Maternal Health Equity:
A Blueprint for Connecticut

Speakers

• 
  Dr. Joia Crear-Perry

  Founder and president, National Birth Equity Collaborative
  Joia A. Crear-Perry, MD, FACOG, is a physician, policy expert, thought leader, and advocate for transformational justice. As the founder and president of the National Birth Equity Collaborative, she identifies and challenges racism as a root cause of health inequities.
  
  She is a highly sought-after trainer and speaker who has been featured in national and international publications, including Essence and Ms. magazine. In 2020, Dr. Crear-Perry was honored by USA Today in its “Women of the Century” series and featured on ABC Nightline’s “Hear Her Voice.” Dr. Crear-Perry has twice addressed the United Nations Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights to elevate the cause of gender diversity and urge a human rights framework toward addressing maternal mortality.
  
  Previously, she served as the executive director of the Birthing Project, director of women’s and children’s services at Jefferson Community Healthcare Center, and as the director of clinical services for the City of New Orleans Health Department.
  
  Dr. Crear-Perry currently serves as a principal at Health Equity Cypher and on the Board of Trustees for Black Mamas Matter Alliance, Community Catalyst, National Clinical Training Center for Family Planning, and the University of California, San Francisco Preterm Birth Initiative. She is an adjunct professor at Tulane School of Public Health. After completing undergraduate studies at Princeton University and Xavier University, Dr. Crear-Perry received her MD from Louisiana State University and completed her residency in obstetrics and gynecology at Tulane University’s School of Medicine.
  
  She is married to Dr. Andre Perry and has three children: Jade, Carlos, and Robeson. Her love is her family; health equity is her passion; maternal and child health are her callings.
• 
  SciHonor Devotion

  Midwife and Founding Director, Earth’s Natural Touch: Birth Care & Beyond
  SciHonor Devotion, eCID, CLC, MCHS, is a dedicated practitioner in the field of reproductive health, whose journey began 25 years ago with her own pregnancy experience. Inspired by this, she pursued formal training as a birth doula in 2001. Since then, she has expanded her expertise to include roles as a postpartum doula, childbirth educator, homebirth midwife assistant, certified lactation counselor, maternal-child health specialist, and doula trainer. Currently, she is a senior midwifery student supporting families in community birth settings.
  
  With a commitment to excellence, SciHonor actively contributes to advancing maternal healthcare by participating in various committees and workgroups across the state.
  
  She serves as the Founding Director of Earth’s Natural Touch: Birth Care & Beyond, the largest Black-owned doula training organization and collective in the NYC Tri-State and New England areas. She is deeply committed to reducing disparities in infant and maternal health, particularly within marginalized communities.
• 
  Dr. Tabassum Firoz

  Physician- Obstetric Internal Medicine, Yale New Haven Health- Bridgeport Hospital​
  Dr. Firoz, a board-certified internist, is an attending physician at the Bridgeport Hospital Primary Care and an Assistant Clinical Professor in the departments of Medicine and Obstetrics, Gynecology & Reproductive Sciences at the Yale School of Medicine. She established Bridgeport Hospital’s Collaborative Obstetric Medicine Clinic to support women who experience medical issues before, during, or after their pregnancies and also runs the Postpartum Heart Care Program. Dr. Firoz focuses on global maternal health policy, pre-eclampsia, and especially postpartum cardiovascular risk reduction as well as addressing racial disparities in her clinical and research pursuits. Dr. Firoz is a member of several expert workgroups including the CT Maternal Mortality Review Committee, the Pre-eclampsia Foundation's Racial Disparities Task Force, and is a consultant for the World Health Organization.
• 
  Dr. Iyanna Liles

  OB/GYN Physician, American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists
  Dr. Liles, a board-certified obstetrics and gynecology physician, prioritizes advancing obstetric and gynecologic healthcare in Connecticut. With a focus on empowering all patients, especially Black patients, she specializes in family planning, adolescent health, minimally invasive surgery, advocacy, and promoting health equity, offering comprehensive, inclusive, and person centered care. Dr. Liles is also an active member of the American College of Obstetrics and Gynecology (ACOG) and has several leadership positions within the organization. Lastly she is a member of the Connecticut Maternal Mortality Review Committee offering recommendations to improve obstetric and postpartum care in our state.
• 
  Dr. Marcella Nunez-Smith

