Our Team Members

CCPH MSI Hub Team Players 

Al Richmond

  • CCPH Executive Director
  • Livingstone College Alum
About Al

Al Richmond, MSW, Executive Director of Community-Campus Partnerships for Health (CCPH), is a global thought leader advocating for the increased role of communities in research and public health. In his role as Executive Director of CCPH, Al is advancing the organization’s commitment to social justice and health equity. His interest in research ethics and its influence on community engagement was broaden through a 2016 fellowship at the Brocher Foundation in Geneva, Switzerland. The Residency program resulted in the creation of guidelines for the conduct of community engaged research (CEnR). In August 2017, he launched the inaugural session, Structural Inequality: An On the Ground View. This was a highly experiential session. It provided a look through the lens of equity to develop and expand the understanding of structural and historic factors contributing to racism in America.

Al serves as principal investigator of Patient Engagement: Enhancing Culturally Responsive Research funded by Patient-Centered Outcomes Research Institute (PCORI) and as Co-Principal Investigator of Ensuring Ethical Community-Engaged Research: Elevating the Role and Impact of Community-Based IRBs and Research Review Committees funded by the National Institute of Minority Health and Health Disparities. In addition, Al provides leadership to multiple academic research projects. Al’s leadership interest seeks to deepen CCPH’s focus in emerging issues impacting our nation including: education, immigration, diversity and culture.

As a founding member and past chair of the Community Based Public Health Caucus and the National Community Based Organization Network, he helped to foster effective partnerships focused on community-identified health concerns and partnerships that integrated local leaders in the decision-making process.

Al completed the William C. Friday Fellowship for Human Relations, a 2-year leadership program for North Carolina residents in 2016. This experience has expanded his commitment to provide leadership to improve race, class and gender relationships in North Carolina and beyond. For the past decade he has served as field instructor and supervisor to over 20 students.  Many are currently early public health practitioners and scholars.

He holds a Master of Social Work from The Ohio State University. Al is a certified facilitator for the Poverty Simulation, Intercultural Developmental Inventory and ToP Facilitation Methods.

fatima-headshot

Fatima Z. Guerrab

  • CCPH Program Coordinator
  • North Carolina Central University Alum
About Fatima

Fatima Z. Guerrab, MPH, CHES®, based in Durham, NC, is a solutions-oriented researcher, practitioner, and consultant. She has experience assisting organizations across the globe foster innovative methods to influence policies across systems to maximize health outcomes for all utilizing a racial equity lens and a community-based participatory research approach.

With a BS in Public Health Education from North Carolina Central University and an MPH in Health Behavior from the Gillings School of Global Public Health at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Fatima holds a wealth of experience in program planning and evaluation, partnership building, and training and facilitation.

Virginia Hunter

  • CCPH Writing Consultant
  • Central State University Alum
About Virginia

Virginia W. Hunter is a writing consultant and works on diverse assignments at CCPH. She has worked as a director of public health initiatives to address disparities, grant administrator, writer strategist, and communication planner for a not-for-profit hospital system.

She is an HBCU graduate of Central State University, Wilberforce Ohio. Most days you’ll find her on the shore with her grandchildren.

CCPH Staff MSI Alumni

Maryland Grier-Union

  • CCPH Program Director
  • University of Maryland Alum
About Maryland

Maryland Grier-Union brings more than 20 years of experience in the nonprofit sector, focusing on improving health and health care. She has directed and managed: program development and management, community engagement, community-based participatory research, public policy, and marketing communications. Before joining CCPH, Grier-Union served as the senior community engagement and communications officer for two health philanthropy organizations raising community voices to advance health equity. She also held several positions at a community-based research institute, including project director of a federally funded community outreach HIV/AIDS prevention research project, evaluation coordinator for an AIDS prevention education project, and associate director of communications. The Fulbright Fellow researched cultural studies at the University of Ghana, West Africa while also directing an NEA-funded statewide community development training program. The Hartford Business Journal recognized Grier-Union for “Giving Voice to Health Disparities.” She received a bachelor’s degree in Marketing/Business Administration from the University of Maryland and completed graduate-level coursework at the University of Connecticut School of Social Work and Emerson College in Boston.  

fatima-headshot

Melvin Jackson

  • CCPH Consultant
  • North Carolina Agricultural and Technical State University Alum
About Melvin

Melvin Jackson has over 35 years of experience in community engagement, public health research and program coordination. Beyond his work on Clinical Scholars, he is the Public Health Advocacy Coordinator/Local Improvement Advisor with the Alexander YMCA SCALE (Spreading Community Accelerators through Learning and Evaluation) Program.

