Staff Biographies - Trust for America's Health

Robyn Gougelet

Robyn Gougelet is the Legislative Analyst at Trust for America’s Health. She investigates key policy issues and prepares background materials, testimony, regulatory comments, hearing questions, and external correspondence to policymakers. In addition, she monitors relevant federal legislative and regulatory issues. Ms. Gougelet came to TFAH after interning for a year in Senator Jeanne Shaheen (D-NH). She graduated with an honors degree in History from the University of Maryland and spent a year studying History and Politics as a visiting student at Lady Margaret Hall, Oxford.

Richard Hamburg

Richard Hamburg is Deputy Director at TFAH. He oversees public policy initiatives, advocacy campaigns, and internal operations and has more than 25 years of experience as a leading health policy advocate. He has led TFAH's efforts to ensure disease prevention is a centerpiece of health reform, and has been instrumental in TFAH's work on obesity prevention, building national pandemic flu and public health emergency response capabilities, and increasing support for public health priorities and budgets. Prior to TFAH, Mr. Hamburg served in a number of roles with the American Heart Association (AHA), including as its national Director of Government Relations. At AHA, Mr. Hamburg managed the daily operations of an extensive federal legislative and regulatory program, represented AHA on health topics ranging from healthcare reform to tobacco control, directed targeted national advocacy campaigns, developed and coordinated a grassroots network of over 50,000 members, and supervised a team of government relations professionals. He was a recognized leader in public access to defibrillation advocacy. He is also a past Director of Government Affairs at AHA's New York City affiliate. A native New Yorker, Mr. Hamburg is a graduate of the State University of New York at Albany, from which he received a B.A. in Political Science and a Masters of Public Administration.

Kimberly Hawkins

Kim Hawkins is the Office Manager and Grants Administrator for Trust for America’s Health. She is responsible for the office’s day-to-day operations and manages the grant reports and process. She also serves as executive assistant to the Director, Jeff Levi. Ms. Hawkins has a background in workplace wellness programs and came to TFAH after working in corporate health and fitness for the past five years. She received a B.S. from Michigan State University in Kinesiology focusing on Health Promotion and is pursuing a Masters of Public Health with a concentration in Public Administration from American Public University.

Tiffany Henry

Tiffany Henry is Financial, Human Resources and Compliance Manager at TFAH. She is responsible for all income and expenses for the organization, budgeting, payroll and employee benefits. Ms. Henry comes to TFAH with extensive experience in compliance and financial management for non-profits and political committees.

Prior to joining TFAH, Ms. Henry served as Finance Director for the Women’s Information Network and Compliance Manager for Public Affairs Support Services, Inc. Her background also includes active involvement in Maryland state and local politics. Ms. Henry is a graduate of Virginia Commonwealth University with a B.A. in English and minor in Political Science

Albert Lang

Albert Lang is the Communications Manager at TFAH. He oversees development and implementation of integrated communications strategies. Prior to joining TFAH, Mr. Lang was a senior account executive at e-Luminate Group. He also served as the Public Relations Director for the Partnership for 21st Century Skills. Before working for e-Luminate Group, Albert was a senior communications associate at Public Education Network (PEN), where he was also the editor for PEN Weekly NewsBlast. Previously, he was the media and program manager at CommunicationWorks, a public affairs firm. Mr. Lang attended Colgate University where he received a bachelor degree in English with an emphasis in creative writing. He minored in Philosophy.

Jeffrey Levi

Jeff Levi, PhD, is Executive Director of the Trust for America's Health, where he leads the organization’s advocacy efforts on behalf of a modernized public health system. He oversees TFAH’s work on a range of public health policy issues, including implementation of the public health provisions of the Affordable Care Act and annual reports assessing the nation’s public health preparedness, investment in public health infrastructure, and response to chronic diseases such as obesity. In January 2011, President Obama appointed Dr. Levi to serve as a member of the Advisory Group on Prevention, Health Promotion, and Integrative and Public Health. In April 2011, Surgeon General Benjamin appointed him chair of the Advisory Group. Dr. Levi is also Professor of Health Policy George Washington University's School of Public Health, where his research has focused on HIV/AIDS, Medicaid, and integrating public health with the healthcare delivery system. He has also served as an associate editor of the American Journal of Public Health, Deputy Director of the White House Office of National AIDS Policy. Dr. Levi received a BA from Oberlin College, an MA from Cornell University, and a PhD from The George Washington University.

Dara Alpert Lieberman

Dara Alpert Lieberman is Senior Government Relations Manager at Trust for America's Health. She works with the Director of Government Relations to advance TFAH's agenda with federal, state, and local governments. She previously served as a legislative representative for American Counseling Association. At TFAH Ms. Lieberman will be particularly concerned with prevention of infectious disease and ensuring that people affected by disasters have access to health services.

In recent years, Ms. Lieberman has been an advocate for health care access with the Children's Defense Fund and served as a staff member for the Senate Committee on Armed Services. In addition to working directly with policymakers, she has organized grassroots advocacy efforts at the national and state level.

She secured an MPP from the Gerald R. Ford School of Public Policy at the University of Michigan. She graduated magna cum laude with a BA in Public Policy Studies from Duke University.

