legislative session. She is passionate about opportunities to serve her profession, community, and country and currently serves in various leadership roles. She is happy to serve in this position and as aBoard member of Casa Marianella.

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Isaac Pozos, Board Cochair

Isaac received his degree in Business Administration and Management at Texas University. He is an experienced Bilingual Healthcare professional with a demonstrated history of working in the medical clinical industry. Skilled in Nonprofit Organizations, Coaching, Physician Relations, Public Speaking, and U.S. Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA). He is a demonstrated patient-centered medical home (PCMH) content expert; he has successfully led El Buen Samaritano Health Center operations over to Lone Star Circle of Care Federally Qualified Health Center through the PCMH (NCQA) recognition process.

He currently serves as a Community Development Specialist at the Texas Association of Community Health Centers (TACHC). This organization represents Texas safety-net healthcare centers as the federally designated primary care association for Texas. The community health centers provide quality care to the most vulnerable patient populations. As part of the Strategic Initiatives Department, Isaac’s role is to respond to Community Health Centers' requests for technical assistance as they face rapid change in a highly regulated and complex industry.

He worked at El Buen Samaritano Health Care Center and later at the same location at The Lone Star Circle of Care as a Healthcare Manager of operations Responsible for the delivery of healthcare to our patients by leading practice transformation efforts in support of the overall business plan and strategic direction of the organization. At Community Care as a Senior Practice Administrator Responsible for launching and managing healthcare operations at the Southeast Health and Wellness Center in partnership with Central Health, University of Texas, Dell Medical School, and City of Austin, WIC program. Additionally, Isaac has managed several health centers in Travis County, such as the William Cannon Urgent Care, Oak Hill Health Center, East Austin Health Center, and a City of Austin primary care clinic. As a city employee, he participated in community engagement activities and worked with other city departments, such as Information Technology, Facility Services, and Health and Human Services, to coordinate facilities and patient care.

Board of Advisors

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Alfred Mcalister, Phd

McAlister is a professor of behavioral sciences at the UT School of Public Health, Austin campus, and an adjunct professor for the Plan II Honors & College of Communication at UT Austin. He is contributing to PromoSalud's initiative to address Latino health disparity elimination in the Dove Springs neighborhood. Professor McAlister's distinguished academic career includes positions at Harvard School of Public Health as an assistant professor and at the UT Health Science Center at Houston as an associate professor in both the School of Medicine and the School of Public Health. Professor McAlister has been awarded twenty-three grants and contracts, with total awards exceeding $20 mil. For projects to prevent cardiovascular disease and cancer, HIV infection, diabetes, and violence. He has authored scientific articles and reports for a number of publications, including the American Journal of Preventive Medicine and the American Journal of Public Health.

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Amelie G. Ramirez, DR.PH.

Dr. Amelie G. Ramirez is an internationally recognized cancer and chronic disease health disparities researcher and spokesperson. At the University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio, she is a professor of epidemiology and biostatistics and the founding director of the Institute for Health Promotion Research, which studies health disparities among minorities. For 30 years, Dr. Ramirez has directed research programs focused on human and organizational communication to reduce health disparities affecting Latinos.

She directs two national research networks, Redes En Acción, which focuses on Latino cancer, and Salud America!, which focuses on Latino child obesity. She is also a member of the Scientific Advisory Board, Susan G. Komen For the Cure; the Scientific Advisory Board, Avon Foundation Breast Cancer Crusade; and the Board of Directors, Lance Armstrong Foundation. In San Antonio, she is a member of the Mayor’s Fitness Council and the Tobacco Prevention & Control Coalition.

PromoSalud Staff

Jill C. Ramirez, Executive Director

Originally from El Paso, Texas, Jill arrived in Austin after receiving her BA at UTEP and graduated with a Master of Education and Master in Communication Disorders from the University of Texas at Austin. Jill is currently the CEO and Co-founder of PromoSalud, Author, and Instructor of the PromoSalud Training Institute, which is a State of Texas Certification Program for Community Health Workers /Promotores de Salud. At PromoSalud, she has coordinated Manantial De Salud Dove Springs: A project focused on health promotions, funded by the City of Austin and the Center for Diseases Control and Prevention; the Affordable Care Act Community Outreach Project and the Southeast Health and Wellness Center Community Assessment.