In this role, he leads the Southeast Raleigh (SER) Pacesetters Collaborative. The Collaborative is a part of the transformative redevelopment initiative called the Southeast Raleigh Promise, a community that will become a vibrant and vital link to elementary education, affordable housing, health and wellness, economic opportunity and leadership development in Southeast Raleigh. He served as Program Director at Strengthening The Black Family (STBF), Inc., a community-based organization with a 33-year history of serving the targeting Southeast Raleigh. Melvin has served as a community partner on many research projects in collaboration with the UNC-CH. More recently, he has served as Co-PI on a CBPR study piloting an HIV prevention intervention for African American youth in faith-based settings and, PI on a similar project implementing an evidence-based intervention in public housing communities and youth-serving organizations in Southeast Raleigh.

Virginia Hunter

  • CCPH Writing Consultant
  • Central State University Alum
About Virginia

Virginia W. Hunter is a writing consultant and works on diverse assignments at CCPH. She has worked as a director of public health initiatives to address disparities, grant administrator, writer strategist, and communication planner for a not-for-profit hospital system.

She is an HBCU graduate of Central State University, Wilberforce Ohio. Most days you’ll find her on the shore with her grandchildren.

Al Richmond

  • CCPH Executive Director
  • Livingstone College Alum
About Al

Al Richmond, MSW, Executive Director of Community-Campus Partnerships for Health (CCPH), is a global thought leader advocating for the increased role of communities in research and public health. In his role as Executive Director of CCPH, Al is advancing the organization’s commitment to social justice and health equity. His interest in research ethics and its influence on community engagement was broaden through a 2016 fellowship at the Brocher Foundation in Geneva, Switzerland. The Residency program resulted in the creation of guidelines for the conduct of community engaged research (CEnR). In August 2017, he launched the inaugural session, Structural Inequality: An On the Ground View. This was a highly experiential session. It provided a look through the lens of equity to develop and expand the understanding of structural and historic factors contributing to racism in America.

Al serves as principal investigator of Patient Engagement: Enhancing Culturally Responsive Research funded by Patient-Centered Outcomes Research Institute (PCORI) and as Co-Principal Investigator of Ensuring Ethical Community-Engaged Research: Elevating the Role and Impact of Community-Based IRBs and Research Review Committees funded by the National Institute of Minority Health and Health Disparities. In addition, Al provides leadership to multiple academic research projects. Al’s leadership interest seeks to deepen CCPH’s focus in emerging issues impacting our nation including: education, immigration, diversity and culture.

As a founding member and past chair of the Community Based Public Health Caucus and the National Community Based Organization Network, he helped to foster effective partnerships focused on community-identified health concerns and partnerships that integrated local leaders in the decision-making process.

Al completed the William C. Friday Fellowship for Human Relations, a 2-year leadership program for North Carolina residents in 2016. This experience has expanded his commitment to provide leadership to improve race, class and gender relationships in North Carolina and beyond. For the past decade he has served as field instructor and supervisor to over 20 students.  Many are currently early public health practitioners and scholars.

He holds a Master of Social Work from The Ohio State University. Al is a certified facilitator for the Poverty Simulation, Intercultural Developmental Inventory and ToP Facilitation Methods.

fatima-headshot

Fatima Z. Guerrab

  • CCPH Program Coordinator
  • North Carolina Central University Alum
About Fatima

Fatima Z. Guerrab, MPH, CHES®, based in Durham, NC, is a solutions-oriented researcher, practitioner, and consultant. She has experience assisting organizations across the globe foster innovative methods to influence policies across systems to maximize health outcomes for all utilizing a racial equity lens and a community-based participatory research approach.

With a BS in Public Health Education from North Carolina Central University and an MPH in Health Behavior from the Gillings School of Global Public Health at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Fatima holds a wealth of experience in program planning and evaluation, partnership building, and training and facilitation.

CCPH MSI Interns

Latajah Lassus

  • Clark Atlanta University, Class of ’22
  • Major: Psychology
About

Social Media Coordinator,No Menthol Movement Atlanta

Assistant to Adina Black, Senior Consultant, CCPH

Latajah Lassus is a rising Senior at Clark Atlanta University, from Miami, Fl. From a young age, she desired to dedicate her life to helping others. Her interests include research, community outreach, and advocacy for underrepresented populations. Upon graduating from Clark Atlanta, she will obtain a Doctorate degree in Counseling Psychology. Her intentions are to aid people in achieving peace and balance in their lives. She will pursue research while in school on alternative methods of treatment for African Americans and continue to spread knowledge to the community.