W. Taylor Monson

Taylor Monson is the Policy Development Analyst at Trust for America’s Health. As part of the policy development team Mr. Monson conducts policy research pertaining to TFAH’s grant projects and policy initiatives. Mr. Monson assists in the building of consensus among various stakeholders through TFAH’s unique and facilitated convening process. Prior to joining TFAH, Mr. Monson received a BA from the University of Alabama and a MA in Cognitive & Social Psychological Processes from Ball State University, where he was involved in research labs examining cognitive mechanisms and learning, the double standard of aging as it effects gay and lesbian older adults, the thriving characteristics of women with chronic illnesses, the evolution of LGBT population representation in the Diagnostic Statistics Manual (DSM), and he pioneered a LGBT Diversity Outreach Internship with the Ball State Counseling Center.

Sue Pechilio Polis

Sue Pechilio Polis is responsible for the development and management of TFAH’s advocacy outreach program in support of the organization’s public policy efforts. Prior to joining TFAH, Ms. Polis worked at AARP on health and financial security-related advocacy, outreach, campaign planning and implementation efforts most recently on the Initiative on the Future of Nursing: Campaign for Action in coordination with the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. Prior to joining AARP, Ms. Polis was the first National Director of Grassroots Advocacy for the American Heart Association. She was responsible for the development and implementation of a five-year strategic plan that led to significant growth of the organization’s advocate base in support of public policy objectives at the federal and state levels. Ms. Polis was Director of Association Marketing for Winning Connections, an electoral and grassroots consulting firm in Washington, DC. She worked with a wide range of clients on environmental, tobacco, and health-related issues. Prior to that, she was the Director of Political Programs with the American Association of Life Underwriters. She was responsible for political fundraising programs and key contact recruitment and outreach. Ms. Polis began her career in New Jersey as a paralegal with the firm of Crummy, DelDeo, Dolan, Griffinger and Vecchione and is a graduate of Seton Hall University with a major in political science.

Jack Rayburn

Jack Rayburn is the Government Relations Manager at Trust for America's Health. He works on all TFAH government relations priorities related to obesity and chronic disease prevention and co-leads efforts on health reform. He has a diverse legislative portfolio that includes agriculture, education, transportation, and other areas that impact the availability and accessibility of healthy choices. He also handles issues related to health care financing. He previously served as Policy Aide for U.S. Senator Mark Udall (D-CO) for all health care issues. Mr. Rayburn also worked at the Healthcare Leadership Council on health information technology and health care quality and for the Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions Committee under the chairmanship of the late Senator Edward Kennedy (D-MA). He has a Bachelors of Science in Biology with a pre-medical concentration from Georgetown University and a Masters in Public Health from The George Washington University.

Rebecca Salay

Rebecca Salay is the Director of Government Relations at the Trust for America's Health (TFAH), ensuring the group's public policy agenda is implemented at all levels of government: federal, state and local. Prior to joining TFAH, she was the Associate Director of Government Affairs at the Center for American Progress, where she worked on health reform, education, work/life balance, LGBT and poverty issues. Ms. Salay began her career on Capitol Hill, where she served for nearly 10 years on the staff of Congresswoman Rosa DeLauro (D-CT). In her most senior position in that office, as legislative director, she oversaw the Congresswoman's legislative agenda with a focus on health care, working women, and Appropriations and Budget Committee work. Ms. Salay also has a unique understanding of international health issues, having worked for nearly three years at the National Heart Forum in London. She previously served in the Clinton White House as associate director of research in the Communications Office, and as a senior health policy associate at the National Partnership for Women and Families. Ms. Salay holds an MSC in International Health Policy from the London School of Economics, and a B.A. in Political Science from Drew University.

Laura Segal

Laura Segal oversees public affairs, communications, and policy research for Trust for America's Health. She brings more than 15 years of strategic communications experience to TFAH. Prior to joining TFAH, Ms. Segal directed corporate communications for Health Venture Partners, Sigma Networks, and Charitableway. She worked for the Clinton/Gore Campaigns and Administration from 1992-2000 in a variety of capacities, including on the 1992 and 1996 campaigns, in the White House, in the Presidential Transition and Inaugural Offices, as a press secretary and speechwriter to the U.S. Secretary of Education, and for the 2000 Democratic National Convention. Ms. Segal also served as Executive Director of a new initiative for the Kennedy School of Government at Harvard to start a communications, events, and fundraising effort for the Shorenstein Center for Press, Politics, and Public Policy. She has also served as a contributing columnist and political analyst with United Press International. Ms. Segal began her career as an intern at CNN and in field production at C-SPAN television. She graduated Magna Cum Laude with Distinction in Communication from the University of Pennsylvania and received a M.A. from the Annenberg School for Communications.

Rebecca St. Laurent

Rebecca St. Laurent is the Health Policy Research Manager at TFAH. She assists with researching and writing about public health policies, including obesity prevention and state public health budgets. Before joining TFAH, Ms. St. Laurent worked at the Maine Audubon, where she contributed to a project to improve and standardize shoreland zoning ordinances in coastal Maine. Ms. St. Laurent holds a JD from the University of Maine School of Law, and a BA in Sociology from Emory University. She is currently pursuing a Master of Public Health with a concentration in Physical Activity in Public Health from The George Washington University.

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