Speakers

Elisabeth Benjamin is the Vice President of Health Initiatives at the Community Service Society, where she supervises health policy, health advocacy, and consumer health assistance programs that serve over 100,000 New Yorkers annually. She is a leading consumer health advocate in New York State and co-founded of Health Care for All New York Campaign (HCFANY), a statewide coalition of over 170 organizations devoted to securing affordable, quality health care for all New Yorkers.  She has published extensively and has been a frequent commentator about health policy issues such as: health equity, insurance coverage expansions, and medical debt. 

Ms. Benjamin received a Master of Science degree in Health Policy and Management from Harvard School of Public Health in 1988 and a Juris Doctor degree from Columbia University School of Law in 1992.  She clerked for the Honorable Robert Sweet, a federal District Court Judge for the Southern District of New York.  In 2003-2004, she was a Visiting Scholar in Bioethics in a program jointly run by Montefiore Medical Center, the Albert Einstein College of Medicine and New York University.

Kate Bliss leads a policy bureau within the New York State Department of Health’s Division of Program Development and Management, developing Medicaid policy related to primary care, telehealth, non-emergency medical transportation, new technology and benefits, and oversees the NYS Medicaid and Child Health Plus Quality Strategy. Kate holds a master’s degree in public health and a master’s degree social work from the State University of New York at Albany and has worked at the Department of Health for nearly 15 years in analytics, research, and policy development.

Louise Cohen is the Chief Executive Officer of the Primary Care Development Corporation (PCDC), a not-for-profit community development financial institution dedicated to expanding and strengthening the primary care safety net in the United States.

PCDC provides capital and technical assistance to a wide variety of primary care providers, and advocates for improved and increased primary care access, capacity, quality, reimbursement, and capital resources in order to improve health outcomes, create healthier communities, increase health equity, and reduce overall health care system costs. Prior to assuming leadership of PCDC, she was Vice President for Public Health Programs at Public Health Solutions in New York City (2011-2015), where she oversaw a variety of programs to improve community health through food access and nutrition, women’s reproductive health, tobacco control, and child development. Ms. Cohen held successive leadership positions at the New York City Department of Health and Mental Hygiene (DOHMH) from 1998-2011, including as Deputy Commissioner of the Division of Health Care Access and Improvement. Among her accomplishments at DOHMH, Ms. Cohen led the development and execution of Take Care New York, New York City’s first comprehensive health policy agenda. She also oversaw the Primary Care Information Project, which brought a public health and prevention-oriented ambulatory care electronic health record system to more than 2,500 primary care providers.

Before her tenure at DOHMH, Ms. Cohen was Director of the Park Slope Family Health Center (now part of the NYU Lutheran Family Health Centers network).

She served on PCDC’s Board of Directors from 2011 until she became CEO.

New York State Senator Cordell Cleare was raised in Harlem and her family has lived there for four generations. Cleare is a product of the New York City public schools, including Brooklyn Technical High School.  Today, she is best known for her fight for Reparations, Truly Affordable Housing, Quality Schools & Equitable Education, Access to Healthy Foods as well as Economic, Environmental, Restorative and Racial Justice. She entered the New York State Senate on an express train from Upper Manhattan, bringing fresh ideas and legislative proposals to make New York, the state of the whole people.

Cleare’s activism and advocacy spans decades but initially peaked when she served as a tenant organizer and Chair of the New York City Coalition to End Lead Poisoning. In these years and within related civic leadership roles, she fought hard to protect children from the life-threatening dangers of lead paint, leading to shaping a significant public policy - The Childhood Lead Poisoning Law (Local Law 1/2004 in New York City).  This law is now a national model. 
 
Senator Cleare has served as Board President of Community School District 3 (Upper Westside and Central Harlem) and when the New York State Decentralization Law ended abruptly and changed how communities had power over their local schools, she continued as the President of the Community Education Council in the district. From activist to public school leader, she was always able to find her voice and a platform to stand on.  For nearly two decades, starting in 1997, she tirelessly served as Chief of Staff to Bill Perkins, during his time in the New York City Council and New York State Senate.  

