Larry Cohen, MSW, Executive Director

larry@preventioninstitute.org

Leslie Mikkelsen, MPH, Managing Director

leslie@preventioninstitute.org

Manal Aboelata, MPH, Program Director

manal@preventioninstitute.org
Manal's project work includes physical activity, nutrition, and injury prevention, emphasizing population-based approaches and the elimination of health disparities. She collaborates with community and government agencies to integrate prevention practice into their efforts by synthesizing and disseminating research, offering training and technical assistance, and providing consultation on strategy development. Prior to joining Prevention Institute, Manal worked in the Department of Family Medicine at the University of California, Los Angeles as Research Manager of the Violence Prevention Program. Manal is currently a lecturer at UCLA Extension's Health Education for Teachers, offering courses in school-based injury prevention and sexually transmitted disease prevention. Manal holds a B.A. in American Studies with an emphasis in Public Health from the University of California, Berkeley, and received her masters in public health in epidemiology, from the School of Public Health at the University of California, Los Angeles.

Jeremy Cantor, MPH, Program Manager

jeremy@preventioninstitute.org

Jeremy joined Prevention Institute in July 2006. His work focuses on supporting the organization's projects in health disparities, community health, land-use and health, and health care reform; writing and editing materials; coordinating coalitions and partnerships; and consulting with government and community agencies. Prior to joining Prevention Institute, Jeremy spent 3 years as the Program Director of Destination: College, a UC Berkeley based AmeriCorps program that trains and supervises undergraduate advisors placed in underresourced Bay Area schools. He has also worked extensively on youth development with the San Francisco Conservation Corps and City Volunteer Corps in New York City. Jeremy holds a B.A. in psychology from Haverford College and a Masters in Public Health in Health and Social Behavior from the University of California, Berkeley.

Sana Chehimi, MPH, Program Manager
sana@preventioninstitute.org

Sana's main content areas include nutrition and physical activity and she plays a critical role in coordinating efforts for Strategic Alliance for Healthy Food and Activity Environments. Sana manages the development of the Environmental Nutrition and Activity Community Tool (ENACT), a web-based tool designed to improve local nutrition and physical activity environments, and oversees media advocacy activities for the Strategic Alliance, including the Rapid Response Media Network. Sana is currently co-editing an academic text on primary prevention, Prevention is Primary: Strategies for Community Wellbeing, along with Prevention Institute's Executive Director Larry Cohen and Dr. Vivian Chavez of San Francisco State University. The text will be published by Jossey-Bass.

Prior to joining Prevention Institute, Sana spent two years as the Treatment Education Associate for Project Inform, a San Francisco-based HIV non-profit. She holds a Bachelor of Arts in Biology from Columbia University. Sana received her Masters in Public Health in Health and Social Behavior from the University of California Berkeley in 2003.

Virginia Lee, MPH, CHES, Program Manager

virginia@preventioninstitute.org

Virginia joined Prevention Institute in August 2006.  She supports the organization's projects in nutrition and physical activity, as well as injury and violence prevention.  Prior to joining Prevention Institute, Virginia completed a three year fellowship with the Public Health Prevention Service at Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.  As a fellow, she assisted Public Health-Seattle & King County with their injury and violence prevention efforts and the King County Steps to a Healthier US initiative, which focused on policy and system changes addressing chronic disease.  In August 2005, she was honored with the CDC Public Health Prevention Service Distinguished Service and Achievement Award.  Virginia also spent two years as the Project Director for the HIV and tobacco prevention programs for immigrant youth and families at Asian Youth Center, a community-based nonprofit in Los Angeles County.  She holds a Bachelor of Science in Anthropology from University of California Los Angeles and a Masters in Public Health with an emphasis in health promotion from San Diego State University.

Annie Lyles, MSW, Program Manager

annie@preventioninstitute.org

Annie manages projects in the focus area of preventing violence including UNITY (Urban Networks to Increase Thriving Youth), a national initiative designed to strengthen and support local efforts to prevent violence in the nation’s largest cities.  Additionally, Annie coordinates the Alameda County Violence Prevention Initiative, the KPBS Dating Violence Prevention Peer Educators Conference and Ms. Foundation Childhood Sexual Exploitation Prevention Project.  Recently she has begun to develop projects and present on the intersections of violence and nutrition and physical activity.  Prior to joining Prevention Institute, Annie was a Program Specialist in the County of San Diego’s Office of Violence Prevention where she worked to increase the County’s capacity to prevent street violence and teen dating violence.  She provided trainings on emerging research, developed local initiatives and assisted with contract management.   During this time Annie became an adjunct professor at San Diego State University teaching youth development strategies in the Department of Child and Family Development.  Annie holds a B.A. in Social Policy from Northwestern University with a concentration on the development of urban youth and a MSW from University of Washington with a concentration on social justice models in multi-ethnic practice.  She has over fourteen years experience coordinating and providing direct services to families and adolescents through community clinics, juvenile detention facilities and school based initiatives.

