Matt directs and manages all aspects of the Alliance’s initiatives, operations and budgeting. Matt leads efforts to build partnerships with government, public and private health systems, organizations, and individuals to foster the Alliance’s work.
Matt received his bachelor’s degree in health sciences and dental hygiene from Marquette University and a master’s degree in public health from A.T. Still University. Matt is a past president of the American Dental Hygienists Association
Matt enjoys spending time traveling and camping with his wife and son, Marquette basketball, cooking, home improvement and cycling outdoors when weather permits and year round on his Peloton.
Sarah oversees conference and event logistics for each of the Alliance’s key initiatives.
Sarah received her bachelor’s degree in business administration from Northeastern University, where she focused her studies on marketing and management.
In her free time, Sarah enjoys swimming, listening to podcasts and hiking with her husband and dog.
Luna works closely with the Alliance’s executive director to support the key initiatives and serves as a liaison for the Advisory Board. Luna is responsible for the management and maintenance of meeting materials and ensures that the Alliance continues to efficiently collaborate across departments.
Luna has studied at Gateway Technical College for a period of time and is eager to work on her nursing degree in the future. She is excited to be a support for the Alliance.
In her free time, Luna loves spending time with her family, going to concerts and spending time at her local coffee shops.
Program Leader - Creative Services and Student Development
Tara Goris, MS
Tara works with the Alliance initiatives to develop and maintain graphic and branding standards. Tara is responsible for editing, design, layout and production of communication and promotional materials. She oversees and manages the interns and HealthCorps members at the Alliance.
Tara received her bachelor’s degree in public health from Indiana University, a master’s degree in adult education and human resource development from the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee and an associate’s degree in graphic design from Milwaukee Area Technical College.
Tara is grateful for her role with the Alliance, as it is a unique blend of her high regard for public health and love of design. Tara enjoys downhill skiing, reading and hiking.
Sage supports the Alliance’s key initiatives through marketing and communication. She is responsible for social media, website management, storytelling, creative writing and editing.
Sage received her bachelor’s degree in communication from Carroll University. Before joining the Alliance team, she planned fundraising events for Children’s Wisconsin Foundation, including Miracle Marathon and Briggs & Al’s Run & Walk.
In her free time, Sage enjoys spending time with family, enjoying the outdoors with her husband, listening to podcasts and reading.
Program Leader - Emergency Medical Services for Children
Carissa Brunner, MPH, CLC
Carissa is the program leader for the Wisconsin Emergency Medical Services for Children initiative. In this role, she works with statewide partners to improve pediatric emergency care in both prehospital and hospital-based settings.
Carissa earned a master’s degree in public health from Colombia Southern University with a concentration in community health education, as well as a bachelor’s of science majoring in Applied Health Sciences and minoring in biology from University of Wisconsin-Parkside.
In her free time, Carissa enjoys spending time with her family, taking long walks with her dog, hiking, listening to podcasts and doing yoga.
Carissa Hoium serves as the program leader for the environmental health initiative. In this role, she focuses on improving health outcomes for children with asthma and on eliminating lead poison risks. Her asthma work focuses on leading program activities related to the statewide asthma work plan, including coordinating the Wisconsin Asthma Coalition, School-Based Asthma Management Program, school and child care environmental walkthroughs, and medication assistance website. Her lead poisoning prevention work involves collaborating with partners to mitigate ongoing environmental lead exposures and decrease childhood lead poisoning through education, coordination of services and the implementation of effective policies and practices.
Carissa has a Bachelor of Arts in Biology and obtained her Master of Public Health degree from the Medical College of Wisconsin. Prior to working with the Alliance, she focused on injury prevention work at Children’s Wisconsin, specifically motor vehicle safety. She is passionate about the health and safety of Wisconsin’s children.
Carissa enjoys spending time with her family and friends, traveling with her husband and two daughters, reading and getting outside to enjoy nature.
