Speaker Biographies
HOST
Jenné Johns, MPH Jenné Johns, MPH, is a national health equity thought leader, author and advocate for reducing healthcare disparities. While advocating for the needs of her own son, Jenné wrote, “Once Upon a Preemie”, the first of its kind children’s book written for parents of preemies while in the NICU. A graduate of the Disparities Leadership Program at Harvard University Medical School, Jenné has over a decade of experience advocating for policy, and community changes to improve health equity and health outcomes for low-income communities. She also led quality improvement and health equity transformation strategies with the nation’s largest health insurance companies. Jenné is President of Once Upon A Preemie, Inc. and Founder of Once Upon A Preemie Academy, the first and only virtual training academy focused on delivering health and racial equity educational programs for perinatal and neonatal healthcare professionals.
KEYNOTE SPEAKER
Charles Johnson Charles Johnson has suffered an unimaginable tragedy that strikes too many families – and has made it his life’s mission to save others from the same fate. In April 2016 Charles’ healthy and full-of-life wife, Kira, gave birth to their second beautiful child. But Kira immediately began struggling in ways that the hospital staff could not explain, even as Charles watched and implored the staff that something was horribly wrong. Kira died within hours. Charles was understandably overcome by grief – grief that turned into outrage. He channeled his pain and his passion into founding a nonprofit, 4Kira4Moms, that is dedicated to changing systems to better prevent birth-related deaths. 4Kira4Moms advocates for improved maternal health policies and regulations; educates the public about the impact of maternal mortality in communities; provides peer support to victims’ family and friends; and promotes discussion of maternal mortality as a human rights issue. Charles has shared his story and advocated for change through countless live events and media appearances all over the country, including at the March for Moms rally in Washington, D.C., last year. Last September he testified before the U.S. House Energy and Commerce Subcommittee on Health about the need to pass the Preventing Maternal Deaths Act of 2017 – which, as you know, was indeed passed by Congress and signed into law. When he is not advocating to improve maternal health practices, Charles is busy raising his two sons, Charles V and Langston.
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