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Global Policy Solutions Staff

Dr. Maya Rockeymoore President and CEO of Global Policy Solutions

Dr. Maya Rockeymoore leads Global Policy Solutions, a Washington, DC-based policy firm that works to create and advance social change strategies for the world. Working with non-profit organizations, governmental entities, and socially-responsible corporations, GPS manages programs and initiatives funded in excess of $13 million.

An Adjunct Professor in the Women in Politics Institute at American University, Dr. Rockeymoore has also served as the Vice President of Research and Programs at the Congressional Black Caucus Foundation (CBCF), Senior Resident Scholar at the National Urban League, Chief Of Staff to Congressman Charles Rangel (D-NY), Professional Staff on the House Ways and Means Committee, and as a CBCF Legislative Fellow in the office of Congressman Melvin Watt (D-NC) among other positions.

Dr. Rockeymoore’s areas of expertise include health, social insurance, income security, education, women’s issues and youth civic participation. She is the author of The Political Action Handbook: A How to Guide for the Hip-Hop Generation and co-editor of Strengthening Community: Social Insurance in a Diverse America among many other articles and chapters. Rockeymoore serves on the board of the National Committee to Preserve Social Security and Medicare and the National Association of Counties and is a member of the National Academy of Social Insurance. The recipient of many honors, she was named an Aspen Institute Henry Crown Fellow in 2004 and is the recipient of Running Start’s 2007 Young Women to Watch Award.

A regular guest on radio and television shows, Dr. Rockeymoore has appeared on NPR, CNN, Black Entertainment Television, ABC World News Tonight, Fox News, Al Jazeera and C-SPAN. Her opinions have also been quoted by the New York Times, Washington Post, USA Today, LA Times, Boston Globe, Black America Web, and Houston Chronicle among other prominent national news sources.

Michelle Klink, Senior Advisor

A specialist in child-centered policies, Michelle has previously worked for the Alliance for Excellent Education where she managed a research agenda focused on federal high school reform policy. She has served as a lead child welfare and education policy advisor for U.S. Senator Olympia Snowe and has interned as a legislative research assistant in the Florida House of Representatives. Michelle received a post-doctoral fellowship from the Yale Bush Center for Child Development & Social Policy. She earned her B.S., M.S., and Ph.D. from Florida State University in Tallahassee, FL.

Laura A. Ojeda, MPH, Deputy Program Director, Leadership for Healthy Communities

Laura Ojeda has worked in the field of public health in the areas of program planning, policy and evaluation for more than 12 years. Most recently, Laura served as a Program Officer with First 5 LA, a major funding agency dedicated to improving the lives of young children in Los Angeles, California. In this capacity, she designed and managed a five-year $100 million health insurance program targeting low-income children ineligible for public programs due to income restrictions and immigration status. Laura also represented First 5 LA in the Children's Health Initiative (CHI) Coalition of Greater Los Angeles. This work involved collaborating with numerous stakeholders and advocates throughout Los Angeles County, including governmental agencies, community based, and philanthropic organizations, to inform statewide health policy reform. In addition, Laura played a critical role in the development of the agency's five year strategic plan specific to its health priorities. Prior to this experience, Laura planned and evaluated HIV prevention programs with Clinica Para Las Americas, a community clinic serving uninsured, low income, Latino immigrants in Los Angeles, California. Laura also worked as a Research Analyst with the UCLA School of Public Health providing technical assistance to nonprofit organizations in evaluation and needs assessments. Laura holds a master of public health from UCLA in community health sciences with a policy concentration.

Melissa Maitin-Shepard, Policy and Program Associate

Melissa Maitin-Shepard is policy and program associate at Global Policy Solutions, where she provides research, program and advocacy assistance for the Leadership for Healthy Communities program and Global Policy Solutions. She is responsible for developing policy briefs and fact sheets on issues related to childhood obesity prevention. Prior to this position, Melissa worked in the Advocacy Department of the American Heart Association, where she was responsible for managing the Association’s policy research on tobacco control and stroke systems of care, creating and maintaining advocacy fact sheets, organizing expert policy writing groups and providing other policy research support on a variety of issues related to cardiovascular disease and stroke. Melissa began her career in public health policy at Trust for America’s Health, where she worked on the organization’s 2006 F as in Fat report and helped to plan a related conference on obesity prevention.

Melissa earned a B.A. in psychology from the George Washington University and is currently pursuing a master’s degree in public policy with a health policy concentration also at the George Washington University.
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