Linda Shak, MSW, Program Manager

linda@preventioninstitute.org

Linda joined Prevention Institute in November 2005 and works in the areas of nutrition and physical activity, sustainable food systems, and mental health.  She provides training and consultation to constituencies working across the country to develop quality prevention efforts including the National Association of Latino Elected Officials and Kaiser Permanente Healthy Eating Active Living (HEAL) communities.  Linda provides staff support to the Strategic Alliance for Healthy Food and Activity Environments and manages the development of the ENACT Local Policy Database, which provides policymakers, advocates, and others with concrete examples of nutrition and activity-related policies that have been adopted by local entities.  Prior to joining Prevention Institute, Linda was instrumental in the development and coordination of the St. Louis Healthy Youth Partnership, a collaborative bringing together service providers from multiple sectors and disciplines to address childhood health in the St. Louis region.  Linda attended Washington University in St. Louis where she received a Bachelor of Arts in Psychology and a Master of Social Work degree.  She is also a graduate of the Coro Fellows Program in Public Affairs.

Juliet Sims, MPH, Program Coordinator

juliet@preventioninstitute.org

Juliet joined Prevention Institute in May 2008.  She supports the organization’s work in nutrition and physical activity and is a contributor to the Environmental Nutrition and Activity Community Tool (ENACT) and ENACT Local Policy Database, both web-based resources designed to give policymakers, advocates, and others the tools to improve local nutrition and physical activity environments.  Prior to joining Prevention Institute, Juliet spent two years working in clinical nutrition.  She holds a Bachelor of Science in Dietetics from San Francisco State University.  Juliet received her Masters in Public Health with an emphasis in Nutrition from the University of California, Berkeley.

Janani Srikantharajah, BA, Program Coordinator

janani@preventioninstitute.org

Janani is a Program Coordinator at Prevention Institute. She supports Prevention Institute's work with the Healthy Eating Active Living Convergence Partnership, a collaborative of six major health funders in the United States. Janani is also involved in the organization's efforts to incorporate primary prevention into national level discussions about health care reform, as well as broader efforts to eliminate health disparities and promote a community health approach to improving health. Prior to joining Prevention Institute, Janani spent two years with the Ernest Gallo Research Clinic, at UCSF, studying alcohol addiction pathways. She has also worked with the Bay Area Youth Alternatives and the Continentals of Omega Boys and Girls Club in pipeline programs to help prepare youth in low income communities for higher education; served as the Solano County youth representative to the American Red Cross Bay Area Board of Directors; and is currently a needle exchanger for the San Francisco AIDS Foundations Prevention Project. Janani graduated from UC Berkeley with a BA in Molecular and Cell Biology and a minor in Conservation Resource Studies.

Kion Jordan, BA, Program Coordinator  

kion@preventioninstitute.org

Kion’s work at Prevention Institute is currently focused in the area preventing violence. This work includes coordination responsibilities for the UNITY City Network initiative, which supports local efforts to prevent violence in the nation’s largest cities. He also provides consultations and trainings in preventing violence to various organizations and audiences nationwide, and is working to develop targeted strategies for preventing violence in communities which are disproportionately affected.

Originally from Washington D.C., Kion went to high school at Phillips Academy in Andover, Massachusetts, and college at Morehouse College in Atlanta, GA. Prior to joining Prevention Institute, he worked with at-risk youth in underprivileged neighborhoods in violence prevention, academic and extra-curricular development, and rehabilitation for young offenders. He has also worked as a business and marketing consultant, events organizer, lecturer, activist on international justice issues, and is a certified teacher of yoga and meditation. Kion speaks Spanish fluently and has spent time living, traveling, and working throughout the United States, London, India, and Latin America.