Program Manager - Environmental Health and Oral Health
Lindsay Deinhammer, BSN, RN
Lindsay serves as the project manager for the oral health initiative as well as our environmental health initiative. In this role, she works with partners statewide to improve access to oral health services through various projects and policy initiatives. Lindsay leads and manages the work of the Wisconsin Oral Health Coalition and Milwaukee Oral Health Coalition. In addition, she is responsible for the non-clinical aspects of the Wisconsin Medical Dental Integration Project. As project manager, she creates and presents trainings, facilitates meetings and establishes collaborative relationships with a diverse group of partners.
Lindsay has over 20 years of experience in public health working as a registered nurse. Much of this time Lindsay has advocated for the health of children in the community while working within a school setting providing nursing services, asthma education and coordinating a dental varnish program. Lindsay received her Bachelors of Science in Nursing from the University of Wisconsin – Milwaukee.
In her free time, Lindsay enjoys spending time with her family, walking her golden retriever, reading and knitting.
Sarah serves as program manager for the environmental health initiative, focusing on asthma health management and enhancing air quality monitoring in the Milwaukee area. In this role, she works with statewide and local partners to strengthen knowledge of air quality risk factors within neighborhoods and provides tools to use as proactive measures to protect health. She leads multiple program activities that follow nationally known models, to improve health outcomes for children with asthma.
Sarah has a Bachelor of Arts in social work from the University of Wisconsin-Madison and a Master of Arts in special education from Cardinal Stritch University. Prior to joining the environmental health team, Sarah was an educational specialist with Children’s Wisconsin and a special education teacher. She is excited to continue partnerships with local communities to build a healthier future for Wisconsin’s children.
In her free time, Sarah enjoys spending time with her family and friends, traveling, being a foodie, attending concerts and being outdoors.
Geeta is program leader of the medical home initiative. She oversees and manages projects in this section of the Alliance designed to support physicians, partners and parents in providing family-centered, high quality care.
Geeta Wadhwani received her bachelor’s degree in nursing from the University of Wisconsin – Milwaukee. She completed her master’s degree in public health at the Medical College of Wisconsin.
Geeta enjoys her family, running, hiking and traveling.
Program Leader - Injury Prevention and Death Review
Karen Nash, MBA
In this role, Karen works to reduce the burden of injury and fatality to children and young adults through leadership of Wisconsin’s Child Death Review (CDR) program. Her main role is to provide technical assistance to CDR teams statewide by helping them to learn and understand the case review process, collect information that translates into useful data, then use the data to inform recommendations that will prevent similar deaths. Karen works collaboratively with partners to help them identify barriers and implement strategies that lead to improved local and statewide injury prevention outcomes.
Karen earned a Master’s in Business Administration from Ottawa University and has a Bachelor of Arts from Alverno College.
Karen enjoys working for the Alliance because her work promotes positive change in the lives of Wisconsin children. In her spare time, Karen likes to read and spend quality time with family and friends.
Program Manager - Injury Prevention and Death Review
Amy L. Cline, MSW, APSW
As the program manager for Injury Prevention and Death Review, Amy supports child death review teams across Wisconsin as they review infant and child deaths, for the purpose of preventing future child deaths.
Amy received her bachelor’s degree in sociology and teaching English for speakers of other languages from the University of Wisconsin-La Crosse and a master’s degree in social work from the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, where she focused on Community & Organizational Leadership, Children and Family Welfare, and obtained a certification in trauma informed care. Before joining the Alliance, Amy supported anti-violence efforts in Milwaukee County, by leading a collaborative of a multidisciplinary partners and advocates, an urgent advocacy response, and advisory board that worked to support youth experiencing commercial sexual exploitation.
Amy is honored to expand her impact in the lives of children, youth, and families across her home state of Wisconsin in her role at the Alliance. In her free time, Amy enjoys playing in card leagues, working out at her local gym, watching Green Bay Packers and Milwaukee Bucks games, and spending as much time outside as possible.
Natasha provides technical assistance to child
death review teams throughout Wisconsin to improve data quality and translate
data into prevention recommendations.