 

Brooke Worthey

  • North Carolina Central University, Class of ’22
  • Major: Public Health Education
About

Brooke Danielle Worthey is a Bachelor’s candidate pursuing a Public Health Education Degree from North Carolina Central University. As a passionate Eagle, Brooke is actively involved in service on campus, the surrounding Durham community, and her hometown of Charlotte, North Carolina. She has been expanding her impact and solidifying her legacy through opportunities for leadership and innovation. During her senior year, Brooke has had the distinct honor of serving as Head Resident Assistant and President of the Society of Future Health Educators Additionally, she has collaborated with the American Red Cross and will soon be inducted into the Eta Sigma Gamma National Public Health Honorary. 

As a budding public health practitioner with a passion for health equity and social justice, Brooke aspires to contribute to health policy and environmental changes which support social reforms benefiting low-income communities. She eagerly joins the organization as a program intern working towards advancing the community engagement efforts across all CCPH projects.

 

All of Us Researcher Academy Course Announcement

October Course Registration Is Open!

Introduction to Python, Pandas, and Jupyter Notebook for Analysis of All of Us Data

All of Us HBCU Road Tour Heads to Morehouse School of Medicine

Join us virtually or in person for our next stop on the All of Us HBCU Road Tour at Morehouse School of Medicine in Atlanta, Georgia.

Purple background banner with white text that says 'HBCU Coalition Member Spotlight' in large white with a picture of Karen Mathews on the right

HBCU Coalition Member Spotlight: Karen Mathews, MD, MHA, FAAFP

Get to know MSI Hub HBCU Coalition Member Karen M. Mathews, MD, MHA, FAAFP. She serves as the Executive Director of Health & Psychological Services in the University Health & Wellness Center at Central State University. In April, she led an incredibly informative session about HBCU student-centered mental health services and solutions that she and her team have implemented for students at Central State University for our HBCU Coalition meeting.

HBCU Coalition Member Spotlight: Al Richmond, MSW

Community. Networking. Health Equity. CCPH Executive Director, Al Richmond, MSW, shares with us his connection to HBCUs, why he believes there’s an importance for CCPH to focus on Minority Serving Institutions (MSIs), and how we can scale the work being done.

Event Recap: All of Us HBCU Road Tour at Tuskegee University

The Tuskegee University All of Us HBCU Road Tour featured a webinar that honored the lives lost and lives impacted by the legacy of the Tuskegee Study. It also spotlighted current research being conducted by the Tuskegee University, North Carolina A&T State University and Morgan State University All of Us Institutional Champion Teams.

Strengthening the Network: Sharing Best Practices, Resources, and Challenges in Improving Health on Campus

Date & Time:  June 29, 2023 1:00 PM EDT   Description:  We have planned a 30-minute breakout session where you can actively participate, share your experiences, and learn from fellow attendees. Participants can connect and exchange valuable insights,...

CCPH Intern Blog: April Reflections

Last month, I hosted and moderated a webinar with CCPH, The Greensboro Experience: A Public Health Lens on Refugee Health Disparity During a Pandemic. With over 70 participants, the webinar was well attended. Our registration list showed a variety of professionals,...

Identifying Innovative Strategies to Combat the Rising Suicide Rates & Mental Health Crisis on HBCU Campuses, HBCU Coalition Meeting

This meeting is open to HBCU-affiliated health services, student affairs, STEM, and health researchers. Thursday, April 13, 2023, 1:00 PM - 2:00 PM (ET) Join the growing network of HBCU thought and health leaders and researchers for engaging and interactive breakout...

CCPH MSI HUB Intern Blog: March Reflections

I was in England earlier in March and visited Dr. John Snow’s water pump on Broad Street in Soho, London. In 1854, Snow realized the pump handle was the point of spread of the cholera bacteria that had killed ~500 people in the area. He had the handle removed and saw...

Event Recap: The Greensboro Experience: A Public Health Lens on Refugee Health Disparity During a Pandemic

The Greensboro Experience: A Public Health Lens on Refugee Health Disparity During a Pandemic April 4, 2023 “The Greensboro Experience: A Public Health Lens on Refugee Health Disparity During a Pandemic” was a dynamic webinar...

Featured Work

Learn more about Latajah’s work with At the Heart of the Matter

Watch her presentation in the webinar starting at 21:00