UWGN Women’s Breakfast

PANELIST

Dr. Chris Pernell

Chief Strategic Integration & Health Equity Officer, University Hospital

Dr. Chris Pernell

Dr. Chris T. Pernell is a dynamic physician leader and social change agent. In her public health practice, her focus is health justice, community-based advocacy, and population-wide health promotion and disease prevention. Recently, she joined University Hospital in Newark, New Jersey as the first Chief Strategic Integration and Health Equity Officer. She oversees a portfolio which includes Population Health, Strategic Planning, Community Affairs, and the Human Experience. Her office is responsible for health equity strategy development and integrating equity and inclusion within the system and across all operations.

Prior to joining University Hospital, she led the 1199SEIU/League Labor Management Initiatives (LMI) Workplace and Community Health Program. Working with leaders and frontline workers of 1199SEIU, and partners across NYC healthcare institutions, her efforts centered on workplace health strategies, worker empowerment, health equity, and health system transformation.

Dr. Chris is a charismatic and leading voice in preventive medicine and public health. NJBiz named her a Public Health Hero in 2020. Known for her spearheading work in the Greater Newark, New Jersey area, she was tapped to serve on the Essex County Civilian Task Force as a medical expert. Prison reform and care for justice-involved populations along with issues such as evidence-based wellness programs, civic health, and high-quality education have been areas of impassioned focus. Dr. Pernell is a frequent contributor across television, radio and print media leveraging her lived experiences and expertise as a public health physician and health equity champion. She regularly speaks at professional symposia and public forums on topics in the public interest, including racial equity, population health, social justice, community well-being and faith-based initiatives.

Dr. Chris graduated cum laude from Princeton University before attending Duke University School of Medicine. She received her Master of Public Health from the Columbia Mailman School of Public Health, and completed the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health General Preventive Medicine Residency. Dr. Pernell is a fellow of the American College of Preventive Medicine and holds an appointment as a Clinical Assistant Professor at the Rutgers New Jersey Medical School.

PANELIST

Andrea McChristian

Law & Policy Director, New Jersey Institute for Social Justice

Andrea McChristian

Andrea McChristian is the Law & Policy Director at the New Jersey Institute for Social Justice (“NJISJ”). In this capacity, she leads the implementation of the strategic vision and the direction of the law and policy program. Andrea oversees the programmatic function of the Institute’s three pillars of social justice: democracy & Justice, economic justice, and criminal justice reform. Prior to becoming Law & Policy Director, Andrea served as the Director of the Criminal Justice Reform initiative and was the primary author of Bring Our Children Home: Ain’t I A Child, which forms the basis of the 150 Years is Enough campaign. Andrea’s writing on juvenile justice and racial justice has been published in the Star Ledger, the Juvenile Justice Information Exchange, and NJ Spotlight.

Before joining the Institute, Andrea served as a Litigation Associate at the New York office of Fried, Frank, Harris, Shriver & Jacobson (“Fried Frank”). During her time at Fried Frank, Andrea worked on complex commercial litigation and pro bono cases.

Andrea is a 2008 graduate of Yale University, graduating with distinction in the major of Political Science. At Yale, Andrea served as co-President of the Yale NAACP, co-reactivating the chapter after a years-long absence from campus. After graduation, Andrea joined Teach for America, teaching Head Start for two years in the Las Vegas Valley. Andrea then attended Columbia Law School where she participated in the Challenging the Consequences of Mass Incarceration Clinic, interned in Auckland, New Zealand as part of the law school’s Human Rights Internship Program, and interned at the NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund. After graduating from Columbia Law School in 2013 as a Harlan Fiske Stone Scholar, Andrea clerked for Chief Judge Petrese B. Tucker of the Eastern District of Pennsylvania.

PANELIST

Adenah Bayoh

Entrepreneur & Founder, Adenah Bayoh & Co

Adenah Bayoh

Adenah Bayoh escaped the civil war in her native country of Liberia and lived in a

refugee camp before immigrating to the United States at age 13. She now owns 7

restaurants in New Jersey and Pennsylvania, is a partner in several mixed-use real

estate development projects in New Jersey, and serves on the Federal Reserve Bank of

New York’s Advisory Council on Small Business and Agriculture. Her restaurant

collection includes 3 IHOP franchises as well as her own signature fast casual,

farm-to-table, soul food restaurant, Cornbread, which she co-founded in 2017. In 2019,

through a landmark partnership with Walmart, Adenah expanded Cornbread into

Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania with locations in 3 Walmart stores.

In 2021, Adenah will open 4 more restaurants including 2 more Cornbread locations,

another IHOP, and her newest restaurant concept, Urban Vegan. Adenah’s inspiring

story of resilience and determination has earned her numerous awards and media

coverage ranging from profiles in Entrepreneur and Black Enterprise to to twice gracing

the cover of NJBIZ.

HEALTH MODERATOR

Keri Logosso-Misurell, JD

Executive Director Greater Newark Health Care Coalition

SOCIAL JUSTICE MODERATOR

Andrea Lewis-Walker

Deputy-In-Charge , U.S. District Court, NJ

WOMEN IN BUSINESS MODERATOR

Mary-Ann Jackson

VP, Process Management at Prudential Financial

Empowering WOMEN EACH YEAR

FEATURING

THEME

Women Leading Through Crisis

BREAKOUT ROOMS:

“For more than 95 years, United Way of Greater Newark has committed to improving the lives of individuals, children and families to strengthen our collective community.”

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