Natasha received her Master of Public Health in
epidemiology from the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee.
In her free time, Natasha enjoys spending time outdoors, traveling, photography, and being with her friends and family.
Program Manager - Injury Prevention and Death Review
Joanna O’Donnell, GC-C
As the project manager for Injury Prevention and Death Review, Joanna’s focus is working with local child death review teams to review infant and child death for the purpose of preventing future child deaths.
Joanna worked closely with grieving families at a Milwaukee area cemetery prior to working for the Alliance. She received her bachelor’s degree in English from UW-Milwaukee. In her free time, she is a voracious reader and loves to laugh with her family and friends.
Geeta is program leader of the medical home initiative. She oversees and manages projects in this section of the Alliance designed to support physicians, partners and parents in providing family-centered, high quality care.
Geeta Wadhwani received her bachelor’s degree in nursing from the University of Wisconsin – Milwaukee. She completed her master’s degree in public health at the Medical College of Wisconsin.
Geeta enjoys her family, running, hiking and traveling.
Morgan serves as a Project Manager with the Medical Home Initiative. In this role, she works with statewide partners to increase early identification and intervention for children with special health care needs. She provides trainings, support and resources in the areas of developmental screening and mental health screening for health care professionals. In addition, she works with local public health departments who choose developmental screening as a national performance objective.
Morgan received her bachelor’s degree in special education from the University of Wisconsin-Madison. Prior to joining the Medical Home team, Morgan was a special educator and department chair. Her passions lie in the area of disability advocacy and she is excited to continue to work supporting system-wide changes that benefit children and youth with special health care needs across the state.
In her free time, Morgan enjoys traveling, camping, baking and spending time with her family at their cabin in Northern Wisconsin.
Colleen is a project manager for the medical home initiative. She received her bachelor’s degree in journalism and communications from University of Wisconsin-Madison. Her background includes professions in the private sector and more recently, in the nonprofit sector with a focus on health-related areas.
Colleen is the mother of two beautiful children, a loveable golden retriever and a feisty cat. She enjoys spending time with her family, watching her children’s activities, taking long walks, watching Badger sports and drinking her morning coffee.
Jenna serves as the program leader for the oral health initiative. In this role, she leads and manages key initiative aspects to improve oral health across Wisconsin through innovative solutions, strategic partnerships and proven strategies to bridge the gap between the community and dental care. In addition Jenna is responsible for the clinical implementation of the Wisconsin Medical Dental Integration Project and components of the Wisconsin Seal-A-Smile program. She’s passionate about improving children’s dental health to help them reach their full potential. Over the past 13 years, Jenna has worked in public health across a variety of communities as a dental hygienist, community dental health coordinator and clinical director at a nonprofit children’s dental program.
Jenna received her Bachelor of
Science in dental hygiene from the University of Minnesota School of Dentistry.
She completed her Community Dental Health Coordinator training through Rio
Salado College in Arizona.
Jenna enjoys beach days, reading, traveling, cheering on the Cubs and going on adventures with her three sons and husband.
Program Manager - Environmental Health and Oral Health
Lindsay Deinhammer, BSN, RN
Lindsay serves as the project manager for the oral health initiative as well as our environmental health initiative. In this role, she works with partners statewide to improve access to oral health services through various projects and policy initiatives. Lindsay leads and manages the work of the Wisconsin Oral Health Coalition and Milwaukee Oral Health Coalition. In addition, she is responsible for the non-clinical aspects of the Wisconsin Medical Dental Integration Project. As project manager, she creates and presents trainings, facilitates meetings and establishes collaborative relationships with a diverse group of partners.
Lindsay has over 20 years of experience in public health working as a registered nurse. Much of this time Lindsay has advocated for the health of children in the community while working within a school setting providing nursing services, asthma education and coordinating a dental varnish program. Lindsay received her Bachelors of Science in Nursing from the University of Wisconsin – Milwaukee.
In her free time, Lindsay enjoys spending time with her family, walking her golden retriever, reading and knitting.
