How to Get Involved

Join a Committee

Much of the work that we do to address the unacceptable realities in each of our focus areas is achieved by our committees. Visit each committee page if you would like to learn more, or contact the committee leader(s) if you would like to get involved!

Access to Care

Committee Leaders:
Melinda Soeung

Contact Leader(s)

Anti-Human Trafficking

Committee Leaders:
Daniel Baley
Ashley Cooney
Daniel Liaou
Sahar Sawani
Frances Recknor

Contact Leader(s)

Healthy Eating & Active Living

Committee Leaders:
Lauren Krenek
Ana C. Monterrey

Contact Leader(s)

Immigrant & Refugee Health

Committee Leaders:
Padma Swamy
Amelia Averyt
Sandra Trevino

Contact Leader(s)

Mental Health

Committee Leaders:

Richa Lavingia
Meg Duke

Contact Leader(s)

Contact Leader(s)

Queer Health

Committee Leaders:
Tim Singer
Lou Weaver

Contact Leader(s)

Want to get involved, but not sure where to begin? Send us an email!

Contact us via email

Become a DFC Leader

We are always in need of great DFC Leaders! As a DFC Leader, you will work alongside other passionate and dedicated individuals to assess the needs of our community, identify the Unacceptable Realities that Houstonians and Texans face, and address these issues by promoting long-term, systemic change through research, education, collaboration and advocacy.

Current vacant positions:

Co-Director of Membership
Director of Education

If you are interested in these positions, or would like to be a DFC Leader in another area, email us at [email protected] to learn more.

Fundraising and Friend-raising

Doctors for Change relies on the help of our DFC family, whether through volunteering to help with our annual Holiday Silent Auction & Social, talking to potential donors, or just being a DFC ambassador among peers and colleagues. Our family is the lifeblood of our organization, and we welcome those who would like to join us with open arms!

If you are interested in being a part of our family and would like to learn more about how you can help, email us at [email protected]. We would love to hear from you!

May 28, 2020

(Virtual Forum) Supporting the Immigrant Community During the CoVID-19 Pandemic

When: May 28, 2020 - 6:30 pm to 7:30 pm

Full details:
The DFC Immigrant and Refugee Health Committee is excited to host a webinar on Supporting the Immigrant Community During the CoVID-19 Pandemic. Centered on the unique challenges faced by the immigrant community and the concrete steps we can take to support them, we're happy to welcome speakers from BCM, Las Americas, and HILSC to share their experiences on the ground during this pandemic.

Sincerely,
Immigrant and Refugee Health Committee

Please register for Supporting the Immigrant Community During the CoVID-19 Pandemic on May 28, 2020 6:30 PM CDT at:

https://attendee.gotowebinar.com/register/4157243976188067084

After registering, you will receive a confirmation email containing information about joining the webinar.

Brought to you by GoToWebinar®
Webinars Made Easy®

May 30, 2020

(NAMI) Diagnosis Culture: Stories as both poison and cure in maternal health

When: May 30, 2020 - 2:00 pm to 4:00 pm

Full details:
Registration is required: https://us02web.zoom.us/meeting/register/tZcuc-yhqDIiE9zfvOAEDOan8OQjuy6SwiRl

NAMI Greater Houston is presenting a panel discussion this Saturday, May 30, looking at how unconscious stories create implicit bias in maternal health care, especially in African American populations, and how the act of pulling those stories into the light and then telling our new stories of understanding and agency becomes the antidote.

The panel is from 2 to 4 pm CST. It is free, but you do have to register: https://us02web.zoom.us/meeting/register/tZcuc-yhqDIiE9zfvOAEDOan8OQjuy6SwiRl After registering, you will receive a confirmation email containing information about joining the meeting.

The discussion will begin with a brief review of ethnographic research done in 2019 looking at the cultural issues affecting African American maternal health care in Houston and how unconscious stories affect maternal health. It will be followed by our panelists telling their personal stories, then discussion with all attendees.

Our moderator and panelists:
Cecelia Ottenweller (moderator), MA is an independent ethnographer, writer, and community organizer living in Houston, Texas. She is also the former board president and executive director of the Houston History Alliance, and develops exhibit content professionally for museums and zoos.

Her most recent work is an ethnography project examining how cultural differences between providers and mothers affect African American maternal health outcomes. This project led to a collaboratively-built community discussion built by Cecelia and members of Houston’s African American health care community around the reality of implicit bias in healthcare for the 2019 national Preserving Communities of Color conference, which is held each year in Houston, Texas.

Cecelia is a two-time breast cancer survivor and a survivor of Cushing’s Disease; she is personally familiar with how the poison of single stories affect medical outcomes. She is a graduate of the MA in Cultural Sustainability program at Goucher College, in Towson, Maryland.

