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.
Ben supports the Alliance’s key initiatives through outreach and research. He is responsible for sharing Alliance programs with potential partners, preparing written materials for outreach to other organizations, and gathering information that helps connect the Alliance with useful resources.
Ben received his bachelor’s degree in global studies from the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee. Prior to working at the Alliance, Ben was a research intern with the Afghanistan and Central Asian Association, a UK-based nonprofit.
In his free time, Ben enjoys camping, riding his bike, and reading up on politics and philosophy.
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
Erica Kane
Erica is the program leader for the Emergency Medical Services for Children initiative. In this role, Erica leads statewide efforts to improve pediatric emergency care. Erica works together with partners in pre-hospital and hospital settings to achieve the Emergency Medical Services for Children mission, to reduce child and youth mortality and morbidity resulting from severe illness or trauma.
Erica received her bachelor’s degree in community health education from University of Wisconsin-La Crosse and a master’s degree in public health from University of Wisconsin-Madison. Erica is a certified health education specialist (CHES®) and certified child passenger safety technician.
In her free time, Erica enjoys cooking, gardening, and knitting.
Brittany is the project manager for the Wisconsin Emergency Medical Services for Children Initiative. In this role, she works with statewide partners to improve pediatric readiness in rural and community hospitals so that all children have the best possible outcomes, regardless of their geographic location. Brittany manages a statewide program connecting EMS agencies and schools by helping prepare them in the case of an emergency that involves students with special health care needs. She also assists with efforts to implement and expand telehealth provider-to-provider consults between larger facilities and rural and community hospitals, specifically for infants, children and youth with special heath care needs.
Brittany received her bachelor’s degree with dual majors in sociology and women’s studies from the University of Wisconsin-Madison and a master’s degree in communication from the University of Wisconsin-Whitewater.
In her free time, Brittany enjoys running, playing/watching sports, reading the newest book releases, watching British television/movies, and attending standup or improv comedy shows.
Project Manager - Environmental Health and Oral Health
Lindsay Deinhammer, RN, BSN
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.
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.
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 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.
Project Manager - Injury Prevention and Death Review
Marilyn Noll, MA
Marilyn is the Project Manager for Injury Prevention and Child Death Review. In this role she works with local child death review teams to review infant and child death for the purpose of preventing future child deaths. She creates and presents trainings, facilitates meetings and establishes collaborative relationships with a wide range of partners.
Marilyn received her bachelor’s degree in anthropology from the University of Texas at Dallas (UTD) followed by her master’s degree in political economy, also from UTD
In her free time, Marilyn enjoys reading, rock collecting and painting, creating collages, watching non-English language crime dramas, and spending time with her family and friends.
Project 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.
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.
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.
Project Manager - Oral Health and Environmental Health
Lindsay Deinhammer, RN,BSN
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.
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.
