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Community Leaders and Special Population Advocates
Naomi Baden, JD, MS, Facilitator, mediator, & negotiator specializing in inter- and intraorganizational
decision-making processes Marion J. Balsam, MD, FAAP, Diplomate, American Board of Pediatrics; Fellow, American Academy of Pediatrics, Task Force on Terrorism; retired Rear Admiral of Medical Corps of the U.S. Navy Emira Habiby-Browne, MA, Founder & Executive Director, Arab-American Family Support Center, New York City Robert G. Kaplan, Founding Director, Commission of Intergroup Relations & Community Concerns at the Jewish Community Relations Council of New York; Design Team Member, Public Health/Faith Based Community Institute of CDC and Emory University Myrna Lewis, PhD, Assistant Clinical Professor, Community & Preventive Medicine, Mount Sinai School of Medicine, New York City; United Nations NGO Committees on Aging and Women; Member, NYC Mental Health Disaster Team Onora Lien, Research Analyst, UPMC Center for Biosecurity; Doctoral Candidate in Sociology, Johns Hopkins University Shirley G. Mitchell, PhD, President, Board of Directors, Phyllis Wheatley YWCA, Washington, DC
Naomi J. Baden, JD, MS
Ms. Baden is a trained facilitator, mediator, and negotiator who specializes in designing and facilitating inter, and intraorganizational decision-making processes. She also mediates formal and informal disputes -- interpersonal, intragroup, and intergroup conflicts. She designs and delivers training to adults on school restructuring, conflict resolution, problem-solving, interest-based bargaining, site-based decision-making, total quality management, team-building, negotiation, facilitation, school health and safety, grievance advocacy, organizing, gender and pay equity, and labor-management processes. Ms. Baden received a JD from New York University School of Law in 1980, and a Masters of Science in Conflict Analysis and Resolution from George Mason University in 2002. Marion J. Balsam, MD, FAAP
Dr. Balsam is a Diplomate of the American Board of Pediatrics and a Fellow of the American Academy of Pediatrics, where she has served on several committees and currently serves on the Task Force on Terrorism. She is a retired Rear Admiral of the Medical Corps of the U.S. Navy and served as Commander of the Portsmouth, Virginia, Naval Medical Center. Prior to that Dr. Balsam served as the Fleet Medical Officer, U.S. Naval Forces Europe, where, as the senior Navy medical officer in Europe, she oversaw delivery of healthcare services provided to members of the Navy and Marine Corps and their families. She served as Commanding Officer of the Naval Hospital in Pensacola, Florida, and prior to that was assigned as Deputy Commander of Bethesda Naval Hospital in Maryland. Emira Habiby-Browne, MA
Ms. Habiby-Browne is the founder and Executive Director of the Arab-American Family Support Center, established in November 1993 to serve the Arabic-speaking community in New York City. She has extensive experience in social services administration and management, program development, social research, and fundraising. Her expertise is in family and children's services, where she has developed and administered many programs. In 1997, Ms. Habiby-Browne was appointed to Mayor Giuliani's Task Force on Police/Community Relations. She has been honored for her work in the community by the Brooklyn District Attorney, the Brooklyn Borough President, and the New York City Council, and most recently she received a Union Square Award from the Fund for the City of New York. Robert G. Kaplan
Mr. Kaplan is consulted by government and by the nonprofit sector as an expert in diversity and intergroup relations. An ordained rabbi, he is the founding Director of the Commission of Intergroup Relations and Community Concerns at the Jewish Community Relations Council of New York. In this capacity, Mr. Kaplan is involved in a variety of initiatives including coalition building, interracial/interreligious relationships, combating anti-Semitism, and Jewish security. He serves as a member of the New York City Board of Education Chancellor's Interfaith Commission and served as a consultant for President Clinton's White House Conference on Race and the Plenary Committee for the United Nations Conference, Habitat II. Mr. Kaplan is the coalition consultant to the Black/Jewish Congressional Coalition in Washington, DC, and serves as a grief counselor for the American Red Cross. He is also a member of the Design Team for the Public Health/Faith Based Community Institute, a joint project of the Centers for Disease Control and Emory University. Myrna I. Lewis, PhD
Dr. Lewis has been an Assistant Clinical Professor in the Department of Community and Preventive Medicine at the Mount Sinai School of Medicine in New York City since 1982. She also maintains a private psychotherapy practice, specializing in work with male executives and in women's issues for the past 25 years. She received her doctorate from the Columbia University School of Social Work and is a Fellow of the New York Academy of Medicine. She has co-authored two books in the field of gerontology and has written extensively in the fields of aging, health, elder caregiving, women's issues, and international aging. Other activities include membership in the United Nations' NGO Committee on Aging and the NGO Committee on Women. She is an active volunteer in the Mental Health Disaster Team of the Metropolitan New York Red Cross and worked extensively with New York residents, particularly the elderly, after September 11. Onora Lien
Ms. Lien is a doctoral candidate in sociology at Johns Hopkins University and a Research Analyst at the Center for Biosecurity of the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center. Prior to joining the Biosecurity Center she was a Research Assistant at the Johns Hopkins Center for Civilian Biodefense Strategies. She has been active in research pertaining to "the people's role in biodefense," including work on a national study of public communication experiences during the anthrax attacks and a study of volunteer participation and experiences in New York City following the 2001 World Trade Center attacks. She serves as an advisor to a local emergency preparedness volunteer organization and is an active community preparedness educator. Shirley G. Mitchell, PhD
A community activist in Washington, DC, Dr. Mitchell is the current President of the Board of Directors of the Phyllis Wheatley YWCA, Inc. (PW-YWCA). As such, she is charged with planning for and directing the operations of this 97-year-old organization that provides services to low-income women, youth, and community organizations. Dr. Mitchell works extensively with organizations whose prime objective is to improve the lives of youths and adults, and she has received many awards for her work, including the Whitney M. Young Jr. Service Award for outstanding contributions toward implementing scouting opportunities for low-income youth, the Superintendent's Special Commendation for outstanding achievement through community involvement, the Meritorious Public Service Award from the Mayor of DC, and a resolution from the DC City Council for outstanding community service. [return to top] |