  Founding Director, Equity Research and Innovation Center (ERIC), Yale School of Medicine
  Dr. Nunez-Smith holds multiple roles at Yale, including Associate Dean for Health Equity Research and Director of the Equity Research and Innovation Center. She is also Chief Health Equity Officer at Smilow Cancer Hospital and Co-Director of the Doris Duke Clinical Research Fellowship. Her extensive research focuses on health equity and systemic influences contributing to health disparities. As Principal Investigator on numerous projects, she has significantly contributed to assessing patient-reported experiences of discrimination in healthcare. Dr. Nunez-Smith is recognized for her teaching, mentoring, and board certification in internal medicine.
• 
  Mark Schaefer

  Vice President, System Innovation and Financing​ Connecticut Hospital Association
  Mark Schaefer, PhD is a clinical psychologist and the Vice President, System Innovation and Financing for the Connecticut Hospital Association (CHA). Dr. Schaefer previously served as the state’s Medicaid Director at the Department of Social Services, where he led the design and implementation of the Connecticut Behavioral Health Partnership, a joint initiative with the Departments of Children and Families and Mental Health and Addiction Services to develop an integrated behavioral health service system. He led the nation’s first expansion of Medicaid under the Affordable Care Act and the development of an array of health service delivery and purchasing reforms to improve care experience and quality, while reducing costs, including the HUSKY medical ASO initiative and the person-centered medical home glide path program.
  
  Subsequently, as the state’s Director of Healthcare Innovation, he led the state’s 5-year multi-payer State Innovation Model initiative overseeing a wide range of payment, care delivery, and insurance reforms and launching the state’s first quality scorecard, HealthscoreCT. In his current role with the CHA he is working to advance a sustainable healthcare delivery and financing system that fosters innovation, and provides optimal health for Connecticut communities.
• 
  Sean Scanlon

  State Comptroller
  Sean Scanlon began his term as Comptroller in 2023, succeeding Natalie Braswell.
  
  The son of a police officer and small business owner, Sean attended Guilford public schools and worked his way through high school and Boston College. After graduating, Sean returned to Connecticut with the goal of helping others. He began working as an aide for U.S. Senator Chris Murphy where he helped the Senator fight for gun safety and better health care, as well as addressing constituent concerns. In Guilford, he worked with neighbors to organize successful grassroots campaigns to build a new high school and institute a full-day kindergarten.
  
  In 2014, Sean was elected State Representative for Connecticut’s 98th District. In the House, Sean became a champion for health care reform, a passion rooted in his own life experiences coming from a family that was often uninsured or underinsured.
  
  As chairman of the legislature’s Insurance Committee, Sean wrote and passed legislation protecting people with pre-existing conditions from insurance discrimination, established the lowest monthly co-pay cap for insulin in the nation at $25, prevented insurance companies from covering mental health differently than physical health, required health insurance plans to cover ten “Essential Health Benefits,” and created Connecticut’s first prescription drug price transparency law.
  
  During his fourth and final term, Sean served as Chair of the Finance, Revenue and Bonding committee where he led the fight to create tax relief for working families like the one he grew up in and worked with Governor Lamont to pass the largest tax cut in state history.
  
  Outside of the legislature, Sean previously served as Executive Director of Tweed-New Haven Airport, where he secured a $100 million public-private investment deal, brought in a new air carrier, and created over 100 new community jobs.
  
  Sean lives in Guilford with his wife Meghan, who is the President & CEO of the Connecticut Coalition Against Domestic Violence, their two young sons Jack and Declan.
• 
  Kai Belton

  State Representative
  State Representative Kai Belton was elected in a 2023 special election to the Connecticut General Assembly. With almost two decades of service as a licensed master social worker in Middletown, Belton is known for her dynamic leadership and strong advocacy, particularly in victims' services and children's mental health.
  
  Belton serves on three crucial committees - Labor and Public Employees, Public Health, and Housing. Her passion lies in creating a better Connecticut by advocating for affordable housing, quality healthcare and education. Proudly representing the 100th district, Middletown, Representative Belton remains a fearless advocate for equity and justice, embodying a commitment to the well-being of all Connecticut residents.
• 
  Matt Lesser

  State Senator
  Senator Matthew Lesser represents the ninth district, serving the citizens of Cromwell, Middletown, Newington, Rocky Hill and Wethersfield.
  