Senator Cleare has recognized that political organizing through community education and engagement is the bedrock of a sound democracy.  At the core of her past civic achievement was leading the rallying cry to troops as well as keeping critically needed schools and senior centers from closing in the poorest parts of Manhattan. Cleare is one of the Founders of the Michelle Obama Democratic Club.  Going high and never low.  She has represented two assembly districts, covering East Harlem and Central Harlem, as the Democratic District Leader, working tirelessly to ensure numerous neighbors get to serve and lift their voices as elected party and public office holders -- district leader, county committee member, judicial delegate, federal, state, and municipal legislative roles. 

In New York State, Senator Cleare was one of the first Democratic Party officials to support, in 2008, the presidential campaign of an unknown United Senator from Illinois, Barack Obama.  He won two terms.   

Senator Cleare remained active during the COVID pandemic. Up to now and before her tenure in the state legislature, Cleare oversaw and coordinated a much-needed pantry operation, distributing PPEs, fighting for more vaccines, and testing sites throughout the Greater Harlem area.  Simultaneously, she has assisted hundreds of individuals in completing their census forms and registered thousands of neighbors to become active voters in party, special and general elections.  Cleare recently ran in highly contested New York City Council and State Senate contested races. After placing 4th among 14 candidates in the New York City Council Primary Election in June 2021, she was encouraged by her democratic party colleagues, District Leaders and County Committee Members, to seek an open Senate Seat.  She overwhelmingly won the County Committee nomination and then won the special election in a crowded General Election ballot with almost 90% of the vote.  She was overwhelmingly re-elected in 2022. 

Senator Cleare is currently serving in her second term from District 30, representing Central Harlem, East Harlem (El Barrio), West Harlem, Upper Westside, Morningside Heights, Manhattanville, Hamilton Heights and Washington Heights neighborhoods.  Cleare is one of only two women to hold the seat.  The late Manhattan Borough President, Federal Court Judge and friend of Supreme Court Justice Thurgood Marshall, Constance Baker Motley, was the first woman, winning the seat almost 60 years ago.  Both are the only black women elected to the New York State Senate from Manhattan.  Brooklyn (Kings County) is the only other borough (county) in New York State that elected black women to the State Senate.

Senator Cleare was recently assigned to serve as the Chair of the Senate Aging Committee as well as memberships on several committees: Banks, Cities 1, Cultural Affairs, Education, Housing and Social Services As a member of the Black, Puerto Rican, Hispanic & Asian Caucus (BPHA), she chairs its sub-committee on Housing and is an active member of the Cannabis Task Force.  Whether in the Senate or legislative caucus, Cleare is already pushing out a plethora of legislation that can stop the fear and hopelessness of the future in her district.  Some bills address quality and safety issues in housing, stronger efforts to create programs that can prevent criminal behavior and ensuring a fair share of New York resources. 

In 2023 alone, Senator Cordell Cleare:  wrote and introduced 238 Bills;

22 To Help Our Beloved Seniors; 57 To Provide Justice & Equity; 21 To Provide Affordable Housing.  Of these bills, 43 Bills Passed The Senate and 17 Bills Passed Both Houses. 

Senator Cleare will continue to use her position to demand fairness in housing, education, healthcare, equitable distribution of business opportunities, address income equality and the creation of wealth for black families.  Cleare is dedicated to preserving families by focusing on workforce development, job creation, ending gun violence in our streets and domestic violence.  She is proud to serve and is strongly committed to fighting for social equity.

Senator Cordell Cleare will continue to use her voice to bring much-needed resources as well as services to her district and in general, communities of long-standing need.

Rose Duhan serves as the President and CEO of the Community Health Care
Association of New York State (CHCANYS), the state’s Primary Care Association.
CHCANYS represents and supports over 80 community health centers operating
approximately 900 sites across New York State. Community health centers provide
high-quality primary, dental, and behavioral health care to 2.5 million New Yorkers in
medically underserved areas, regardless of their ability to pay.