Her experience includes being a substitute teacher in Early Childhood Special Education, a Special Education Project Coordinator and a Bilingual Speech Pathologist for Bilingual Autism and Bilingual Special Education, a Bilingual Educational Consultant for the Austin Independent School District, providing training and workshops to parents of English-Language Learners in the areas of self-empowerment, biliteracy skills, bilingualism, biculturalism; during this term she authors: “PROMESAS” a curriculum for Spanish-speaking parents. At CHILD, INC., she served as a Bilingual Speech/Language Pathologist. Additionally, Jill was a Guest Lecturer at UT Austin in a program focused on Assessment and Communication Issues in Multicultural Special Education with Emphasis on Autism, Bilingual Education, Parent Involvement, and Cultural and Linguistic Competency.

Her awards and recognitions include “Orgullo Latino” by Univision, the “Dennis R. Garza Lifetime Achievement” Award by LULAC District 7, nominated for “The Power of One Award” by the University of Texas at Austin Principalship Program, a “Certificate of Recognition” by the State of Texas House of Representatives, for working with Spanish-speaking children with autism, and was inducted in the “Women's Hall of Fame” by the City of Austin.

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MA. Isabel Lopez, Chief Oerating Officer

MA. Isabel Lopez arrived in Austin from Mexico as a “DREAMER” at age 17, graduated from Johnston International Highschool and attended ACC. She is a Certified Community Health Worker Instructor for PromoSalud, a State of Texas Certification Program for Community Health Workers /Promotores de Salud, and currently serves as the Chief Operating Officer for PromoSalud.

She has served as a Promotora for the Manantial de Salud program, as a Coordinator and Federal Navigator at the Affordable Care Act Community Outreach Project, the Tomeselo a Pecho Austin (TAPA) Campaign, the Rundberg Health Innovation Program, as well as assisting in the administrative community outreach patient navigation activities conducted by the Community Health Worker team. Additionally, Isabel worked at Lone Star Circle of Care as a Community Health Worker "Promotora" as part of the health care team, working with patients with chronic disease conditions, promoting healthy behaviors, and teaching them self-management techniques to achieve a healthier lifestyle. Her work experience includes 13 years at Avance Austin as a Parent Educator/Home visitor, facilitating Parenting Classes using the AVANCE curriculum in English and Spanish to groups of mothers in the Eastern Crescent of Austin.

She also volunteered at El Buen Samaritano as a Community Health Worker, delivering the “Comenzando Bien” curriculum from the March of Dimes to expecting mothers in the Latino community in Austin. Her civic engagement includes memberships to various civic organizations such as Raza Round Table, Hispanic Quality of Life Commission and Joint Inclusion Committee for the city of Austin, English Language Learners Advisory Board, Community Bond Oversight Committee and HUB Subcommittee member at AISD, LULAC District VII Dove Springs Chapter as Vice President and Youth Deputy Director, the South East Contact Team, the W.M Cannon Community Care Advisory Board, the Perez Elementary Citizens Advisory Committee, the Mendez middle school and Perez elementary PTA as well as other nonprofit boards. Isabel was recognized by her peers as Women of the Year by both LULAC District VII and Amigha Hispana in 2019.

In Memoriam

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Carlos Guzman, Board Secretary

Carlos Guzman has been a devoted and cherished member of the PromoSalud Board of Directors since 2020. It is with a heavy heart that we have learned of his passing. Carlos dearly loved this organization and supported our mission through action. Who we are and what we are working to become is a tribute to the work he did with our board over the past three years.

Carlos was originally from Carolina, Puerto Rico. Carlos came to Austin in 1979. He founded and operated a toy store from 1981 to 1989 and ended his business to join his wife’s Dessert business from 1989 to 2005. Carlos worked at a technology firm from 2005 to 2015 and later retired from Goodwill in 2020 and after that, he lived in Austin to dedicate his time to volunteering for different causes. Carlos focused on getting to know and empathize with all kinds of human beings for many years. After more than 40 years in this country, he wanted to focus on listening to people and making them proud to keep their language, so he advocated for Spanish Speakers in various settings where he volunteered in different organizations in Austin. He was passionate about helping and was always caring for others.

All the rest of the employees should be added as past employees and only use their picture, name, and position.