  As Deputy Majority leader he is the Chair of the Human Services Committee and Vice Chair of the Housing Committee. He is also member of the Appropriations, Energy & Technology, Judiciary, and Labor & Public Employees Committees.
  
  He played an instrumental role in the passage of the Mental Health Parity Act (PA 19-159) that would ensure insurance coverage for people in the state suffering from mental health and substance use disorder conditions as they would for other illnesses.
  
  As a cancer survivor, he knows all too well the struggles families face when dealing with their personal health issues or of the issues of their loved ones. Senator Lesser continues to fight for access to high-quality and affordable healthcare and prescription drugs for individuals and small businesses.
  
  Sen. Lesser wrote the nation’s first Student Loan Bill of Rights, which established the Office of Student Loan Ombudsman to regulate student loan servicers and educate students and their parents on the student loan process.
  
  Before being elected to the State Senate, Sen. Lesser was a State Representative for the 100th District in Middletown from 2008 to 2019. He was the chair of the Banking Committee from 2015 to 2019.
  
  Sen. Lesser lives in Middletown’s North End with his wife Sarah and their dog, Lucy.
• 
  Dr. Manisha Juthani

  Commissioner of the Connecticut Department of Public Health
  Manisha Juthani, MD, is the Commissioner of the Connecticut Department of Public Health (DPH). She is the first Indian American to serve as a commissioner in the State of Connecticut. She served as professor of medicine at Yale School of Medicine through September 2024 and currently serves as an adjunct professor of medicine. She served as Director of the Infectious Diseases Fellowship Program from 2012 to 2021. Juthani received her B.A. from the University of Pennsylvania and M.D. from Cornell University Medical College, completed Internal Medicine residency training at New York-Presbyterian Hospital/Weill Cornell campus, and served as chief resident at Memorial-Sloan Kettering Cancer Center. She came to Connecticut in 2002 as an Infectious Diseases fellow at Yale School of Medicine.
  
  During the COVID-19 pandemic, Juthani was a leader in the COVID response at Yale which led to her appointment as Commissioner of CT DPH in 2021. In the early days of the pandemic, she was a voice to help educate the public in both local and national media outlets, a role she was able to expand in her role as Commissioner. Upon joining CT DPH, she helped guide Connecticut out of the pandemic and worked to revitalize areas of public health, such as gun violence, maternal health, opioid use, and sexually transmitted diseases, that were exacerbated during the pandemic.
  
  As she continues in her role as DPH Commissioner, Juthani has shifted her core vision to “Preserve and Protect Core Public Health Principles and Services.” As Connecticut is presented with new public health challenges, she remains committed to preserving public health achievements made over the years, including improvements in regulatory oversight in healthcare, drinking water, and environmental health which includes food safety. It is more important than ever to highlight the importance of vaccines, control of infectious diseases, road safety, and healthier mothers and babies. Clear, accurate communication about public health risks is vital to her mission. She continues to advocate for health as a human right which is the core vision of CT DPH.
• 
  Andrea Barton Reeves

  Commissioner of the Connecticut Department of Social Services
  Andrea Barton Reeves is the Commissioner of the Connecticut Department of Social Services. With over twenty years of experience in Human Services and advocacy, she has dedicated her career to ensuring equity, dignity and accessibility to services and supports for thousands of residents throughout the state.
  
  An attorney by training, Andrea spent ten years as an Attorney for the minor child and a guardian ad litem, advocating for and protecting the rights of children in family, probate and child welfare courts across Connecticut. She also served as the CEO of Harc, Inc. in Hartford, supporting people with intellectual disabilities and their families.
  
  In 2020, she became the founding CEO Connecticut’s Paid Family and Medical Leave Program, starting the state’s first new agency in 12 years from scratch, during a global pandemic. Today, over 200,000 individuals and families have receive paid family leave benefits.
  
  The Hartford Business Journal has named her to its list of the Power 25 in Healthcare, the Top 25 Leaders In Business, as well as appearing twice on that publication’s list of New Leaders to Watch. She has also been twice named to the CT NAACP’s list of the 100 Most Influential Blacks in Connecticut, and was recognized as 100 Women of Color in the New England region in 2020. Andrea is also a TedX speaker, with a talk entitled “social Justice in a gymsuit.”
She holds a BA in English from Rutgers University, and a Juris Doctor from New York Law School. She is also pursuing a Master’s degree in Ethics at Yale Divinity School, where she is as a Social Justice Scholar.