Ms. Duhan leads CHCANYS’ work to make sure that New York’s Community Health
Centers continue to thrive. Ms. Duhan holds a leadership role in the national network of
Primary Care Associations’ work to amplify the advocacy and support provided to
community health centers in every state. She was instrumental in establishing the
structure for the national collaborative and serves on the Board of the National PCA
Hub. She also serves on the United Health Care National Federally Qualified Health
Center Advisory Board, advising on issues of critical importance to community-based
providers. As a member of the New York Statewide Workforce Investment Board
(SWIB), she provides a health care employment perspective to the work of the state
Department of Labor.

Prior to joining CHCANYS, Rose held key roles in shaping health policy at both state
and local levels. She served in the Office of Governor Andrew M. Cuomo as Assistant
Secretary for Health and Assistant Secretary for Mental Health, where she played a
central role in developing and implementing the Governor’s health and behavioral health
agenda. At the local level, she worked in Albany County’s Department of Management
and Budget, focusing on long-term care system reform.

Rose’s career also includes leadership in statewide health policy and advocacy through
her work with the New York Health Plan Association (HPA) and the Healthcare
Association of New York State (HANYS), where she advanced initiatives to improve
health care delivery and financing.

Arthur Gianelli joins OBH from Mount Sinai Health Systems where he served as Chief Transformation Officer and President for the Mount Sinai Morningside Hospital. Mr. Gianelli has more 25 years of experience in senior leadership roles in complex health systems, including nearly eight years as a health system’s Chief Executive Officer. 

As President and Chief Transformation Officer for OBH, Mr. Gianelli is responsible for leading the operational management and cultural environment of the hospital by ensuring the health system is safer, more efficient and accessible to patients. He is also working to direct, restructure, and streamline the health system’s acute, post-acute and ambulatory operations as well as its partnerships with community physicians. Additionally, Mr. Gianelli is developing an operating model for the health system that allows for sustained clinical and operational success. 

Mr. Gianelli is a graduate of St. John’s University and Columbia University with a Master of Public Health in Healthcare Management. He also is a graduate of Brown University with a Master of Arts in Political Science along with a Master of Business Administration from Dowling College. Gianelli has been recognized for a robust number of awards and affiliations, including “32 Inspiring Chief Transformation Officers in Healthcare: Becker’s Hospital Review in 2022,” “Award of Distinction: Healthcare Leaders of New York in 2022,” and considered one of the “20 Most Influential Long Islanders: The Long Island Business in 2013.” 

State Senator Gustavo Rivera represents the 33rd District in the Northwest Bronx. Throughout his legislative career, he has passed more than 71 bills into law, protecting civil rights and addressing health inequities in our communities.

In 2018, Senate Majority Leader Andrea Stewart-Cousins appointed Senator Rivera as the Chair of the Senate Health Committee. He has since passed several measures to eradicate medical debt from our state, expand health coverage for older, undocumented New Yorkers, and extend coverage for new mothers for a full year after giving birth.

Senator Rivera is the main sponsor of the “New York Health Act," which would establish a universal, single payer health care system in New York. He also sponsors the bill to establish and regulate Overdose Prevention Centers to help New Yorkers struggling with substance abuse.

Jonathan Jiménez, MD, MPH, is a family physician and the Executive Director of NYC Care, a healthcare access program that ensures all New Yorkers—regardless of immigration status or ability to pay—have access to primary and preventive care. Housed within NYC Health + Hospitals, the nation's largest public healthcare system, NYC Care serves over 130,000 members.

Since its launch, NYC Care members have completed over 1 million primary care visits, with population health outcomes on par with those of insured patients. The program collaborates with 20 community-based organizations across the city and runs a year-round awareness campaign to inform all New Yorkers of their healthcare access. NYC Care has received national recognition for its impact on health equity.

Dr. Jiménez trained in family medicine at Duke, earned his MPH from Columbia, and holds a BA in Economics from Yale.