Panelists (in alphabetic order)

Amelia Averyt is a primary care physician in Houston, TX. She graduated from UT Austin where she studied Plan II and Spanish, played club soccer for the UT team, and volunteered as a translator at a free health care clinic. She went directly to medical school at Baylor College of Medicine but took one year off to complete a Masters of Public Health at Johns Hopkins Bloomberg school of public health where she focused on community-based participatory research and Social and Behavioral Sciences. She completed a combined Internal Medicine-Pediatrics residency at Baylor College of Medicine. She currently is co-president of the advocacy organization Doctors for Change that mobilizes a membership of over 1000 to engage in policy, education and service, all focused on improving the overall health of Houston’s most vulnerable populations. She also is a leader of the Third Ward Health Collaborative which brings together anchor institutions, residents, and community-based organizations to address unmet health needs and food insecurity in Third Ward.

At Legacy Community Health she is a full-time primary care physician dedicated to preventative care and management of chronic disease using a whole-person and community-based approach which puts social determinants of health and patient stories and life courses at the center of care.

She is also a member of multiple professional organizations including the TMA, HCMS, AAP, ACP, utilizing local, state, and national advocacy channels to use evidence-based approaches to improve the quality and equity of health care in Houston and beyond.

Krystal Shanell is a motivational speaker, author, personal coach, and consultant dedicated to serving from a capacity of empowerment; her goal is to assist each of her clients in mastering abundance in every area of their life with the focus of their greatest need being priority. She is the CEO of Heavenly Service, LLC, a writing and consulting firm leveraging Krystal’s business skills in accounting, human resources, and business administration, as well as her personal life experiences, to teach individuals, nonprofit organizations, and small business how to manifest their dreams and empower themselves and others.

Krystal is also the founder and CEO of Purposeful Parents, a 501(c)3 organization providing supportive services and resources aimed at breaking the cycle of teenage pregnancy, incarceration, violence and poverty and help parents raise healthy, powerful children. She is the author of two books: Imperfectly Purposed: A 31-day Reflection Journal, and Moments of Imperfection: a 31-Day Devotional for the Imperfectly Purposed; and is a certified Texas Mediator and a Peer Recovery Specialist. She is the mother of five amazing children and spends her spare time reading and traveling with friends.

Uchenna Jones-Conley is a native of Houston (Alief), Texas. She received her Bachelor of Arts in Pre-med Psychology and Masters in Business Administration from Baylor University and Baylor's Hankamer School of Business; Medical Doctorate from Wright State University Boonshoft School of Medicine; and currently a Family Medicine Resident at the University of Texas at Houston McGovern School of Medicine. Uchenna worked as a business consultant and strategist while pursuing a career in medicine and public health after the loss of her first-born child U'jana Arnell Jasari. She has over 20 years of experience marrying business, healthcare, and public health to elicit change, impact policy, and improve lives. Her drive stems from turning the tragic loss of U'jana into triumph by eradicating Sudden Infant Death Syndrome (SIDS) and healthcare disparities. Her research interests are SIDS, maternal child health policy, disparate health outcomes impacting women of color and children, building resiliency in children of color, and the marriage of medicine and public health.

Prior to pursuing a career in medicine, Uchenna consulted for Accenture; co-founded the U’jana Conley Foundation for SIDS; founded Uchenna Conley Consulting; served as Consortium Chair of SUNNY FUTURES Healthy Start; helped spearhead Project IMPACT; served as a steering committee member for March of Dimes' Healthy Babies Are Worth the Wait Houston; and served as a member of the Houston/Harris County Child Fatality Review Team. Currently, Uchenna is the co-host and creator of a web talk show called the DEN which empowers women of color to move with intent and she is creating a documentary that will explore and expose the disparate health outcomes impacting women of color.

Uchenna is married to Eddie Conley and together they have four children, U'jana, Elazar, Elyakim, and Elon. Her favorite pastimes are spending time with family and friends, staying fit, serving others as a proud soror of Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority Inc., listening to 80’s music, dancing, writing poetry, attending her kids' sporting events, enjoying concerts, and living life to its fullest.

May 31, 2020

World No Tobacco Day

When: May 31, 2020 - 12:00 am to 11:59 pm

June 1, 2020

Houston Pride

When: June 1, 2020 - 12:00 am to 11:59 pm

June 20, 2020

Session One: MAT Training

When: June 20, 2020 - 12:00 am to 11:59 pm

June 27, 2020

National HIV Testing Day

When: June 27, 2020 - 12:00 am to 11:59 pm