Christine Chang, BA, Program Assistant

Christine@preventioninstitute.org

Christine joined Prevention Institute in January 2008 as an administrative assistant and now works as a program assistant providing support for the Preventing Violence Program.  She works as a staff member on the UNITY project (Urban Networks to Increase Thriving Youth), in which Prevention Institute works in conjunction with other institutions such as the Harvard School of Public Health and the UCLA Southern California Injury Prevention Research Center to provide a framework for the largest cities in the US to prevent violence. She also works on issues of two quickly growing areas of focus at Prevention Institute – Child Abuse & Maltreatment and Violence against Women. In previous work, Christine participated in the national Occupational Health Internship Program based at the CA Department of Public Health doing field research with Cal OSHA on working conditions of CA migrant farm workers and heat stress. She also interned at the Berkeley Women’s Daytime Drop-In Center working with homeless women and children. Christine graduated from UC Berkeley in 2008 with a BA in Public Health.

Shakirah Simley, BA, Program Assistant

shakirah@preventioninstitute.org

Shakirah joined the Prevention Institute in October 2008 as a Program Assistant, providing support in project areas related to nutrition and physical activity. Prior to joining the Prevention Institute, Shakirah served as one of the first Human Rights Fellows for the City of New York. As a Human Rights fellow, she co-developed an employment rights ESOL curriculum for immigrant workers. She also spearheaded the development of a New York City Civil Rights Oral History Documentation Project, an initiative highlighting the achievements of African-American civil rights leaders in NYC. After receiving training through the Just Food Community Food Education Program, Shakirah volunteered as a Community Chef, teaching New Yorkers and their families about local and seasonal eating in an accessible, affordable, and culturally appropriate way. As an undergraduate, Shakirah received organizer training through the Midwest Academy, working to win family sustaining wages and benefits for security guards in Philadelphia for the Officers and Workers Rising (POWR) campaign. Shakirah graduated in 2007 with a BA in Anthropology and Urban Studies from the University of Pennsylvania.

Erica Valdovinos, BA, Program Assistant

Erica joined Prevention Institute in April 2009.  She provides support on projects related to health reform, community health, and eliminating health disparities.  Prior to joining Prevention Institute, Erica interned at the City of Berkeley Public Health Division where she produced a report on successful community outreach strategies.  She also spent a semester in Kampala, Uganda, working with a grassroots HIV/AIDS organization.  Erica coaches a girls’ soccer team through Team-Up for Youth, Bay Area organization that strives to build community through sports while increasing boys’ and girls’ self confidence, providing them with outlets for physical activity, and connecting them with mentors.  She graduated from the University of California, Berkeley with a BA in English.

Omar Sahak, MPH (c), Program Assistant

omar@preventioninstitute.org

Omar Sahak joined Prevention Institute as a Program Assistant in September 2009.  His work focuses on advancing health equity and health reform. Previously, he held positions with the California State Rural Health Association and the Health Education Council. Omar has worked on: preventing chronic disease, equitable access to health services, increasing diversity in the healthcare workforce, eHealth and health information technology, community-building to increase the availability of fresh fruits and vegetables and opportunities for physical activity, school wellness policies, and health promotion policy advocacy. 

He speaks Dari, Hindi and conversational Spanish.  Omar is currently a student of the San Jose State Master of Public Health Distance Education Program and a fellow of the Society for Public Health Education.  Omar received a B.S. in Health Sciences from the University of California, Santa Cruz.

Carmen Johnson, BA, Program Assistant

carmen@preventioninstitute.org

Carmen joined Prevention Institute in September 2009 as a Program Assistant. She provides support in project areas related to Preventing Violence and assists managing director Rachel Davis. Prior to joining Prevention Institute, Carmen worked with the National Science Foundation funded California State University, Louis Stokes Alliance for Minority Participation, a program that provides academic support services to economically, educationally, and socially disadvantaged students in the Science, Technology, Engineering and Math disciplines; interned with the California Department of Public Health Wise Woman Program assisting with the production of materials to be used in community clinics; and served as a Peer Health Educator with the Alcohol, Tobacco & Other Drugs Program. She was a founding member of Future Black Doctors & Dentists, a student driven, community service based organization committed to the underserved and diversifying the health professions. Carmen graduated from California State University, Sacramento in 2008 with a BA in Sociology.

Quoc To, Administrative Assistant

quoc@preventioninstitute.org

Quoc To is a 3rd year at UC Berkeley. He is an Interdisciplinary Studies Field major with a focus on Politics and Culture in Contemporary American Society. Upon graduation, he plans to attend Law School. At this point, he doesn’t have any concrete career goals, but wants to do something that takes him around the world.