Aamir is the Director of Policy at the Primary Care Development Corporation. He has over a decade of legal, legislative, and policy experience across federal, state, and local government, with a strong focus on health equity, community development, and government partnerships. Before joining PCDC, Aamir served as Vice President of Government and External Partnerships at The Literacy Lab, where led advocacy efforts across multiple states. Prior to that, he served as Committee and Legislative Director at the Council of the District of Columbia, where he led the development and passage of impactful legislation and agency oversight efforts. He has also held legal and policy positions at the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, the D.C. Department of Consumer and Regulatory Affairs, and the Public Health Law Center.

Aamir holds a Bachelor of Arts in Political Science and Global Studies from the University of Minnesota and a Juris Doctor from The George Washington University Law School.

Acting Health Commissioner and Chief Medical Officer of the NYC Department of Health and Mental Hygiene. She leads the agency’s work in bridging public health and health care to reduce health inequities and is a key liaison to clinicians and clinical leaders across NYC. She served as Deputy Commissioner for the Center for Health Equity and Community Wellness leading place-based and cross-cutting health equity programs. 

She is a general internal medicine physician, part-time hospitalist, Co-Founder of EqualHealth, and Assistant Professor at Harvard Medical School. 

Dr.Morse's continued commitment to advancing health equity and justice is informed by her experience in leadership roles as Deputy Chief Medical Officer of Partners In Heath, as a Soros Equality Fellow launching a global Campaign Against Racism and as a Robert Wood Johnson Health Policy fellow with the Ways and Means Committee in the U.S. House of Representatives.  In 2024, Dr.Morse was named a TIME100Next honoree. 

David Sandman, Ph.D., is the President and Chief Executive Officer of the New York Health Foundation (NYHealth), a private foundation dedicated to improving the health of all New Yorkers, especially people of color and others who have been historically marginalized. Since 2006, NYHealth has invested more than $200 million in initiatives to improve health care and the public health system in New York State. Equally important, the Foundation is committed to sharing the results and lessons of its grantmaking; informing policy and practice through timely, credible analysis and commentary; and serving as a convener of health care leaders and stakeholders throughout New York State.

Dr. Sandman was named President and CEO in 2016, after serving as NYHealth’s Senior Vice President. Previously, Dr. Sandman was appointed by the Governor of New York as Executive Director of the Commission on Health Care Facilities in the 21st Century, also known as the “Berger Commission.” The Commission was a nonpartisan, broad-based panel charged with evaluating and reforming the State’s health care delivery and financing systems. It developed recommendations to reconfigure the supply of hospitals and nursing homes to best respond to community needs for high-quality, affordable, and accessible care.

After serving as Executive Director of the Berger Commission, Dr. Sandman became a Managing Director of Manatt Health Solutions, where he advised health care providers, foundations, payers, associations, government, and companies regarding development of new health care programs, services, and restructuring plans. Earlier, he was a Vice President at Harris Interactive, a global research and consulting firm. Prior to joining Harris Interactive, Dr. Sandman served as Assistant Vice President at the Commonwealth Fund, where he was responsible for projects related to health care coverage and access, health care in New York City, Medicare, and quality of care issues. He also served as a policy analyst with the City of New York Department of Health; at a number of community-based HIV/AIDS organizations; and as a researcher at the Brookings Institution in Washington, D.C.

Dr. Sandman received his Bachelor of Arts degree, Phi Beta Kappa, from Haverford College, and his Master of Public Administration degree and Ph.D. from New York University’s Wagner School of Public Service. He is a Fellow of the New York Academy of Medicine and a former board member of Callen-Lorde Community Health Center and Philanthropy New York.

Assemblyman David I. Weprin has devoted his life to public service and making government more responsive, efficient, and accountable. Elected to the New York State Assembly in a Special Election on February 9, 2010, Weprin represents the 24th Assembly District in Queens, the same district represented by his father, the late Assembly Speaker Saul Weprin, for 23 years and his brother Mark Weprin, for over 15 years.

In 2023, Weprin was named the Chair of the Assembly Committee on Insurance, having served as Chair of the Assembly Committee on Correction from 2017 through 2022 and as Chair of the Assembly Task Force on People with Disabilities from 2014 through 2016. Weprin previously served on the New York City Council, working as Chairman of the Council’s Finance Committee. Weprin lives with his wife Ronni in Holliswood. They are the proud parents of five children.